moved our beds

Balsamic vinegar has a rich depth of flavor, and sometimes even a bit of fruitinesss, that I've seen used in unusual pairings a number of times. In some regions in Italy they dip bread into it, alone or in combination with a good extra virgin olive oil. Think I saw that with strawberries somewhere, too.

The only reason I'm even interested in eating strawberries is that now I've got some of my own planted. I can't eat the ones from stores -- they're either sour or taste like potatoes. They're huge, but they've almost entirely lost their flavor.

SG, enjoy. Eat them mindfully. I find that when I eat produce I have hand a hand in growing, I eat it all very slowly and concentrate on what I am eating; no TV etc.   Strawberries, salad, good sherry and dark chocoloate.  Oh, I know I did not help grow the last two but you get the drift.
Medicine, down the hatch.

MARC, my hubby makes homemade sourdough bread almost daily, so we do dip our bread in the vinegar and olive oil, and it's awesome!
Kelejan, oh yeah, I savored every bite of them. I pulled off the fruit last year, "like everyone said to do" so waiting a year was torture, but boy, these beauties were soooo good! I can't wait for the morning for the rest mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I agree. When you grow them yourself, and take the time to protect and pollinate each little blossom, it really does make them sweeter

God bless guys!!

I have baby strawberries forming, can't wait for my first ones!

I decided that I'm going to move my strawberry patch, probably at the end of the season. It doesn't get full sun and I though they grew well last year, they'll do better with more sunshine and my lettuce will do better in that box.

Would it be better to move them now, at the beginning of the season or wait? Opinions?

I could also move the babies from last year into the new garden and leave the established ones and have 2 beds of berries 4x4 table tops. You can't have too many yummy berries!

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:I could also move the babies from last year into the new garden and leave the established ones and have 2 beds of berries 4x4 table tops.  You can't have too many yummy berries!

+1! I would go with this one!

GG

Marc Iverson wrote:.......
The only reason I'm even interested in eating strawberries is that now I've got some of my own planted.  I can't eat the ones from stores -- they're either sour or taste like potatoes.  They're huge, but they've almost entirely lost their flavor.

Mark, your post speaks loud and clear to me.  I agree the supermarket strawberries are huge things with no flavor and a large hollow space on the inside.  Looks flashy but zero taste.  When my husband had my backyard strawberries for the first time he thought the flavor initially was too intense and sweet.  Imagine that? Real strawberries!

Your husband's reaction is how I responded to my first home-grown tomatoes. They were cherry tomatoes, more savory than sweet, and the flavor and aroma was so intense I found them almost inedible at first.

I think for a long while I was hypnotizing myself into believing the supermarket strawberries were better than they were, because where I grew up, you couldn't get strawberries at all and they were such a huge treat to me. When I moved to where you could buy them regularly at stores, they were still something I was so excited to be having. But eventually I just had to admit to myself that the bland ones weren't the exception in a pack of good strawberries; actually the good ones were the exception. Over time, even the few good ones seemed to simply disappear.

My family did the same thing. They'd say that the secret was getting the biggest strawberries, or this thing or that thing, or one store's were better than another's -- but those things didn't turn out to be the secret either. We were all so hoping to be wrong about what we were tasting! But we weren't -- supermarket strawberries are pretty much just a bunch of flavorless nothing now.

So growing them is my last chance to like eating strawberries again.

I love strawberries.  I'm thinking of making a Gwennifer TT for them.  They are currently in fancy compartmental hanging baskets.  Who knows, maybe I will even get some daughters and get a 2nd TT next year! Or add gutters for the daughters like Audrey. There are so many neat ideas on this Forum. [The empty 48 basket sections will be used for herbs, maybe a few flowers.]

Almost every different kind of bed seems to have something unique to recommend it. I like that Gwennifers will be so easy to tend to and move around. Seems like perfect strawberry-picking height! Or lettuce, or bok choy, or peas ...

Our strawberries are really coming on! about 5-10 each day, but today was about 20?? Sooo good! Here's my little 2 year old grandson eating one



here's a whopper



This morning This is about 2 SF

I love reading this thread and seeing all the wonderful pictures Rose!  You have really made your garden area so pleasing and functional!  Your grandsons are so cute, I love the overalls!  I want to plant a whole 4 x 6' bed in strawberries this year.

That picture of your grandson eating the strawberry is calendar-perfect!

That shot of your grandson is something out of a Hallmark Card.  You might want to frame it.  Oh, and I'm very jealous of your strawberries.  I'm originally from Los Angeles... sigh, I miss it sometimes.

