Time to Move the Strawberries

After four years in the same spot (at the base of the fence), it is time to create a new strawberry bed, but where? A good excuse for adding a bed! 

The area to the left will make a nice spot for a new strawberry bed.

Wherever they end up, they will be in place at least a few years, and they cannot precede or follow plants in the nightshade family (tomatoes, etc.), with whom they share diseases. These already have a touch of something, but they still produce well.



















Reading about strawberry diseases has not resulted in a diagnosis, but I think it is leaf blight (and not a terribly big deal).
I cannot find a definitive answer if I should transplant runners from these plants or buy entirely new plants, so I'm going to take my chances with runners. I think any problem has been a result of my letting this bed get too crowded and watering from above.
A new bed will make picking easier than this low spot along the fence, free up a new place to plant greens and beans, and allow me to start over with better spacing (meaning bigger berries).

Stay tuned for the new bed--to be planted in fall, a good time to transplant runners from the old beds. My next task will be to "renovate" this bed, i.e., chop off all of the leaves, and try to keep track of runners to transplant after summer wanes.