strawberry anatomy...

Being that this is essentially the first time that I've grown strawberries, I am observing some things that are rather interesting...to me.

I had noticed last year that each plant sends out shooters (called stolon or runners) that will then create a whole new plant and once the plant is established, the shooter dies.  It's like an umbilical cord for strawberries.  This has made the strawberry hill very crowded and in need of pruning.  I can share the plants if anyone would like any...I don't like to just throw away good, healthy plants.

On to my scientific observations...this year we've finally had enough strawberries to harvest and I am busy picking them on a daily basis.  Sometimes upwards of 17 berries a day!  However, all of that is coming to an end because these are June bearers...anyway, I was mentioning to Jbo last night about a couple of things I've observed ~ 

There seems to be a main stem on the strawberry fruit cluster.  That stem is thicker and stronger than the other stems.  The fruit on that stem is large and has a nice shape, whereas the fruits on the thinner stems are much smaller and in a lot of cases, a bit deformed.

A little internet investigation confirmed my discovery.  In the F. Fruit cluster: a, primary fruit; b, secondary fruit; c, tertiary fruit.

Since we never see small berries at the grocery store or even farmer's markets, I'd wondered aloud to Jbo if it might be possible that strawberry farmers only sell as individual fruit the primary and then use the secondary and tertiary fruit for jams and jellies and Jbo thought maybe for frozen strawberries.
 
Another thing I've observed is that there is a beetle bug that seems to like the strawberries and must inject some kind of agent into the fruit which makes the flesh a gray color and the fruit becomes smooshy.  I have found one or two on an infected fruit.  So, not only do I have to watch out for the chippy's but also these beetle bugs.

Again, in the same page I found out about the different levels of fruit, I also found out about all the different insect strawberry predators.  I think mine is the Strawberry Weevil, but there are plenty to choose from.  

We've only lost a dozen or so fruits to the bug and about the same to the dreaded chippy.

tis the season for pickin' strawberries...

Last year I believe we only produced a half dozen strawberries from the plants that I ordered from Gurney's.

This year the plants looked very healthy and in some cases they were taking over.  I had to do a lot of pulling out and replanting, otherwise it would have taken over the whole hill.  Strawberry Hill.

At this point, the plants are in all the different stages of growth; some are ready to pick, all the way to some that only have their flowers so far.

We had a little incident with a chipmunk who thought the strawberries were planted for him.

But no worries, Smokey the Hunter maimed him yesterday - and by now he must be dead. I really wish she'd stick to other types of rodents and leave the cute ones alone.

Anyway, we're averaging about 8-10 strawberries a day!

Us 14 ~ Chippy 3

anyone for a hosta salad?...

violas

So, over the weekend, Jbo and I spent every waking minute outside working in the yard.  Still not done.  But closer. We are done with planting the new stuff that we bought last week.  In fact, we planted half the plants on Saturday and then the other half on Sunday.

Prior to planting the second half, I went out to wander and check out our new plantings and imagine how beautiful they will be in the summer...and that's when I saw it...oh the carnage!

after the deer...

what this hosta should look like.

6 of the 12 hostas we planted were eaten!  Nearly down to the ground!!  Also several tulip blooms.  At closer examination, I spied deer tracks.

Those pesky, cute little things had a tasty salad, made up of our freshly planted hostas!  A mixed salad with colorful tulip heads!  UGH!  It had been a while since I sprayed the "fox urine" onto the plants to keep them away.  That'll teach me.

coral bells

candytuft lower left

michigan weather...

I didn't know which blog to post this to, but I guess it's about outside so it should go in the garden blog.

Yesterday I spent a good couple two-three hours working in the yard; sweeping out the garage and cleaning up some of the flower beds.  The temp was pretty nice in order to work outside - it was close to 60 degrees at times.

This is the before shot...but I didn't think to get an after :(

A little sowbug killer spider that I unearthed while removing leaves.

It's not like we don't still have snow on the ground up here.  Yep, we live "up north" and we still have plenty of snow on the ground in areas that are in the shadows.  Yesterday, I only worked the areas that didn't have snow anymore. 

All the snow we still have + a little layer from today's snow.

And then today...!  Today I went to the movies with my friend Deepa.  While driving there it was a near white-out!  When I got home from the movies, I had to shovel my driveway and throw all that snow into the flower beds that I just clean up yesterday!

I was thinking bunny, but I believe these are squeaky (squirrel) tracks.

Yesterday 60's, today 30's and snow.

One of the beds I cleaned yesterday.

 * * *

Also, I had noticed some tire tracks in the snow on our driveway when I came home from the movies, but didn't pay any attention to them.  I thought someone had just pulled in to turn around or something.  Finishing up shoveling at the bottom of the driveway by the road is when I saw that someone had just recently dug a hole in my flower bed along the driveway.  Kinda big hole.  I guess it was the person who belonged to these tire tracks.  Curious.  Now I'm wondering if the person who did this has anything to do with the gas company's project that is supposed to start tomorrow.  Maybe checking to see if the ground is still frozen...or...did someone just steal some of my tulips? 

This is the hole that someone dug just before I got home from the movies.