Planting a Fig Tree & Strawberries
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Our garden is coming along very nicely this spring and aside from planting our potato tubers and various seedlings, we recently received a package of perishable live plants in the mail. Wiehan gets excited about bike parts arriving in the mail and I'm over the moon when dirt and plants arrive at our doorstep! We ordered 8 Virginia Native Strawberry plants, in 2-inch pots from Edible Landscaping, along with a Celeste Fig sapling in a 1 quart (1 liter) pot, for a total cost of $52.79. Check out the video documenting the process here!
The Celeste Fig sapling from Edible Landscaping recently arrived at our doorstep and has been planted in a pot.
Here’s a strawberry from a previous plant, ordered from Edible Landscaping, in 2017.
I didn't yet have a bed ready for the strawberries, so upon their arrival, I transplanted them from their small pots into temporary larger pots and gave them lots of water to help recover from their travels. The fig sapling went into a larger pot, which will most likely be its home for quite some time. I'll never forget the first time I ate a fresh fig. It was the summer of 2009 and I was working as an intern at the Smithsonian. One of the women in my department brought a container full of fresh figs from a tree in her backyard to share with the office. They were so juicy and delicious. Soon after that experience, I purchased a fig sapling from Claude Moore Colonial Farm, which sadly was permanently closed at the end of 2018. Also sadly, that fig tree has never produced fruit. Here's hoping the new sapling grows well and produces much fruit. My original fig tree was planted directly in the ground, so this time, I want to see how the new plant does in a pot.
Wiehan and I built two more garden boxes, one of which is dedicated to the strawberries. We gathered sticks, pine cones and leaves from the yard to fill the box halfway and the rest of the box was filled with our compost and topsoil mix. The strawberry plants were spaced approximately 2 feet (.6 meters) apart in the box, as they’ll need lots of room to send out runners. In the meantime, while they grow, I've also planted a few seeds from companion plants, including onions, marigolds and borage in the same box. It’s looking a little empty at the moment, but I'm looking forward to watching everything grow!
Unfortunately, we will have to wait awhile before enjoying strawberries from our garden. For a strawberry plant's first year, it's best to discourage fruiting, to allow the plant to put most of its energy into establishing its roots. So I'll be picking blossoms from the plants before they have a chance to fruit. But I’m sure it'll be well worth the wait! Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and my Mountain Road Life YouTube channel, so that you can watch our garden progress!
If your home only offers a small amount of space for plants, consider growing strawberries in a tiered pot or hanging planter. If you grow your own strawberries, tell us all about it in the comments below!
- Christin
