Covering and planting the first strawberries

Friday 30th November
Finally it stopped raining so I got down the plot to carry on working on the new Strawberry bed.
First I collected a couple of barrow-loads of compost from a nearby bed and spread it over the new bed.
I had brought the landscape fabric and, again folding the edges in to form a hem as on the compost bins, I then stapled it over the bed taking care not to stretch it too much.
Then, using the lines in the fabric as a guide, I cut 4 inch slits at one foot intervals down the centre and then down each side lined up with the middle of the spaces between the slits of the centre line. (Not a good description but hopefully you can see the layout in the photo!)

​Then I planted 9 'Mara De Bois' strawberry plants in the first 3 rows, first extending each slit into a cross with my snips - as in the photo.
With the plants in place, I dug out the bulk of the 'Elsanta' strawberries leaving only those that I was unsure of which variety they were. I took them home to sort and prepare for planting next to the 'Mara de Bois'.
To finish I lifted a few leeks, one of which had split and was useless, and 4 small parsnips to take home.