My production of strawberries is really quite good. I obtain many pounds of of fruit from what is actually a rather small amount of soil, water and space. This is because the strawberry plants are given a great advantage over competing weeds and other undesirable vegetation.
I grow my berries on raised beds of earth which are covered with black plastic construction sheeting from Walmart, a discount store. This thin plastic sheeting is used as a vapor barrier in home construction. It comes in three foot widths. I cut it into 45 foot lengths. The beds are 40 feet long and the plastic is tucked in at each end as well as over the sides. Because the plastic is 3 feet wide, the beds can only be one foot high and one foot wide.
Between each bed is an 8 to 10 inch walk way. There are five beds, with a strawberry plant set each 6-8 inches along the row. I try to stagger the plants on top of the bed in order to have more per row. On top of each row, under the sheet of plastic, is a 40 foot length of soaker hose bought in bulk at Walmart. All five soakers are connected together and are then attached to a garden hose. This is all that I use for irrigation. The soakers are 'pinned' in place to the earth with bent wire clothes hangers.
In late May of 1998, I completed my second annual crop of berries using this growing method. All production took place inside a ten foot wide by 50 foot long green house which I obtained as a kit. It is known as "Hoop House" and is constructed from a series of one inch galvanized hoops with poly plastic covering. The kit costs about $650, not including lumber. A green house similar to this one could be built by the average home craftsman without having to purchase a kit. The covering is clear plastic sheeting of the type used in the the construction business.
I plant in October and harvest during April and May. The plants do not freeze because the soil in the built up beds acts as a heat sink to warm the roots. Consequently, this system should work in even cold climates, since the plants go dormant during the winter. They don't begin to grow until early spring when the sun warms the soil. I live in Branson, Missouri, but the same system works successfully in unheated greenhouses as far north as New Hampshire,
I buy plants (known as June bearing, not everbearing) from a nursery in North Carolina. They are called 'bear root' and are ready to set when they arrive. No one in the midwest seems to offer bear root plants ready to set in October and so I searched until I located this particular source.
Please turn to page 3 of THE BERRY PATCH.
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