gardening

I took over a garden that had been left to die for 2 years or more. Besides tons of weeds and old plastic I found a few remnants of the past garden. Right smack dab in the middle there were 2 rows of maybe a total of 20 pretty old and big looking strawberry plants. Me knowing nothing about strawberries just cleaned them up and took the weeds away and they produced about 5-10 strawberries a day after the ants took their share during the beginning of `last summer. We were stoked to have fresh home grown strawberries for the first time in our lives but a little frustrated with the hungry ants. Since last summer I have gradually been adding more and more plants filling in the gaps. I would say that I have about 40 plants and tons of runners that have taken hold everywhere. I put a bunch of manure and a little 14-14-14 fertilizer down in between the rows so the runners can flourish. I believe all our strawberries are June bearing as nothing was produced in the fall. However now that June and my much anticipated strawberries are rapidly approaching I have started to actually research on how to make my patch more productive. God I wish I would have researched before I planted all those new plants and let the runners go wild. Then I could have just started a different patch somewhere else. Most likely that has been a strawberry patch for at least 5 years with plants at least that old. Except now all the new plants and runners are mixed in everywhere mostly in between the raised rows. I fear these new little guys are pretty susceptible to mold since they are down so low in the wet area and maybe will affect the rest of my plants.

I guess I will start from next year transplanting runners into a totally new different area. Here in my area there aren’t too many different varieties (4 or 5) to choose from when you go to the nurseries. And there are NO everbearing varieties as well as they run a little over 2 dollars a plant so buying a whole new patch is out! Been looking into buying online a batch of a hundred or two but international shipping seems risky for the plants livelihood. Would love any suggestions or tips on ramping up my strawberry production. Also was wondering if transplanting 1, 2, and 3 year old plants was a possibility? Comments are greatly appreciated!

“Beans, beans the magical fruit, the more you eat the more you…..” well you know the rest. Sorry couldn’t help it I had to add that. My mother used to say that quite a bit as we ate beans frequently growing up. Now living in Japan my garden would not be complete if I didn’t have edamame. Edamame is extremely delicious and a great snack for any occasion. I like putting out edamame when the kids come home from school so they can eat healthy instead of all the junk food they usually eat.

The Japanese have it down to a science and I was amazed last year at the quality and yield of their edamame. So now I try and look at all my neighbor’s gardens and copy them.

Growing edamame is really easy and fun. However, this year I have done everything wrong. I am late in planting and growing the edamame in different place without the use of any inoculants right next to all the onions. All no-nos, so I am very curious to see what happens.

I found out from my neighbors that by letting the edamame climb it gives them more sunlight than in their natural low bush form and that bamboo is a perfect support for them. Thankfully I have an abundant supply of bamboo on my property so I quickly stripped the leaves of a few branches and stuck them into the ground as a trellis. In fact, every single garden in my area uses either bamboo or net as a trellis for edamame. They are not grown as a bush!

Anywhooz can’t wait to see how this years crop turns out….if they even come out! Will keep you updated.

Garden Life Japan Getting Down and Dirty

Strawberries gone wild!

The Edamame Test