Battleangel | Personal

The last strawberry has been picked and the last potato has been unearthed. Produce was considerably lower than last year for some reason. Not that it’s such a big deal when you’re growing for fun on an amateur level. But you’d think that partial crop rotation (potatoes for strawberries) would have been enough.

Well, one thing I can think of in the case of the potatoes is that the potato soil was previously uncultivated, and poorly fertilized last fall and that half of the strawberry plants have been cultivated for at least two to three years. Since I got them for free and had to scavenge the plants it is hard to know the exact age. But strawberries start to decline already after a year or two and have to be replaced. Especially if one allows for runners to form. Plus I suspect the new strawberry plants that were set last year didn’t really have to time to root themselves properly.