I made a long, narrow bed (1 foot wide) by the East side of the greenhouse. There is weed barrier below and perlite as a filler. I lay strawberry plants flat on the bottom before the filler went in, and then I poked onion sets into the top of the filler. The bed is only 3-4 inches deeps.
It appears to be working! The onion sets are now tall and strong, and the strawberry plants are just starting to break the surface! The idea was for the onions to get the light that they needed by growing above the strawberries, which would spread and cover the perlite in a solid mass.
It ALMOST did not come off, as strawberry plants were hard to find! Everybody had individually potted plants at a few dollars each, instead of the bundles!
I eventually bought bare root plants off of the shelf in the hardware store right next to the gladioulus bulbs. They failed. I THEN was able to get real, live plants from The Grass Pad.... the day before we left for our trip!!!!!
I thought that they would be fine in the fridge in their paper bag but they were not: they dried up something terrible!
I planted them anyways, and 3 plants have just broken the surface. I expect more in the next few days. Even if no more plants grow I can propagate these!
This success helps to balance out my no-dig spuds, which appear to be failing. In previous years the potatos would grow long sprouts while waiting to be planted, and I figured that I would throw woven weed barrior on top of them with just the tips poking out. I figured that potatos would form all along the sprouts.
Alas, the potatos have short, stubby sprouts this year and it is not working at ALL! I am going to plant them today as they are trying to spoil. I have no idea who will end up digging the spuds: probably whoever needs pocket money. More on that in another post.......
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