Strawberry Transplants: Not for the Faint of Heart

 

I love having my kids help in the garden. This is the story of what can go wrong --but it has a happy ending.

 

We have a strawberry patch that needs to go. It is overrun by weeds and doesn't get much sun like it did a few years ago. I've also heard that strawberry patches should be moved every so often for a better strawberry yield.

Last fall I transplanted many plants to the unused sections of our seldom-used playground area. Amazingly, they survived the winter.

 

Then came the sad spring day when I was touring a college with my oldest while my husband and boys weeded the gardens at home. My husband texted, "Were the boys *supposed* to remove all the strawberries from the playground?"

 

I wanted to drive home immediately.

 

Despite efforts to replant the weeded plants, most died.

 

New project for me: transplant even more strawberries.

New project for the boys: build a fence from sticks.

 

 

Now it is clear to see that the corners of the playground are GARDENS. The little fence should keep out children, even if it doesn't work on cats.