Strawberry Fields

Yes, things were tough in Mudville this winter. My Strawberry patch has been a project of almost 3 years. Everything looked like it would be for nothing this day back in February. The water never actually covered the plants, but they got pretty straggly, as you can see. I’ve worried about them from time to time, but I try to maintain a loose contract with the plants. I’ll kill the grass, pull some weeds from time to time, but you have to be of sturdy stock to thrive in my backyard. I was very happy with the strawberries last summer. From just 5 plants, they spread out like a web to eventually colonize 30 spots. I don’t remember buying a raspberry bush, but there it was. I put a berry cage around it until the dog ran the whole thing under. She twisted the knife by digging a big hole right on the spot.

I decided that no one could have predicted the topping of the levees, and that the dog attack should fall under the Godzilla clause. Therefore, my plants, ahem, THE plants, would now rely on local development grants (dandelions) to oversee the recovery effort.
Because of my brilliant management, the strawberries have now fully recovered from the winter’s tests… stronger and more vibrant than ever, I’m expecting my bumper crop to benefit construction and shipping (birds), who will in turn provide a product (poop) to the original stakeholder (me)
As you can see the end result matches closely with the effort expended.

I originally planted the strawberries because I couldn’t stand supporting a bird feeder anymore. Sure, it was nice to have several different birds camping outside my window. When they started cracking the nuts open on my gutter, and dive bombing the dog, I decided to cancel their lease. I felt bad about depriving the birds, except Morning Doves, I’ve developed a special hatred for them. The strawberry patch has been a great success. There are birds hanging around, day and night. Now that things are looking up, I’m looking to expand the patch with a couple Blueberry plants. I saw that on HGTV… I hang out at Home Depot sometimes, too. What’s it to ‘ya?!