Strawberries
2011 and 2012

In 2011, we planted strawberries from 50 plants.  They are "Mara des Bois" (that's French - pronounced "Mah Rah day Bwa".  This is a variety well known in Europe but just beginning to be known here.  The flavor is amazing - it tastes the way you expect supermarket berries to taste but they never do.  There is almost a strawberry candy flavor, with a bit of a tang.  Our plants made lots of strawberries - from a couple of berries to a dishful each day from the end of June to October.  (Frost was late this year.)
There are more pictures at:  http://muddleaged.blogspot.com/2011/06/strawberries-and-cream.html

Mara des Bois strawberry plant
These make a ton of runners, so D has made eleven 14 foot beds.  But perhaps that's not enough. . .

This year, we will try something new.  Mara Des Bois is a hybrid.  The new ones will be alpines.

We got seeds of four varieties from The Strawberry Store.  We have found their website to be a wealth of information.

Until ours fruit, we won't have pictures, so I have borrowed these from the Strawberry Store.
The first seeds we planted are Mignonette.The seeds are much smaller than poppyseeds - plus they got static electricity, and when D tried to pick them up with tweezers, they jumped away.  Quite amusing for the observer, but perhaps not so the planter!  They took about three weeks to come up.  
These are three weeks after planting (on January 12).
There are fifteen up in each container:

The containers (from take-outs) have potting soil.  We kept the lids on until we thought they had all germinated.
As frugal gardeners, the next step is into individual pots (from Chobani yogurt).

We had so much fun watching the Mignonette that D ordered three more:

These tiny things are Alexandria (Photo by TheStrawberryStore).

These little ones are Fragola Di Bosco  (Photo by TheStrawberryStore).

And we also ordered a "white" strawberry.  The forums suggest that critters do not eat the white ones. . . We'll see. . .
(Photo by TheStrawberryStore).
This one is called Yellow Wonder.

These will be planted in a bed that had squash last year, and the year before was a pile of composting horse manure.


Check back this summer - I should have changed the pictures, I hope, and I should be able to report the results of our experiments.
Published 2/2/12


Someday I will fix the links. . . . .

This has been a spring and summer of getting around. 2005

You can see those pictures:
We're off to Maine for a week of pictures and lobster!  Day 5
The New York State Fair - lots of chickens and other animals.
A search for Rexford Falls and finding the Sherburne Historic District.
Antique Firetrucks in Liverpool.
Balloons at the Spiedie Fest.
A trip to Utica to see Munson-Williams-Proctor Museum and Fountain Elms
We rented a canoe at Nathaniel Cole Park.

A visit to Hanford Mills and the Lumberjack Show
Hancock Shaker Village.
A trip to Pixley Falls and Delta Lake.
We watched them set up the Big Top at the Circus
We went to the Utica Zoo
Then we went to the Syracuse Zoo
Wickwire House in Cortland
A trip to babysit the grandkids
A visit to Boston to see a Red Sox Game
Drive through Edmeston area to see the animals
Ithaca Herbert F. Johnson museum trip
Skaneateles
And there are lots of pictures of our trip out west.


2006
 travel to
Texas
Texas Day 1 San Antonio to Pearsall
Texas Day 2 Pearsall to Laredo
Texas Day 3 Laredo to Brownsville
Texas Day 4 South Padre Island

Texas Signs amused us
More signs.

There were  interesting critters in Texas.

Art Museum at Vassar



Mid Atlantic:  
Longwood Gardens
Assateague
Longwood Fountains
Longwood Flowers
Winterthur
Winterthur Silver
Winterthur Children's Park



Old Stone Fort, Schoharie, NY
Cherry Valley, New York
CMOG  Corning Museum of Glass -


Hot adventures
from other summers:

Chittenango Falls
Fort Stanwix
Carousels


Some odds and ends:

Norwich's first PumpkinFest
2010
Water dog.
Tommy has toys to play with.
Tommy loves chewing shoelaces.
Tommy arrives on Valentine's Day 2010.

2009
Celebrating Christmas 2009.
Yorkshire pudding is fun to watch!
And so are biscuits.
Leslie's new toy has arrived.
Oh, oh, cluck, cluck.


2009
We saw some very unusual clouds - altocumulus undulatus.
The cool of autumn brings a taste for bean soup.
and biscuits.
We pressed apples for cider.

Then
Peri came for a visit.
Frankie came to visit.
Hubbardsville Mall is a destination.
Frankie and Grandpa enjoy a water fight.
New Years Day sundog.
A Balloon Chase is always fun.


2008
Frankie plays LaCrosse.  And we see the second game.
The ballet recital features Peri!
Candy graduates with a BS/RN.

Gardens:  
Then there was a new
moth.   (Eight spotted forester)
A hailstorm surprised us in June.
The daffodils are in bloom in April.
In May, it's tulips and bleeding heart. And pinks and purples.
And weeds!!

Tomatoes are ready to start.
And there are beans.
So are onions.


Spring finds us in Maryland and Delaware.
New Castle, Delaware, is a quaint river town.  
may not be published yet.
The flowers were lovely.  

And so were the birds and other animals.
Longwood Gardens has opened it's Children's Indoor Garden with wonderful whimsical fountains.
Oh, my, there are orchids!

Fall trip to Vermont and New Hampshire.

2007
Our trip to Baltimore and Washington.
Baltimore people watching
Baltimore Architecture
Baltimore Orioles game
we're off to Washington, DC
Washington flowers are here
American Indian museum
Fireworks on the Fourth of July



Garden - heirloom tomatoes
     Garden in June
We made Dill Pickles
And we picked blueberries and made blueberry buckle and cobbler.

We love the minimalist (NY Times) no-knead bread.

In July the daylilies are blooming

B-Mets game
A strange vine appeared
    It's carrion flower - or Jacob's ladder.
We went to Meredith Dairy Days
Downy Woodpecker feeds its baby.



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Home

Other interests: 

House and Garden

Tomatoes

No Knead Bread


daffodil 3
globe thistle
Candy's birthday present

 Critters
butterflies
Seasons 
Winter 
Spring
Summer
Fall
Storm

October Snow

Aurora

sundog

We saw some very unusual clouds - altocumulus undulatus.
Oxford 
Oxford House
Tree Disaster
In Autumn    Before/After Exterior

Cazenovia
Stone Quarry Hill Art Park  2

kids on the swing






  Send comments, please.  We love to hear from folks.

 


 Send comments, please.  We love to hear from folks.