i heart winter-spring.

      Sometimes i almost wish that google put a chip in my head so i could keep yous guys updated on things as i'm doing them.  As i stands, i mostly just wanna play in the dirt so i find myself with a swarm of projects to update after a few weeks.
    Let's start with our impulse-ordered strawberries and see how far we get from there (the sun's coming up and i can feel the yard calling me...beckoning me.....).  If you recall, we were shipped 50 bare-root strawberry plants the first wk in january, and i was caught entirely unprepared.  A minimal amount of research later, i decided i would heel in the plants in a container and keep them in the shed to try and maintain dormancy.
   Let's talk about stacking functions, real quick, which is fundamental to finding the good life.  Function stacking is a permaculture principle that allows you to maximize output from any given task or object.  To me, it's a way of thinking about projects that helps me avoid unnecessary labor.

        So... i needed a container to store the berries in, and we want to grow carrots this year but have a hard time with our heavy clay soil, so i designed and built a carrot planter out of scrap cedar decking to keep the plants in till i had a bed prepared. check it out:

made the box long enough to have a succession of carrots from summer thru fall.

the bottom of the box is angled toward center to facilitate drainage.

stapled some scraps of chicken wire over the drainage slots.

next i draped a scrap of old t-shirt over the chicken wire, to prevent soil from filtering out the bottom

and i'm poor, so i added some filler at the bottom

then potting mix

it's hard to see, but i lay the plants in on a 45degree or so slope

then covered the roots, gently tamped down the potting mix, and watered enough to keep roots moist.

  Man, i was so proud. But i somehow forgot that our winter's been so mild it's basically been spring.  Within a week most of the plants broke dormancy and Joani and i had to bust our humps to create a premie strawberry patch before a line of storms came through.  We decided on another keyhole bed, and aren't too worried about not working any soil amendments into the bed for 2 reasons:

1. Our yard has really nice topsoil and vibrant soil life.
2. This bed is all June-bearing strawberries, so this summer will be all pinching flowers and letting runners and roots get established. We should be able to start slowly adding compost this season and let our wriggly worms work it in for us.

bam:

marked it, covered up the turf

we took turns cutting X's in the cardboard, digging holes, and placing plants.

We mulched the bed with...straw...and they seem to be doing alright....

Well I had more to say, but the sun's up and i need to check on the seedlings (the amish paste tomatoes have sprouted, as has the black-seeded simpson lettuce. still waiting on mortgage lifter, beefsteak & brandywine tomatoes, bibb lettuce, celery & fennel).
Shua out....