From: songbird@anthive.com   
      
   Pavel314 wrote:   
   ...   
   > I was unable to tend the strawberry patch last year and now my wife wants to   
   turn it into an asparagus bed. I was thinking of transplanting whatever   
   strawberry plants are left along the rows in the vineyard, so that they can   
   grow beneath the grapes.   
      
     sounds ok, they may not produce a huge amount of   
   berries, but will survive and grow towards the light.   
      
     one experiment i did very early when starting out   
   with strawberries was using beans/soybean plants to   
   keep them along the edges of the garden for a season.   
   it worked pretty well.   
      
     most strawberry patches need to be redone after   
   three years anyways to keep the plants producing   
   well.  once you can see/feel that crown being really   
   extended you know it is time (at least for most   
   varieties i've taken care of - i'm not sure of   
   the habit of the alpine strawberries).  i just turn   
   them all under after picking out enough to replant.   
   it's pretty rare i don't have enough plants to   
   work with...   
      
     they are forest land edge plants that take   
   advantage of any clearings that happen from storms   
   or fires.  they produce the most in full light   
   and high organic content soils.  pick often and   
   remove all berries that are ripe even if they are   
   damaged and laying on the ground.  that way you   
   can avoid a lot of the fungal/bug problems and   
   won't need to use any sprays.   
      
     some diseases i've not seen yet, but we do get   
   black spots on the leaves when the plants have   
   gotten to the middle of summer.  the leaves will   
   die back and then when the next round of growth   
   happens the plants are fine.  i don't consider it   
   worth it to spray for a cosmetic issue.  all plants   
   go through stages and fungi are a natural means of   
   recycling that energy from the sun.   
      
     it will be interesting to see how the newly   
   redone patch will survive this winter.  my attempt   
   last year was too late and almost all the plants   
   didn't survive.  this year the plants had a few   
   months before the really cold weather to get   
   ready for the winter, but it has been a pretty   
   cold one...   
      
      
     songbird   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)