The Strawberry Bed

Day 21: A Year and a Day from My Garden

This strawberry bed was completely replanted last autumn.

I had removed all the old strawberry plants because the kikuyu grass had completely taken over. Husband dug out as much of it as humanly possible and I spent a small fortune on new organic strawberry plants. Strawberries sit high on the dirty dozen list, so I do prefer to grow and eat them organically if I can.

Then, just as the plants were reaching their peak, the storm hit.

Trees came down across the bed and afterwards the arborists had to walk all over it while removing branches.

And yet, look at it now.

The strawberries have sprung back to life and with them came all the babies, their runners stretching everywhere. There are enough new plants for me to divide and replant this week.

It should have filled me purely with joy, but while I worked away bringing the bed back to life and trying to aerate the heavily compacted soil, many tears fell too.

I think part of what has been so hard is that almost nothing could properly begin until the insurance process was settled. Nearly five months on and I am only now getting to the real clearing and removal.

The bean frame cleanup was next. I loved my bean frames.

This one is badly broken and the posts will need removing completely. I have already told husband I do not want it replaced.

That is where some of the grief and frustration sits at the moment.

He talks about replacing things, the bean frames, the She Shed, while part of me feels completely overwhelmed by the thought of rebuilding it all again.

It is surprisingly hard to stay on the same page through something like this. There have been arguments, tears, exhaustion, and today, if I am honest, a fair bit of anger too.

Chat tomorrow

Love Leanne