Over the weekend I’ve been diligently working on filling my new garden boxes. I didn’t have enough material to fill all nine of them, but I made sure that I had at least one completely filled so that I could transplant my emerging strawberry plants.

Last year, I planted my strawberries in rows. They did okay… they lived, so that was good! I harvested a few strawberries, but I didn’t expect that many seeing as these were first year plants.

This year I decided that my strawberries would probably stand a better chance being planted in a raised bed rather than staying in the clay soil they were in. I dug up 37 strawberry plants, soaked and trimmed their roots, and moved them to their new home in the bed. I spaced them about 6″ apart. There are still about a dozen more in the ground, but I simply didn’t have room in the box for them.

This particular raised bed is 4′ x 6′ and 12 in. deep. I decided to fill it using the Lasagna method, as the materials cost me nothing. I layered like this:

A single layer of cardboard down first, soaked with the hose.

1-2 inches of composted horse manure/barn litter.

2-3 inches of straw/hay.

1-2 inches of composted horse manure/barn litter.

2-3 inches of crumbled leaves.

2-3 inches of composted horse manure/barn litter, mixed with top soil.

I wasn’t able to fill the box to the top, but it was close enough. I’m *hoping* this combination will do well. I simply used whatever free organic materials I had available to me. The boxes were constructed out of scrap lumber.

Once the strawberries were in the bed, I watered them well and mulched around each little plant with straw. I am anxious to watch them grow!