We worked outside all morning and got quite a bit accomplished. It was a lot of work for both of us, but of course my husband did all the heavy work. The Strawberry Pyramid which is 6 feet across, took quite a while since all that dirt had to be filled in. It took over 8 bags of soil, and we still need more. Before we could build it, he had to remove one of the Crepe Myrtles. He had already planned to give the 3 of them a good trim, but the first one we decided to remove to make room for the strawberries.
I have been composting, rotating compost that I had saved from "garbage" indoors, mixing with soil from last year's pots. We used all of the composted soil and mixed it in with the new soil we bought. The strawberry beds should be well fertilized. The area by the fence needs to be prepared for Spring planting. We relocated the edging and made it "mower-friendly".
I am thinking about using the area between the strawberry bed and the Crepe Myrtles for corn.
The hose is connected to the strawberry pyramid and can easily be connected to the water source to maintain the moist soil that is required for the berries.
Next we kill any grass and weeds in the bed, then bring in more soil to complete the strawberry pyramid and new bed. The strawberries are on order and should arrive in mid February.
The raised bed on the side of the house has settled from last year, and needs to be filled with a few inches of soil. This worked well for the zucchini and summer squash last year. Not sure if I will rotate my crops or use it again for the same vegetables this year. More thought needs to be given to my planting plans. Also, the back side of the house between windows I have been planning to build a trellis for cucumbers and beans. Some additional planning will be done there, as well.
I will be posting more soon on "Pot Preparation".
