On Saturday I found a large Strawberry Jar for sale on our village jumble trail. Although I know very little about gardening, I’m working on learning more and I’ve always loved the look of strawberry jars brimming with healthy plants and fruit. I therefore couldn’t resist buying the jar for £1.
Fortuitously, I then discovered another villager selling strawberry plants. Even more fortuitously she told me I could have them for free…
Even more fortuitously than that, a lady I’ve become friends with over the last year, who used to be a head gardener, was popping round that evening for a glass of wine and to give us some advice on our fruit trees. I showed her my planter and she told me how to plant it.
Here’s what she told me to do….
Break up some old polystyrene packaging and put it in the bottom…
Drill some holes in an old bit of drainpipe and put it in the centre as I filled it with earth and compost – the drainpipe then waters the lower plants more easily.
I only had some thin plastic piping, left here by the previous residents, so I cut it in three and drilled holes in each piece.
I spread it around the pot since I figured that would distribute the water more evenly…
She told me to put each plant in a cone and hang it in the hole while I filled it with earth then remove the paper cone. I did try this, but gave up since there were enough roots on the plants to make it equally easy to hang the plants on their own in the holes as I filled it.
I then watered it.
All in all it took me an hour and a half to plant/fill. So much soil/compost!
My friend also told me to water it every couple of weeks with a low nitrogen food to encourage the roots to grow well before winter.
And there you have it, my strawberry jar for £1!
When I sent my friend my pic, she said it should be put in a shady place to prevent evaporation.
I told her it was too heavy to move so I’d planted it up in a sunny spot to help the fruit ripen in the summer.
She said simply put a golf umbrella over it on sunny days. What a clever lady!
Hopefully I’m on my way to having one of those beautiful jars lush with strawberry plants and fruits. I’ll keep you posted.
Until next time,
Bekki x
Dartmoor Creative 
Lucky you, what a find! I hope your strawberries grow big and healthy 🙂
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I was very pleased. Fingers cross for big, healthy and lots of strawberries.
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Lots of fortuitousness for you at the jumble sale.
When the strawberries grow, they are just at handy dog height. I don’t know whether Harry is a fruit lover but mine are. Just saying.
I’m messing with orchids at the moment. I love them in pots in the house, they last for ages and I’m learning how to make them last even longer. Get us with our green fingers! 🌱
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Ha Ha! Hicks was definitely into pick your own.. Planning on netting them against the birds though, so hopefully that will keep him away.
I’m definitely the kiss of death to orchids. You definitely have me licked there.
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Clearly there is a plan being cooked to ensure you have all the help you need to get growing – this is so cool! The trouble with clay pots, while they look gorgeous, is indeed the drying factor. I learned to line mine entirely with strong plastic bags, piercing holes for drainage at the bottom, then the ‘styrene bits, soil, compost, plants etc etc. I could very often get two years out of one pot before needing to pot up again. Happy growing ❤
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Yes, clearly the universe is taking very good care of us. So much care that’s actually a plastic jar 🙂
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Lol!
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🙂
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How fab! This is something I should do in my little back yard. Oneday! X
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I know, never enough hours 😦
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I am already imagining your strawberries and cream.
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🙂 I’m trying not to think about it as they’ll be a while – if it works!
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Think about those strawberry teas to come 😊
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🙂
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heaps of top tips from your neighbour there. Especially the pipes.
Do you have a wormery ? We* have one as well as our regular compost bins, there’s liquid fertiliser that comes from the base as a by product (We* call it Worm-Wee) and it’s way better than the feed you can buy, albeit rather stinky. We* store it in plastic milk bottles. We* used to use wine bottles, but one year they froze and expanded, and then of course exploded. If we* hadn’t had them stacked within a box in the shed, it would have been awful!
*MrG. I class that as one of his duties, coz, you you, sugar and spice / puppie dog tails 😉
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We don’t, but I have heard about and was planning on having a chat with my gardener friend about them when it occurred to me.
Ha ha! Exploding worm wee – sounds delightful 🙂
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I managed to water my foot once. I actually had to toss that pair of trainers (to be fair, they were my least favourite pair of allotment trainers, so not a huge loss) because I couldn’t get the stench out, and people actually turned to look at me when I wore them). The compost from the wormery is incredible – really fine, and perfect for sowing. Nothing like the standard compost from a regular bin, no matter how good that is.
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Now you definitely have my attention – what a great way to deal with things you don’t want to wear but feel have too much wear left in them to throw away 🙂
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Good luck with having a jar of yummy strawberries. Now to get that cow to have fresh cream !!
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Thank you, Ha ha! Not so keen on having a cow in the garden 🙂
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