Video of our No-till Ruth Stout-style Strawberry Patch

This may seem pretty basic to some of you but I thought I'd post this because I think its one thing to read about something, and quite another to see it.

Newly planted runners- 4 mins
http://www.youtube.com/user/GreenshireEcoFarm#p/a/u/1/MSP8K0MYx_g

Mature strawberry bed- 2 mins
http://www.youtube.com/user/GreenshireEcoFarm#p/a/u/0/OO78c14vp1g

Thank you Travis.  Great vids.  Ruth Stout is how I became really interested in vegetable gardening.  She was like my marijuana, Bartholomew was my pills, Hemenway was my ecstasy, Sepp is my crack.  I haven't even gotten to the really hard stuff yet - Mollison.  Baby steps, right? But yeah, Ruth was my gateway drug.

I enjoy the bucket tip. makes sense that the plant would focus on root growth and benefit from the increased humidity, right?

I have a strawberry plant which is way to thick, we are in zone 5 here. I here people say to mow them back in the fall. should I mow them first then try to transplant? would the transplants take without leaves and overnight frost temperatures?

only reason I want to do it this way it is should be easier to find each separate plant this way with the leaves out of my way.

Charles: Thats funny  I never thought of it in those terms but it does fit. I'm pretty addicted to this stuff too.

Casey: Putting buckets/pots on transplants helps them tremendously, both in the ways that you mention, as well as keeping wind and sun from dehydrating the plant. Just be sure to take the covers off after 2-3 days or they may start to turn yellow.

Nice videos Travis!

I like the bucket tip. I've never thought of that. Thanks!

Two things: 1. Doesn't the sun cause the temperatures inside the bucket to rise quite quickly and drastically? Is it not a concern?
2. Wouldn't clear, see-through bucket be better?

Thanks for your answers.
Keep up the good work!

Cheers

Ah, I should have mentioned that the colour of the bucket/pot makes a difference. Maybe I should redo the video...

If you use something that is light coloured like white or tan, enough sunlight is reflected off so that it doesn't get too hot for the plants inside. I've used black and dark green covers and have fried plants.

Yikes!  A clear bucket?  That would allow all of the light, and heat IN, with no escape.

In  a cool climate, you might want a dark bucket to capture/retain heat.  In warm weather, a white bucket will retain less heat (and if it is hot/humid, you may need to "vent" it every few hours).

Think of the bucket as a mini-greenhouse: it can protect the seedling from the elements, but it may also enhance the elements.  Your use of buckets should be determined by what your overall goal is.

For all of us Ruth Stout fans, have you seen my other post about her?

https://permies.com/bb/index.php?topic=10360.0

John Polk wrote:
Yikes!  A clear bucket?  That would allow all of the light, and heat IN, with no escape.

In  a cool climate, you might want a dark bucket to capture/retain heat.  In warm weather, a white bucket will retain less heat (and if it is hot/humid, you may need to "vent" it every few hours).

Clear buckets are to be avoided in my experience. I've used 2 litre pop bottles with the bottom cut out and no cap, and my plants fried.

I would consider my area as a cool climate, and dark buckets made it too hot for the transplants. I haven't tried this during the early cold spring, or late fall though. Only the warm parts of the year.

nice videos Travis, inspiring

Thanks Leif. Glad to contribute. I'll be posting some more in-depth garden tour videos soon. My better half is in the midst of editing them.