Seedpod Strawberries

It's been a full, beautiful weekend here. The sun has been shining and the air-

refreshingly crisp. We are looking around the farm now and wishing that we had 40 hours in a day to get it all done. We're a few weeks away from the official start of Spring- but you can't tell from the buzzing bees and blooming daffodils. Coffee please....

In preparation for Seedpod Farm's Spring Festival & Craft Fair on April 25th (9am-3pm), I took to thinning out our runaway strawberry patch to prepare the plants for sale at the Festival. Eventually, we intend to have a U-pick berry patch- but we're not there yet. So, for sale they'll be!

I was very impressed with the root systems on these berries. Our Jam Patch, as we affectionately call our trial berry patch, has 8 varieties of blueberries, 5 varieties of strawberries, 2 varieties of rhubarb, jostaberries, gooseberries, 3 types of currants, marionberries, 2 types of raspberries, 2 types of blackberries, and a few huckleberry bushes.

Incidentally, I was a bit discouraged last year at my apparent lack of blueberry harvest. "These three year old plants should have produced some delicious berries this year! Birds? Raccoons? How are we going to make an educated decision on what variety will work best with our microclimate if I can't sample the berries?" Well, it wasn't birds or raccoons. Instead the culprits were the Seedpod Kids! Apparently, they were belly crawling underneath the electric fence (while it was on!!!) and cleaning out any berry that approached ripeness. Aghast doesn't describe seeing that sight. After a tutorial on unplugging the fence and a discussion on gluttony, I applauded their choice of snack.

This year the strawberries refused to stay contained, and began growing in the mulched walking paths (thus the bits of bark in the roots). These 1 year old runners appear to be vigorous. With a few months of care, these plants should be ready to go to new homes.

Make sure to check them out when you're at the Festival!