Strawberries

     I ordered 'Old North Sea' Strawberries from Bakers Creek Heirloom Seeds. This is a cold-hardy, old variety from Denmark. It was found growing in an ancient Viking village site. Plants are low-growing, which makes them harder to spot by birds and also protects the delicate fruit from frost. These berries are a medium-sized June bearer with a great flavor; fruit sets early. 

     I received three plants in my shipment. They were all alive and well. I potted them up in my kitchen because it was still too cold to plant outside. 

May 5th 2023. 

When the weather was right I took them outside. I had a small 2ft x 4ft stock tank. I filled the bottom with logs, twigs, branches, cut grass, dried leaves, and such. I filled the top half with a combination of soil, compost, coconut coir and perlite. Then I planted these three strawberry plants in it. I also planted a sweet Alyssum, Marigold and Cilantro in the bin. 

June 1 2023

My strawberries are doing well. They already have red berries that taste so wonderful! I did put wood chips in the bed this summer, but maybe straw would have been better. Oh well, I was working with what I had. They don't seem to mind. 

June 15th 2023

Strawberries are still doing well. produced a lot of berries. They were big, warm and juicy right out of the garden! The cilantro got really big and gave them some shade in the heat of SD summer. 

June 26th 2023

Strawberries still getting bigger. 

June 29th 2023

Still producing berries. They are so yummy! I am really glad I ordered these! 

July 4th 2023

Still producing delish berries!

July 11th 2023

My strawberry plants are getting huge! They are still producing wonderful berries. I look forward to every morning in the garden snacking on these pleasant treats! 

July 25th 2023

Strawberries are sending out runners like crazy! Some of the runners have rooted already and are growing well. I have put little pots under some runners and as they root I cut them and give them to friends. Sharing is caring! 

July 28th 2023

Strawberry runners.

August 8th 2023

You can see where I have some pots on the ground catching more runners to give to friends. 

August 10th 2023

I have said earlier that this was my first time planting strawberries. I figured this tank would be big enough for these three plants and any runners from the first year. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I was very, very wrong, LOL! I have even resorted to buying a shallow tub, filling it with soil, and setting it beside the bed to catch the many, many runners. 

August 19th 2023

I'm still catching runners! I definitely underestimated these strawberries, LOL!

September 9th 2023

The strawberry plants are exploding out of the bed! There are just so many! I most definitely need a bigger bed to move them too next spring. 

December 20th 2023

Well it was a wonderful summer. The strawberries did way better than I could have hoped. I left them so any hibernators had a place to go for the winter, also the snow can collect on them and keep them from freezing. I hope this winter doesn't hurt them to much in that little bed. I'm interested to see if they freeze or if some will actually make it to grow next spring. 

SPRING 2024

April 15th 2024

Well, they made it through winter! I am beyond happy! I will have to admit it was not a normal winter. Only snowed a few times, bitter dang cold more days than I would have liked, but the strawberries survived! I am cleaning out the dead stuff from last year and also removing what's left of the wood chips. I am planning on putting straw in here this year. I know I talked about putting these berries in a new bed, but since they have started growing I am just going to leave them to do their thing. When they start sending off runners later this summer I will collect those and plant them in a new bed. 

May 14th 2024

My strawberries have started to blooming, healthy and doing well. As you can see, some of the runners escaped the bed last fall. They have rooted all around the bed and are growing well, even blooming. I will leave these alone and let them grow. When they start to send out runners I will collect them and put into a new bed I am building. 

May 22nd 2024

These berry plants are getting bigger and producing lots of berries! It seems that the strawberries were not the only escape artists. If you look at the top of the first pic below, you can see a new Cilantro plant growing! Awesome!

May 26th 2024

I have added Sweet Alyssum to the berries. 

May 31st 2024

My first taste of ripe juicy strawberry this summer!