Category Archives: Kentucky

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Herb Bed

I needed some place to put the herbs that I had been gathering in containers over the last 5 years so I decided a strip next to the back patio (and just outside the kitchen door) was as good a place as any. So far I have spearmint, chocolate mint, valerian, St. John’s wort, borage, chives, bee balm, thyme, parsley, basil, sage, echinacea, calendula, yarrow, garlic, chamomile and oregano. I am sure there are others that I am forgetting.

Also visible in the photo are my two Interlaken grapes in the foreground in half barrels, the blueberries covered for the birds (and the cicadas), and a Miss Kim lilac in the orange barrel.

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Strawberries – Yr 2

Strawberry bed 2004
Strawberries in bloom – May 4, 2004

The strawberries are in full bloom. What started out as 50 plants in 2003 ended up as a solid mass (15’x25′) of plants by spring of 2004. These June bearers came from Southern States Coop. I wish I could remember which variety they were.

Our first strawberry season is over. Many were saved in the freezer, eaten fresh and a few were lost due to the rains that kept us out of the bed. I didn’t get them covered but I don’t believe we lost too many to the birds. The cicadas were out this year and the birds are feasting on them instead. I have noticed that even the mulberry tree that is usually harvested as it ripens is loaded with ripe berries.

The rejuvination consisted of mowing the bed on the highest mower setting, tilling, fertilizing and laying straw. The mowing helped to show where last years rows were. These are the areas that were tilled, fertilized and mulched. I then gave the remaining plants a foliar feed with some Peters