Planting Strawberries

I had been debating on whether or not I wanted to plant strawberries here.  I am only renting this property, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to me to invest the time and money into planting a perenial crop. However, I came across a good deal at the local farm supply store where I could buy a bundle of 10 bareroot strawberries for $5, so I bought two bundles.  I don't think I would be too sad over losing a $10 investment when I move away, and I might just get my money's worth out of them before I go.  If all goes well, I might even be able to take a few daughter plants with me if I time it right.

I bought two different varieties of strawberry.  One is a June bearing variety called Honeoye.  I like June bearing varieties because they make big, juicy berries.  The other variety is called Ozark Beauty.  These are an everbearing variety which means that I should get two crops from these plants: one in June and a second crop in the fall.  These berries won't be as large as the June bearing variety, but getting extra strawberries (even if they are smaller) is never a bad thing!

I planted each kind in their own row in an arc around one side of the pine tree.  I chose this location because strawberries like slightly acidic soils and pine trees tend to create that acidic environment.  The other reason I chose this location was because it was close to the main garden and it would be very easy to run my drip irrigation to these beds as well.  I didn't do any major soil prep for this bed since it wasn't in the original plan.  I basically used a hoe to open up two trenches and then planted the strawberry plants about one foot apart down the row.  After covering up the roots I installed some drip irrigation lines for each trench and gave all the plants a good soaking.  Now all I have to do is wait for them to start growing!