On a sunny Saturday morning I fitted my painted raised strawberry beds to the bed frame. They are lined with plastic and filled with a mix of topsoil, manure and potting compost.
Once the plants are in and start to fruit I'll fill the gaps between the planters with weed control fabric and a layer of straw to keep the weeds down and reflect the sunlight, which is also the reason for the white paint.
Provided this weekends storm has left me something to work with I have to fit another layer of painted decking on top of the outside of the bed before making and fitting a hinged netting lid. It may seem like over kill but I like strawberry's and the critters usually get more than I do!
It's been a bonus to get on with such jobs in January thanks to the mild weather, although the ground is certainly too soggy to dig so it's limited to a hoeing the exposed areas.
Also in the fruit bed it was good to see that the rhubarb crown I dug up, split and moved at the end of last season has survived, this new leaf has come through in the last week.
The next post could be a damage report, we'll see as soon as I can get down the farm in daylight.
Happy gardening folks!
