Time To Get Gardening?

I don't know if it's safe to start planting anything yet... I'm still not ready to put away the snow shovel, ha ha. But I was outside today, and inspired by these signs of spring... a strawberry plant starting to sprout and garlic shoots standing up...

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Preparing Strawberries For Winter

OK... I got the mulch part right, but apparently I trimmed them too soon.

Preparing strawberries for winter involves little more than covering them with hay or some other breathable mulch that will give them some protection from the frost.

I trimmed mine as well, but I'm reading now that this is not always beneficial, as this can stimulate new growth which can be damaged by the cold (makes sense).

Oops ;-) Next time I'll do some research before heading outside with my pruning shears...

Sad Strawberries

It's a good thing I'm not living off my strawberry crop, that's for sure:

Finally... strawberries!!!

Only two so far, but it's a start. I was beginning to think the plants would never produce fruit.
I wish now that I'd bought more (I have eight plants - six in pots and two in the main garden).

What I really need is more space!! This is ironic considering that we live on a lot that is almost double sized - you could fit another house behind ours. We have lots of kid stuff everywhere: swings, slide, sandbox, trampoline, playhouse, etc. I'm not the only person who lives here, so I can't just convert the back yard into one huge garden (lol, can you imagine!!).

As I write this, I'm looking out the window, trying to decide which corners of the yard I can take over and plant more food in...

Arrrgh...

We were at Canadian Tire today with the car, and I didn't even think to check... I called later and found out that they have strawberry plants and potted blueberry bushes (they should call that place Canadian Everything).

I'm going to walk back there tomorrow while A is in school... I'll take J in the double stroller and load up the extra seat with plants. I could have loaded up the car with the plants today had I known, but the upside is that now I'll get some extra exercise in. See now I don't feel so bad about the ice cream I just ate.

Ah... strawberries!! Yum. I've been wanting to grow them for ages and keep forgetting at the beginning of each season. Supposedly the commercial strawberries have really bad pesticides - more so than average. You can always buy organic of course, but growing your own is, I think, the best option.

Wish me luck... hopefully there are still some good ones left tomorrow!