Today's been a getting-things-done kind of day: some wood stacking, for one thing. We also dug up the older of the two strawberry beds, taking out all of the Honeoye, Cambridge Favourite, and Florence that we put in three years ago (and then lifted into raised beds). They've not fruited brilliantly this year, as you might expect, but the Cambridge and Florence have always disappointed. So, we've replaced them with 25 new ('fresh') Honeoyes, and we've taken the extra step of planting them through weed-suppressant membrane. That should help reduce weeds, but also prevent runners, which lead to a congested and confused bed. Combined with a bit more management of runners (ie, removing most, and deliberately potting the ones we want), this should see better yields.
As we're reusing the same bed, we dug out a good amount of soil, and replaced it from soil that's been in the vegetable garden (that is, un-strawberried), and mixed in plenty of compost. At the same time, I spread compost around the rhubarb: I'll probably add some more later in the winter.
Lastly: my new brushcutter (a Husqvarna 135R, which I have christened Sigrid (shorter than 'the brushcutter', and she's Swedish)) arrived this week, so I gave her a try out. I've trimmed the verge outside the house (with strimmer attachment), and tried out the blade for clearing the hillside. Barely made an impression, in some senses, as there's half an acre to get through and I only did ten minutes' work, but I'm confident it'll do the job well. Strimming the verge was considerably easier than the last time I did so, with an electric strimmer. But that's the advantage of a 1.4kW petrol brushcutter, compared to a 350W electric model, I suppose! The right tool for the job makes such a difference...
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