~ COMPANION PLANTS FOR STRAWBERRIES, PLEASE..!! PLUS A NEW PRODUCT ! ~

[Hattie the Hen]

Good morning !!

We have real sunshine at long last.........
Mind you it is still cold at night ........!! But my new roll of extre wide fleece is here!! It arrived along with a new product ; a kind of woven matting of thin strips of mylar between 2 layers of netting. It is called Reflecta. It's 50cms wide & comes in packs 4 metres long. I am pondering what to try it on first.......

Now I need some information from you. I haven't grown strawberries for a while........ not since my first lot of chickens ate all the fruit & then dug up the plants.....................!! I think now I can keep them safely shut out of the vegetable area. So what plants can I grow with them. So far I can only find a suggestion of borage ; any other suggestions please?

Today I have put my 3 little chicks (10days old) out with their Mama ( Cleopatra ) in a run which I have placed on a very weed raised bed; they are making a great job of turning it over for me & rooting out the bugs & insect eggs etc. I want to put my asparagus in there so I have to get as many seeds & roots out as possible.

It is so good to feel the sun on your back as you work -- it has been so long........!! :coolsun


Hattie

 

[lesa]

Your new product sounds very interesting- I know you will keep us posted on it's usefulness! I don't know what to plant with strawberries- in my neck of the woods, most people have separate strawberry patches...I am so happy that you finally have sunshine! It is heavenly to get back out in it, isn't it?? Enjoy the sunshine and happy gardening!

 

[kcsunshine]

My Carrots Love Tomatoes book says strawberries do well in combination with bush beans and spinach.

Beneficial plants are:

Lettuce used as a border
Pyrethrum for pest preventative
Spruce hedge is also protective
White hellebore will control sawfly
Marigolds are useful if you suspect nemetodes.
Pine needles alone or mixed with straw for mulch is said to make the berries taste more like the wild variety.

Enjoy.

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Thank you for the planting suggestions.....Strangely enough I just found this in my email. It is one of my favourite UK blogs: I always think the comments at the bottom are so interesting.

http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/strawberry-companion-planting-dilemma-6648

So I am going to water with cold tea as well. I have been saving all my used tea-bags in a separate compost bin so maybe I should mulch with them as well.........!!! I'll put straw over them lest people think I am even crazier than they do now..........


:tools Hattie :tools