Strawberry Leftovers

Last fall I cleaned my floating garden in preparation for winter. I removed one of my ailing strawberry beds, but saved some of the healthy plants and a few more that started from runners.

I dug each one up with a generous scoop of soil, then snuggled them close together in one of my large plastic barrels. Amazingly, they all survived the snow (just a little), frozen ground (more than just a little), and chilly winds. Because I used bare root plants for my new bed, my strawberry leftovers were without a home, especially after the zucchini served them with an eviction notice.

I thought about planting them up on the cliff, but watering would be a problem and the pesky woodrat would probably get all of the berries if he didn't eat the plants first. Then I came up with a perfect solution. I went to Canadian Tire and bought two deck rail planter boxes. I like this style because the bottoms are designed to wrap around a railing, so they have very little surface area to trap moisture that can rot the cedar deck. I can also stuff the little troughs at the bottom with rocks to weigh the boxes down. We can get some pretty mean winds during storms. If it's not nailed down, it might fly away!

Now I have some additional greenery on my front deck, and the possibility of tasty red berries. That's much better than climbing the hill, or worse yet, relegating the tenacious little plants to the compost pile. Leftovers anyone? -- Margy