Planting Strawberries

Strawberries are one of my favorite things to grow. They are easy to care for and freshly picked berries beat anything purchased at the store.

In our area, now is the right time to plant out new strawberry plants. If you ordered plants, they should be arriving now. If you can't plant them right away, place the plants in the refrigerator until you are ready to plant. We planted our strawberry patch five years ago. It has done well and doesn't owe us a thing (last year we picked over 60 quart) but we decided to replace it with a new patch this year.
Strawberry plants don't look very impressive. Just some scraggly roots with maybe a tiny green sprout. Don't worry. As long as they have a well developed root system, they will do well. Before planting, soak the plants in water for one hour or up to twenty four hours.

Prepare your soil by removing weeds, tilling well and adding any amendments. My husband dug a shallow trench and filled it with compost to give the plants a good boost.
When planting strawberries, the goal is for the roots to be planted horizontal, instead of straight down in the hole. With one hand I held the plant, with the other I spread the roots out over the soil like a fan. Then I firmed the soil around the plant. You want to cover all the roots without burying the crown of the plant. Hope that made some sense! It is easier then it sounds.

Plants should be about 18 inches apart, though ours are closer then that since I didn't want to make another row and had extra plants. If some die, I'll have a few to use as replacements.

(By the way, I love these gloves. I usually hate gardening gloves because they get wet and soggy but my nails are in shambles all summer. Ed bought me this pair. They are comfortable, waterproof, and only cost a few dollars. The palm and fingers are nitrile coated and the back is a woven poly of some sort that helps them "breathe". They have been my constant companion this spring!)