Q&A

EDITOR'S NOTE:
Last issue, one of our reader farmers helped us answer a question about controlling grassy and broadleaf weeds in a strawberry patch planted in black plastic. That farmer suggested stale bedding—disturbing the planting area so weed seed germinates and then hoeing it off before planting to reduce weed pressure. A couple of other readers have since weighed in with their own suggestions.

NF

DEAR NEW FARM:
Just another suggestion for the farmer strawberry plants overrun by weeds. We grow organic strawberries in New Zealand in double rows, with 30x30cm spacing on plastic. Between the plastic, we sow white clover, which we mow with an ordinary lawnmower.

Linda Kerr,
New Zealand

DEAR NEW FARM:
In response to the question about weeds in a strawberry-plastic system: Another possible method of keeping weeds from growing through the hole cut into plastic for the plant is to use a mixture of Kaolin clay and weed-free soil applied around the plant after planting. Dr. Fumi Takeda at the USDA in West Virginia has been trying this.

Mike Newell
Maryland

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