The weather is still following the winter norm for this climate, but we've had enough sun that I'm getting spring fever. I want to bring home one of everything from the nursery and fill the yard with good things to eat and look at. They have plenty of tempting things to choose from, especially edibles.
Yesterday the kids and I planted a rhubarb crown in the front yard. The variety is 'Crimson Cherry,' and as you may deduce, it typically has bright red stalks. They are red all the way through, so will be pretty in a fruit crumble as well as in the yard. I hope it is as unfussy about soil conditions as advertised. It's planted in gloppy, clayey dirt that doesn't drain so very well. We shall see what happens.
At the same time I bought the rhubarb, I paid for a bare root Honeycrisp apple tree. Is there room in the yard for another apple tree? A semi-dwarf? One that is delicious and known for prospering in this area?? Mmmmaybe. At David's urging, I am holding off on any more trees. But when I went back to the nursery to have the SOLD tag removed from the Honeycrisp, I got a dozen strawberries.
The strawberries went into a galvanized washtub with holes drilled in the bottom, similar to the one I used for flowers on the front porch last year. A container allows for some decent drainage. Also, one of the main strawberry pests here are slugs. Research indicates the possibility that slugs do not like to crawl over a wide strip of copper. I plan to wrap copper tape around the tub. Again, we shall see what happens!
I bought bare root strawberry plants, with just a tiny leaf or two peaking out of each crown. Zoe helped me lay the roots in a shallow tub of water to soak while we prepared the container. She put on her work gloves (old mittens) and carefully made twelve little hills of soil. Vincent added some rocks (I took them out). I draped a skirt of roots over each mound, and Zoe carefully covered the roots with soil. Then, the best part, watering. Those plants are well watered in, no question.
We have 'Seascape' strawberries. I wanted (of course) to try all the varieties offered, but restrained myself to one variety for our first attempt. I don't know much about them except that they're very disease resistant (so do well in this moist, cool climate) and bear large, sweet berries. No matter what the flavor is like, the kids will have fun picking them. They certainly enjoyed planting them.
