Thrifty Thursday, Strawberry Plants On The Cheap

Don’t you love a good plant score?

A month or so ago Mr. Fix It came home with this hanging strawberry basket (poorly shown to the left of the photo) At the time I kinda looked at it cross eyed (although not ungrateful) I thought of all the berries I could have bought with what he spent on the basket..until I found out it was on clearance and  he nabbed it up. In the basket are 6 nice healthy plants with runners.

Knowing it would slow berry production I decided to let those runners grow. 

Less than half of the plants we set last year made it through the fall, and our strawberry bed now looks a bit like a raised bed with dirt and less than a dozen plants as an afterthought.  I think we were to late in the season for them to establish before the summers high heat & this would possibly be a an answer to replenishing the beds.  2 weeks ago, I attempted to root those babies & am happy to report they all “took”.  I checked this morning and they are all firmly rooted in their little pots.

A week or so later In the clearance section I found more plants.

Originally $15.00 a container & I was able to purchase both for less than $5.00. and an additional 3-4 plants large enough to place in the raised bed.

These were literally shoots that had just rooted to late to sell for the main growing season.  They were so new I dislodged one of the plants brushing the leaves placing them in the car. 

Right now they still don’t look much bigger than this & once I unpack the camera I’ll update the photos. 

I know for some that have strawberries these are a bit silly and not at all cost effective but for me they are compared to full pricing. I’m crossing my fingers they all make it and will provide us with lots of yummy berries next year.

Stay cool out there, todays going to be a hot one

Katie

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