Raised Strawberry Bed

I'm so delighted with our new strawberry bed! The new bed is my second time around for this bed because the one I did last summer was a big disappointment this summer. Plus, I wanted a real raised bed where I didn't have to bend over!

After the greenhouse left, my 'new' garden space looked like this in the spring of 2011.

- 2011 -

Fast forward to the summer of 2012.

Mr D made the box out of scrap cedar wood and is 16 ft L x 26" W x 24" H. He made it sturdy by re-enforcing it with 2x4's inside. I filled it with a two-year supply of compost dirt. This is what I found in the bin as I was emptying it...eek!

I transplanted the five raspberry plants and took the strawberry plants out of the old bed and piled them in a box till the new one was ready. Then came the fun part!

After four hours of transferring the dirt from the compost bin to the new bed, I 'hilled' the dirt in the box.

After adding a fifty-foot soaker hose that was placed on the sides and middle, I used my home-made version of u-hooks to keep it in place.

And ta-da! my new bed! The plants transplanted well, I harvested several gallons of potatoes and onions, and seeded a fall crop of radish and lettuce. Because the straw was left from the little potato patch, I used it to cover the whole bed, giving it shade from the hot sun and protection from the winter cold. Best of all, it was a mostly free project - the biggest expense was the soaker hose and it was on sale.

 The radishes were seeded on Saturday and by Tuesday they were up, having several rains the last few days.

Incidentally, both of these projects were done by Mr D in both of his cancer diagnoses. I'm especially grateful to him and to God that he's given me these gifts. My prayer is he'll be here next spring to enjoy the fruit of his work! If you want to follow along on our cancer journey, 'like' my Fleur Cottage face book page where I post frequently about it.

Link to:
Cottage Garden
Time Travel Thursday
Under $100 Linky
Transformation Thursday
Grace at Home