A late winter storm in our area left devastation behind. Apple orchards that were in bloom are now barren. Many types of berries will not be coming to fruit this year. The fall foods and even the early summer garden items are dead unless they were below ground during the snow and several days of hard freeze. Those were items I planned to can. To eat straight from the garden. To support my family throughout the year. They are all gone in the blink of an eye.
I have to admit I was not smiling when the snow came. Nor was I happy that the hard freeze lasted for days so even items that were covered in hay and grass clippings were not able to make it. I was down right angry. That is good food gone to waste. Yet my faith in the Lord tells me that He would not waste. He would not destroy my garden in spite. There was a silver lining I was missing. I just had to look hard enough.
Then last week while working on replanting the garden with the kids I stumbled on the silver lining. The perennial plants that I lost the flowers and buds on are growing like crazy. Without the urge to fruit they are now growing in size and sprouting new shoots vigorously!
That is my silver lining. This will be a year of growth!
Strawberry Plant
I am going to take these perennials like my strawberries and encourage them to send off strong healthy shoots. Strawberries already love to do that. If we have a crop of strawberries on the vine I will actively stop that. I cut off all shoots to keep the energy going towards the fruits. This year the fruits are gone so I am going to encourage as many off shoots as possible. So far Each individual plant has given off 3-5 shoots that are healthy.
When the are long enough to reach a pot of dirt I carefully pin them into the pot. From there they will naturally grow roots and flourish. Then when towards the end of July (I think that will be long enough) and the root system is set. I will cut the vine connecting the little plant-let to the main plant. Voile more strawberry plants for next spring!
This same idea can be used for many plants and perineals. The cold snap even forced some of my early spring foods into seed. I am going to carefully collect the seeds, encourage the plants, and now focus on fast growing summer plants.
Instead of being a sour puss about the food we aren’t going to get this year. I rejoice in the multiplication of the plants. Next year will be a tremendous year with all these strong, healthy, new plants!
**Understand I live in the northern half of the US. Gardening and weather in your area may be totally different. I do hope that I encourage you though to think outside the box to find ways to make garden disasters into garden success!**
Gardening is always a learning experience, that’s for sure!