I can barely keep up with the garden. Every morning I go out to harvest strawberries, black and red currants. It's best to harvest in the morning as this is when the berries are at their peak of sweetness. Our strawberry patch started with a couple of plants and now has grown to the size of 4' by 20 feet. It's taking up so much space that we are planning to transplant the plants to the green roof of the garden shed. This will liberate more space for veggies next year.

After I harvest as many berries as I can carry I wash, cut and freeze them in zip lock bags. The currants are frozen as they are, but the strawberries are cut into thin slices so they are ready to go when I make pie or toss them into a fruit smoothie.

I pre-soaked some lettuce seeds and sowed them last night in a recycled sprouts container. To my surprise there was on little lettuce sprout standing tall this morning. The flourescent lights really help to accelerate the growing time. I turn the lights off at night and leave them on during the day for 12 to 16 hours.

I have to start thinking about transplanting the plants to new containers so I can continue the rotation of sowing new seeds. Also, there is a critical time for transplanting. The younger the plant the less stunned it will be from the move. If the root system is well established it can take the plant up to two weeks to accomadate the new home soil. From my readings, the best time is when the plant has grown a second set of leaves, or it's first true set of leaves. So, once this happens, I will transplant to coco pots or jiffy pots. I have found a recipe for a soil mix from the Square Foot Gardening book.
     1 part course vermiculite
     1 part screened peat moss
     1 part screened compost
     1 part good garden soil

Add two cups of organic fertilizer
    1 part bloodmeal
    2 parts bonemeal
    3 parts green sand
    4 parts composted leaf mold