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| First real snow of this winter. |
But the high temperature was consistently hitting the 50s at the time. No problem. I can just plant them, I figured.
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| One of the frozen strawberry beds. The green is a not-too-successful cover of Austrian winter peas. |
In two days, the high will hit the upper 40s and Sunday and Monday will be in the 50s, before the temp falls again (It's roller coaster season). I'll be able to plant them soon. Just not today or tomorrow. What do I do with them in the meantime?
The instructions accompanying the two bundles (25 bare root plants each) of strawberries said to plant right away or to "heel them in," which is a temporary planting, until I can get them to the permanent location. If the weather was such that I could heel them in, I would just plant them. The two new strawberry beds are ready. Except that they are covered with snow.
I called the toll-free number on the instruction sheet and asked if I could just leave them in their plastic bag and put them in the refrigerator.
"No. They'll get moldy," she told me.
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| Fifty (count 'em, 50) bareroot strawberry plants. |
"The refrigerator is too damp. Put them in sawdust, or compost and set them in an unheated garage."
Well, I've got an unheated garage, but no sawdust and the compost is outside, under the snow, in the bitter cold. "Can I just wrap them in damp newspaper and keep them in the garage?" I asked.
"Sure." Was the reply.
Great. I've got newspaper. Now my strawberries are in the garage waiting to get planted. Then I will cover them with mulch and wait for spring. The varieties are Eclair and Eversweet, one is a June-bearer, the other everbearing. I selected them for the reportedly good taste and disease resistance. Maybe I will get the strawberry growing thing right this time. We'll see when the snow melts.
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| Rosemary is shivering in the snow. |
5 comments:
Hi Sandra...
Have you planted strawberries before? I have, but with not much success. The birds seem to find them before I do. Any suggestions?
Meggie
I hope that you wrapped them in respectable newspapers and not some seedy tabloid!
They were wrapped in the local newspaper, which is pretty respectable...
Meggie, I've grown strawberries, not so successfully here, yet. They did much better in my previous home where they had a spot under a pine tree and got shade in the hot afternoon.
I have never had birds be a problem for the strawberries, usually slugs or snails chew on the berries and rabbits eat the leaves. If the berries are hidden by the foliage, the birds can't see them. I once read that if you paint acorns red or put some similar red thing in the strawberry patch before the berries ripen, the birds get frustrated with the hard red objects and assume the berries are the same so don't bother them. I haven't tried it though.
I have never had birds be a problem for the strawberries, usually slugs or snails chew on the berries and rabbits eat the leaves. If the berries are hidden by the foliage, the birds can't see them. I once read that if you paint acorns red or put some similar red thing in the strawberry patch before the berries ripen, the birds get frustrated with the hard red objects and assume the berries are the same so don't bother them. I haven't tried it though.
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