Wednesday 30 March 2011

Inherited Strawberries


Last year M's father sadly passed away. He was a keen gardener and every trip to visit him included a tour through his immaculate garden and whatever veggies he had growing. As someone who went from never growing anything to growing on an allotment scale during the time I knew him these visits and his advice were as invaluable as they were inspiring. It was seeing how productive his greenhouse was for example that inspired us to get ours.

On one of the last visits we made before the end, when he was too ill to do the garden tour himself, his wife gave us a tray of strawberry plants that he'd potted up from last years runners and now needed a home. We took them back with us, potted them up in their own special blue tub and when he sadly passed a few weeks later we made a promise that we'd use them to populate a proper strawberry bed on the allotment in his memory.



So, when they started giving off runners at the end of last year we potted as many of them up as we could and left them over the winter to grow. At the weekend we cleared a smallish area on the plot and last night we took the baby plants up and planted them in their new home.


Later this year we'll take more runners from the originals and these new plants and next year add these to the strawberry bed until we've filled the space and have enough plants to enjoy a bumper harvest for years to come. I like to think he'd have approved.

Thanks Derek.

6 comments:

allot of veg said...

Hi thanks for popping over to my blog. I love plants and things with memories. We always plant beans on May 10th because Dad said so and I still use either his tools or tools he bought for me. Your plot definitely looks a lot tidier than mine!

Janet/Plantaliscious said...

I think he'd be hugely chuffed to see your strawberry bed, what a lovely way to remember him.

Jo said...

What a fitting way to remember him. It's so inspiring when you're a novice gardener and there's someone who can show you how things are done and offer advice.

Sue Garrett said...

Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. It's always extra special having plants that have a sentimental value - you can think of him when you are eating your bowls of strawberries and cream

Paul and Melanie said...

Thanks all, fingers crossed they do ok, I was a bit worries as I couldn't water them in (our allotment water supply doesn't get turned on till the weekend) but thankfully (?) we had a load of rain yesterday that perked them up :)

john bain said...

Lovely way to remember a loved one. Better than a tree which can be a bit tough and inedible! Carry on with the good work and your nice blog.