New Strawberry bed

[Adios Pantalones]

btuser- don't expect too much for a few mowe weeks. I have a couple plants with buds on them, but they are a weird variety

 

[SolarAndWood]

Agreed, we just started getting buds last week.

Finished the face of the retaining wall this morning. Next project is taming the raspberries. Hopefully it will be warm enough to get the tomatoes, peppers and cukes in this weekend.

 

[woodchip]

We harvested the asparagus this morning and had a bunch for dinner tonight...mmmm mmmm is right. Hopefully, this was the right year to start harvesting.

mmmmmmmmm = right year to start harvesting.

Just don't take too many, and they'll reward you for years and years

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I stop picking too early every year. I think they're getting spindly, I stop, then they go back at it full bore.

 

[Flatbedford]

AP, Can you share your asparagus with fluff recipe?

 

[Adios Pantalones]

LOL- it's there only for scale. I grabbed something that I thought everyone would relate to, then realized that Fluff is more common here in New England.

 

[Flatbedford]

Nothing better than a dollop of fluff in your hot coco.

 

[Delta-T]

Nothing better than a dollop of fluff in your hot coco.

except maybe a double shot of peppermint schnapps.....maybe.

 

[Flatbedford]

Funny thing is that my wife always made hot coco for my son after snow shoveling. I always wanted a beer.

 

[Delta-T]

Funny thing is that my wife always made hot coco for my son after snow shoveling. I always wanted a beer.

I'm not so sure that fluff works the same in beer...I await some feedback on this from any of the beer drinkers in the house.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

By the time I'm done snowblowing/shoveling, I'm normally way too hot for cocoa. The outside temp really doesn't matter at that point.

 

[Flatbedford]

By the time I'm done snowblowing/shoveling, I'm normally way too hot for cocoa. The outside temp really doesn't matter at that point.

Yup. Beer time.

 

[SolarAndWood]

As long as we are talking about beer:

All-Grain - Strawberry Alarm Clock v3.0 (Strawberry Blonde)
Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: S-04
Yeast Starter: 1 packet
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.050
Final Gravity: 1.010
IBU: 17.1
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 4.9 SRM
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 10 days @ 65F
Additional Fermentation: Cold Crash 3 days
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 21 days @ 70F
Tasting Notes: Smooth light body with a tiny bit of tartness that gives the beer a crisp finish.

EDIT: This recipe won a gold medal at Pacific Brewer's Cup 2009.

I ended up with 4.8 gallons of beer in bottles after this process, although on previous batches where I had pureed the strawberries I ended up spot-on 5 gallons. So, maybe the strawberries soaked up some of the volume? I probably will try to get another .25 gallons boil volume next time to account for this.

Recipe: Strawberry Alarm Clock v3.0
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.41 gal
Estimated OG: 1.054 SG
Estimated Color: 4.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 17.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item
5.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
4.00 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 15L (15.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)
0.25 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
1.00 oz Willamette [4.80 %] (60 min)
0.50 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min)
4.00 lb Strawberries (Secondary 3.0 weeks)
1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale

 

[SolarAndWood]

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Other than being overrun by morning glories and crab grass, I am very pleased with the progress of the new bed. I didn't think the plants on the face of the wall would make it.

 

[thewoodlands]

Solar they look great.


zap

 

[bogydave]

WOW
Look GREAT
Raspberries too. When will there be ripe berries (both?)

 

[woodchip]

They look excellent, we are eating our strawberries here at the moment, they always coincide with the Wimbledon tennis championships, strawberries and cream in the afternoon whilst watching Mardy Fish against Nadal!

Sadly, that was one fish that got grilled.......... ;-)

 

[SolarAndWood]

Thanks Zap.

Dave, the strawberries are done, 34 gallons in total. The raspberries started this week, current count sits at 5 gallons. Those wooden stakes mark the blueberry bushes. Our layout leaves a little to be desired, we are going to have to move them this Fall.

Sounds like a nice way to spend the afternoon woodchip. Wimbledon is on a little early here for ice cream.

 

[btuser]

How low do you cut the 2nd year raspberry canes? I'm growing a set in between some rock and thought to myself "how the heck am I going to prune this mess?".

 

[lukem]

Thanks Zap.

Dave, the strawberries are done, 34 gallons in total. The raspberries started this week, current count sits at 5 gallons. Those wooden stakes mark the blueberry bushes. Our layout leaves a little to be desired, we are going to have to move them this Fall.

Solar,

I recently put in a bed of raspberries...put in about 30 plants. Did you put anything in for them to climb on? Haven't decided what I'm going to do yet...either do nothing or set a couple posts and run a couple courses of wire. They pushed off a lot of growth this year so I should have a good crop next year.

Strawberries really grow quickly. I bought 25 plants for my dad last spring. He thinned them out this summer and easily removed 150 plants...and probably has twice that left. He mulched them with pine straw and I'm wondering if that's what kicked them into high gear.

We have a (one) transparent apple tree that was loaded this year. We made about 20 gallons of applesauce and 20 pie fillings yesterday.

 

[SolarAndWood]

How low do you cut the 2nd year raspberry canes? I'm growing a set in between some rock and thought to myself "how the heck am I going to prune this mess?".

I'd mow it down the best you can and not worry about it but I am no expert. Here is Cornell's guide (broken link removed to http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/fruit/homefruit/6brambles.pdf)

 

[SolarAndWood]

Did you put anything in for them to climb on? Haven't decided what I'm going to do yet...either do nothing or set a couple posts and run a couple courses of wire. They pushed off a lot of growth this year so I should have a good crop next year.

I did but it is grossly inadequate. I put in 4 foot pipe and then ran two courses of galvanized on it. I am going to replace it with 8 foot t-posts.


I've had the same experience with strawberries as your dad's. We started with 75 and I gave a few hundred away this year before tilling under the rest of the sprawl. That was in addition to my new bed.

 

[SolarAndWood]

It appears I am winning the war. The runners outnumbered the morning glories that I had to pull this morning by about 3 to 1.