Triciasgarden wrote:I love reading this thread and seeing all the wonderful pictures Rose!  You have really made your garden area so pleasing and functional!  Your grandsons are so cute, I love the overalls!  I want to plant a whole 4 x 6' bed in strawberries this year.

Thank you all for the kind comments about my little sweetie. He looks SO much like my son when he was a baby, and I LOVE it!! My son lived in little Osh Gosh overalls

Tricia, I'm SG, not Rose, lol. Rose is the real "guru" haha!! Go for it with the berries!! I planted a 12 last year. They sent out runners, and I "caught" the runners in 6 packs, and transplanted my 8x2 bed full in a few months!! In other words, I ended up with 64 plants from 12 in a couple of months!! Can't beat that!!

Snapped a few pics of the garden this am. Everything is doing really well! Look at how dark green the tomatoes are!!  can't wait for some maters!!

 Under the corn are Christmas Lima Beans, Fava Beans, Yard Long Beans, "regular" green beans, red/white beets, and purple carrots Using every square inch of the garden! The beets sprouted in only a couple of days, and the carrots were like 4 days?? normally they take a week or so lovin' it!!        

WOW! Southern Gardener your garden is beautiful! I'm new to SFG and only did row gardening for about 3 years so I have lots to learn. I hope that I can have a garden as beautiful and productive as yours in a few years!

Beautiful, SG!  What a NICE area.  I know I'd spend most of my time there just sitting & looking...!

In the top photo - is the bed curved to match the stone?

Thank you for the kind words. I'd be happy to help in any way I can. Marie, the picture is a panoramic so it distorts the picture. The patio is curved, but the box is not. It's not rectangular however, it's a triangle, so it "sort of" follows the curve. That was our intention  
I do love our garden. I spend lots of time in it! Not too much work, but just enjoying it. It's literally outside our back door, and right outside of our bedroom, so it's the first thing we see in the morning

this site is full of inspiration.  I can hardly wait to get around to sending my pics.  I'm taking them.  Just need to take the time to learn to post.

I'm drooling over the corn! Dear Cat uprooted another one. I may have to use 1/2" hardware cloth. Your tomatoes look so much better than mine, which aren't getting as much sun due to neighbor's growing trees.   

looking good SG!!!

in the first pic, is that HUGE kale? wow!

cant believe you already have corn growing   this year we are determined to eat our corn and not let the critters have any!!....hubby wants to put some kind of electric fence around our corn beds.....sure hope he gets to it...as the chicks need their home built first.. ...as they are almost tall enough to open the brooder lid LOL

hugs
rose

FamilyGardening wrote:looking good SG!!!

in the first pic, is that HUGE kale? wow!

cant believe you already have corn growing   this year we are determined to eat our corn and not let the critters have any!!....hubby wants to put some kind of electric fence around our corn beds.....sure hope he gets to it...as the chicks need their home built first.. ...as they are almost tall enough to open the brooder lid LOL

hugs
rose

Rose, yes, that's kale. that's the bottom of a stem! the plant fell over because the top got soo heavy, so there's another "clump" to the very right of the picture. You can't see it, but THAT clump covered a potato plant this is now producing potatoes!!  LOL 
We planted the corn in seedling containers about a month ago, and transplanted. We normally direct seed, but the "old garden" wouldn't die!  lol 
Work on keeping that corn, it's sooo yummy to get your own, I know you know that already. How big are your chicks? Ours are getting big and chubby! I think they're loving picking through the compost piles, we all fight to get to the worms first haha!
Sanderson, put on those hardware cloth covers!! they flat WORK!!
God bless guys!!

SG, I reckon when you sit in those chairs for a while you can actually see the stuff growing.
Eventually I would like my place to look a bit like yours; yours is an inspiration to me, as are a lot of the gardens depicted on this site.  Can't do them all, though.  Just take the bits that fit in for me, allowing for size of yard, sun, climate etc. In other words, what wil be, will be.  

Thank you Kelejan  I have some physical issues I am dealing with, and I get frustrated at not being able to do what I want. I have a WONDERFUL understanding hubby that is always willing to help me out. I LOVE being out there, sitting in my blue chairs  Some things do seem to grow while we are out there! The garden is doing SO much better now, so it's nice to go out and enjoy instead of being frustrated!! phew! I agree, we need to do what WE like and how it makes us feel and what we can handle  Right now, I have more plants than space, so we are planting under, around, next to anything we can! lol Having a BIG Easter celebration this weekend with about 50-60 people? Hoping they enjoy the garden and food!  God blesssssssssssssss!!

thanks for the link SG
You garden is beautiful.  You are months ahead of us and I am green with something like envy.
How do you take a panoramic...  is it a wide angle lens thing...
I did not know that this thread is about your garden, HOW COOL