Bedding down with the Strawberries

We gave the strawberries alot of TLC this weekend. There's six plants altogether and each plant has alot of fruit already, most of them small and very much of the green variety but this cheeky chappy is blushing to say the least!

We read in our Alan T book that you need to give the plants a pillow of straw, so the actual berries don't come into contact with the ground, otherwise they'll go mouldy. So as you can see from the piccie above we duly followed instructions. We've also netted them off as the birds will go crazy over the straw and that'll draw their attention to the berries which they'll devour in an afternoon if they get their own way. Also to note, Alan mentions that you should water around the plants and try not to get the fruit wet, as again this could make them go mouldy, so be extra careful with your watering.

So, fingers crossed it could be perfect timing. A bowl of freshly picked, homegrown strawberries as we sit down to watch Andy Murray beat Roger Federer in the Wimbeldon final. Well, I'll put a bet on half of that coming true...