Strawberrry beds.

[mphenwood]

I've read somewhere that strawberrys should be roated every four years.

With that in mind I'm thinking of making a strawberry bed, divided into four, with strawberrys in three of the quarters and a companion crop in the fourth, then rotating the companion each year (if that makes sense). What should I grow in the fourth bed?. I want something that will 'clean' the soil and provide nutrient fort the next years strawberrys. Some sort of green manure makes sense, but i'd like to grow something I can eat. Any ideas.

Regards
MPHenwood

[Capsid]

Pretty much anything that you can grow and harvest in one season. Beetroot, lettuce, potatoes, peas, beans, courgettes.......

[Shadylane]

Dunno if I'm missing something here and being thick but are you rotating the strawberries in the same bed ie one quarter bed of strawberries into the next quarter? If so that's not rotating as you've already grown the same type of plant in the same patch. They need to be put into a position where there has been no strawberries for 3 (ish) years. Sorry if I've misunderstood

[Bigmallly]

My understanding is that the parent can fruit for 3 years in which time you can take runners from it. After the 3rd year the parent plant should be discarded & use the runners as the parent plants for further rotation. I am sure a more knowledgeable grape will be able to explain it better than me.

[zazen999]

I tried that, and by the end of the first season, the strawb runners took over the other 3 beds.

However, yes, you can do it if you are meticulous about where you let the runners settle. They have a knack of rooting out any spare soil and heading straight for it and rooting faster than you can say 'What the...'.

In year 1 you will have another crop in 3 beds, with the second bed taking the runners after mid summer. In year 2 you will have another crop in 2 beds, with the runners after mid summer. And just the one after that, with runners after midsummer.

However, once the first bed [which by then will have had strawbs in it for 3 years, and another crop in it for a year if you remove the strawbs at the end of the season] you might have to dig out the soil and replace it with fresh home made compost as the goodness will have been depleted by then. So, if you work that into your rotation then you should be ok.