Bare-root berry plants will sweeten your summer
Sophia Markoulakis, Special to The Chronicle
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
If January's warm weather didn't prompt you to get out and start poking around in the garden, then maybe the prospect of saving a considerable amount of money will. I'm talking about bare-root plants, those often-packaged deciduous bundles that cost twice as much during other times of the year when not in their dormant state. So pick your space wisely, prep the soil and get shopping.
Strawberries
The fact that a single bare-root plant costs less than a basket of pesticide-laden strawberries at the supermarket is almost comical. According to "The Edible Garden," (Sunset Publishing, 2005), strawberries are among the easiest edibles to grow but do require well-drained, rich organic soil with a pH no higher than 6.5, light feeding after harvest and consistent watering.
Avoid planting in areas where strawberries, tomatoes, raspberries, potatoes, peppers or eggplants have been planted in the past three years to lessen your chances of verticillium wilt (this applies to raspberries and blackberries as well).
The most commonly found varieties are June-bearing, which produce one crop of big berries in early summer, and ever-bearing, which produce several crops of smaller fruit throughout the summer. Both perform well in the Bay Area.
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