I'll be the first to admit that this week's post is a complete digression from our usual discussion of indoor gardening.  This week, I've decided to mention something that doesn't get a lot of coverage around here... soil gardening.

Admittedly, we don't do a lot of soil gardening anymore.  We've switched to almost exclusively hydroponic growing... With one notable exception.  We have a strawberry patch on the property.  It's fairly old at this point (about five years).  Additionally, the plants are very strong and rooted.  Most people don't think that strawberry plants can survive the winter; but this myth is highly overrated.  Our strawberries winter every year.  For reference, we live in Delaware.  Delaware is a small northern state.  Although our winters aren't Siberian, they certainly aren't Florida either.  Freezing temperatures are the norm, with lows in the single digits.

Valiently, our strawberries return every year.  We really don't make a lot of accomodations for them. They stay in place, uncovered, through the winter months.  The only real attention that the strawberries receive is some hydroponic nutrients and some sugar precursors (Sugar Daddy) to make the fruits sweeter.

Here's a recent photo of some of the fruit, taken by the wife:

Additionally, one more angle:

Do remember though... Soil gardening isn't without troubles.  Thus far, our two biggest problems are slugs and small dogs.  Our dogs have decided that they like strawberries, and sadly, our dachshund lives at exactly strawberry level.

A photo of the usual suspect:

Lastly, I've recently added a new article...   Wheatgrass Yield Calculations.  If you've ever wanted to know how much you need to plant; this one's for you.