I'm rubbish at growing strawberries.
I can grow most things but strawberries somehow never work for me.
Now I can keep the plants alive and healthy but somehow I always end up feeding something else, either mice, birds or slugs. I've tried netting them, and growing them in different ways, I've had some success with white alpine strawberries but I always thought I could do a lot better.
So on Thursday my mum came over to help look after the children while I got on with some jobs. The boy, however, wasn't playing ball and was being quite a daddies boy, no chance of working on the extension so I decided to tackle a little project I'd been thinking of for ages. I took the boy with me and made the project outside with him watching me from the pushchair, he was as good as gold and laughed every time I drilled or made a loud noise!
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| I made a couple of A frames to start with |
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| Keen to learn! |
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| Two A frames put together, 4ft apart, bracing added next |
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| Adding the guttering to hold the plants |
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| The planter in place but it will be moved soon. |
For the last few years when I've been doing roofs for customers houses I've been saving the old gutter with this project in mind.
Although the guttering isn't that deep I'm only going to grow alpine strawberries in this as a test project. I've positioned them in a area by a shed and a wall so they should have a really warm little micro climate. I've made this frame movable at the moment as the area under it is going to be slabbed, but if it works I might fix it back to the shed and remove the rear support, making it much smaller.
The frame should be really easy to net and I have plans to use a solar pump to push water to the top of the frame and let it filter back down - hopefully this will work!
I grew a big batch of alpines strawberries from seed last year and I'll post another picture when this is all planted up (I've got to make some stop ends for it as well yet). This could easily be used for salads as well.
What do you think?
Anyone else grow vertically and have any success?
The guttering does look a bit shallow. I grow mine in terracotta Strawberry pots, and in an old wheelbarrow; the wheelbarrow does the better job.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think there isn't much room for the roots, that's the main reason I'm going with the alpine strawberries. They're used to growing in nooks and crannies, also if I pump water around it I'm hoping it'll work kind of hydroponically but we'll see.
DeleteI always fail in pots with strawberries, worse in strawberry planters. I thought of doing this, but I think I don't want strawberries enough.
ReplyDeleteMy children are obsessed with strawberries but I also think if I got it right then alpine strawberries could be a good one to sell to posh restaurants as they are difficult to get hold of.
DeleteAll you can do is try. Mice though might be clever enough to still climb up it!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to find a way to keep them off!
DeleteI've seen the guttering idea used successfully on that American version of your homestead. I'm sure you'll do even better than them
ReplyDeleteAmerican version of my homestead!!! I had the name years before them!
DeleteBy the way, have you got drainage holes in the guttering as alpine plants hate water logged roots? If you give up on strawberries in your frame structure, you could turn it into a trendy growing wall with evergreen or decorative plants - as seen at Chelsea flower show!!
ReplyDeleteHave you tried a really raised bed for strawberries - like those large wooden vegetable planters on legs sold in the DIY shops? You certainly have the skills to build one. These are easy to net over hoops, or totally enclose with rigid plastic cloches, have a good capacity & are well raised up (although here slugs & snails climb over the front of my house so distance, height & surface texture are no object to the creatures!!)
There is holes in the bottom and I thought about putting a layer of horticultural grit at the bottom first so the water can drain away easily. I picked up some industrial gutter from my dads a couple of years ago with the idea of making a super high raised bed but never got round to doing anything with it (as usual!)
DeleteI had my first strawberry plant last summer, it grew wonderfully! But my naivety failed me when I woke up to all the berries bitten and the squirrels laughing at me in the distance :) This year it'll be protected better if it decides to come back to life!!
ReplyDeleteThey need some protecting, blackbirds love them here as well. Apparently putting red rocks around the patch can put them off as they get fed up of pecking rocks!
DeleteBrilliant idea. I've got a flat of alpines under lights right now. I'm going to need to figure out some way of planting them out of duck and goose reach.
ReplyDeleteThey haven't sprouted yet neither have the leeks or shallots and it been a week and a half?
Your comment about selling to restaurants, I read in a gardening magazine this week that there is a farm about an hour from us with an established base selling microgreens and microvegetable (they look like thinnings really) to high end chefs all over the world. How interesting is that?
DeleteStrawberries take a while to germinate I think. I grew a big batch from seed last year so I'll sperate tehm up and get them in the gutters soon.
DeleteI'm a little obessed with this growing for market type thing. For The micro greens and stuff check out the urban farmer on youtube, amazing content and methods with everything he does.
I'm not sure how the strawberries will do in such a shallow amount of soil, but your set up looks like it would be wonderful for someone with limited gardening area. They could grow all the salad greens they would want all season!
ReplyDeleteWild strawberries (I'm thinking they must be like the alpine berries) grow very well in our area as do domestically planted strawberries. I think I'm lucky in that other than an occasional bird peck or the rare chipmunk bite, I don't have any trouble getting nice crops of strawberries.
Good luck with yours, Kev!
The alpines or wild strawberries should need less root room hopefully. I thought it would be good for salads as well, the middle of summer putting it somewhere shady might stop it bolting so quick as well.
DeleteI've never had a problem growing strawberries flat on the ground or in old Belfast sinks, but every time I have tried a proper strawberry planter they have failed dismally ... so for now I am staying flat :-)
ReplyDeleteI've seen your system attached to the side of a shed before but never free standing, it will be interesting to see if the Alpine strawberries like this, I should imagine they will. Fingers crossed.
you could add wheels to move it around if mice are getting them. Or like you said for salad crops, and then wheel them into the shade. I hope it works
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