Defensive Gardening

I love strawberries. I love them in salads. I love them in cake. On cereal. Or just plain. In my garden, not so much.

Every year, the round green leaves of my strawberry plants are the first to pop-up and vine out in my garden bed. I have tried to relocate these invaders to pots, yet they still make their way back into the raised vegetable garden. Commanding a bit more real estate than they should, they flower and bud with the promise of a juicy red harvest. Only to disappear right before I come to pick them. I feel like Charlie Brown and the ever illusive football he attempts to kick.

This year is going to be different. I have developed a new strawberry defense system.
Step 1: Create a "forest" around the plants to foil attacks from above.
I left some dead, woody plants ( dill & pepper ) so that if a bird swooped in they would get poked by a stick. I also have a forest of fresh dill that helps hide the ripening berries.

Step 2: Create a border of Garden Animals. I gathered up all my bunnies and turtles to make a menacing gauntlet to scare off chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits and any other critter that normally approaches from the ground.

Step 3: Gather up any empty spare clay pots for the ripening fruit to overhang, creating another layer of protection. Fortunately I have tons of these, primarily from 8 years of Mother's Day gifts that the kids created at school.

So far it seems to be working pretty well. I have had about a dozen, delicious strawberries so far with more on the way!