Berries

Gotta start somewhere! Let's start with the strawberries. 

Two years ago I planted two pots of strawberries from Costco, and I believe they are both June-bearing. They have a huge amount of fruit in late June, and another, smaller flush of fruit in August. My technique, which seems to be growing a prolific amount of berries, isn't from a book. I think it's a composite of a few things I read. So here it is! I pick the strawberries in June, I let the runners go wherever they want, and in fall, I use a pair of clippers to chop off all the leaves, leaving them where they lay for mulch. Then I spread on a bag of composted sheep manure (sheep manure is the least likely accessible manure to be contaminated with pesticides/herbicides, and best for organic gardening), and let it be. That's it! If anyone is interested in some strawberry plants, I have tons of runners this year, and I'm sure there won't be space for them all. 

The bottom photo is to show how far the strawberry plants have spread in the past 2 years. The little things growing up the back are my blackberry canes. Hoping to actually get some blackberries off them next year! Last year they grew to the top of the fence, but because we had no snow this winter, they died back and I had to start again with first year canes. These are Doyle's Thornless Blackberries, and once established, are supposed to be quite prolific.