Strawberries

Planted into "towers" made out of plastic milk bottles stapled to a wooden strip, and cable tied through the handles. The first tower has a single hole per container, most have two, and the last one has three. Three is too many, two is better. They're still in good shape, despite having been in bright all day sunshine for nearly two years.

The first crop I tried in them was a variety of lettuces, which didn't work that well, presumably because of the heat.

They've taken a while to settle, but most now seem to be going for it. I've got several different varieties growing.

Every couple of days you need to scoop out the leaves developing inside the container so that they hang outside.

The drip irrigation tube leads into the top of the column. This is all pretty much hands off, but when a weed gets established inside one of these it's a real bugger to get it out.

I'm trying the more traditional strawberry cultivation method in a couple of tyres in the veggie garden, and in the holes in the concrete blocks around the asparagus beds. Biggest issue for me in the past with strawberries has been irrigation. While not quite a solved problem for me yet, it's a whole lot better and you can see it with the development of the plants, and fruit. It's going to be interesting how to expand all this once they start producing runners.

Update 2015/11/11:

Two healthy looking specimens bought in George yesterday. A toad which must have been hiding in them was a passenger back to Grahamstown. I need to work out where to put them.

Update 2015/11/18:

There you have it - a botanical name for a variety of garden strawberry... purchased from Kirstenbosch, and they should know.

FRAGARIA X ANANASSA TEMPTATION - F. Chiloensis x F. Virginiana (Rosaceae) "Garden Strawberry"

The plant itself ensconced in a tyre.

Update 2015/11/22:

Update 2015/12/06:

Update 2016/02/26:

Tomatoes in tyres propagating happily from runners.