Steve B wrote:
We bought some killer one gallon strawberry plants the other day. They all
have strawberries on them, some ripe.

I want to grow a bunch of them. I have four 8' railroad ties. OLD
railroad ties that are bleached white, so most of the chemicals
should be gone.
Would an 8' bed raised that high (about 8") be a good bed? We got 10
yards of good compost from a nursery, and it is very high quality.


8" would be good for strawberries their roots are not very deep. An 8'
square bed will have one big problem, that is you cannot get to the middle
without walking on it. Two 4' X 8' would be much better if you can get more
timber. Or just start with one bed, 4' X 8' is quite a lot of strawberries.

Should I mix anything else with the compost? The local dirt is sand
dune blowsand. Should I mix any gravel in for drainage?


I would try to build soil by amalgamating what ever you have with compost
and other additions depending on the situation.

I want to put the black half inch pipe in there for irrigation. A
friend who has a lot of strawberries says that they like a lot of
water here. It gets blazing hot in the summer, and pretty cold in
the winter. How wet should I keep them?

They will wilt if too dry. Check the soil for moisture when it is hot or
windy and water before they wilt.


I like using different meals, blood, bone, etc, instead of chemical
fertilizers. What would be a good amendment?


It depends on what is in your compost and the pH of it and the natural soil.
You are aiming to correct deficiencies not to overdo it. You are likely to
need more manures or blood and bone etc in subsequent years after some of
the nutrients in your compost are used up.

Lastly, propagation. Do you just plant them and let them grow?

They will spread quite quickly in good conditions. You can expect each
plant to have some pups by the end of the first growing season. You can
plant these out if you want to speed things up for the next year.

How
far would I separate the plants?


Broadly speaking about 30-45cm (12-18in) apart. It depends on how much you
want to spend on stock and how long you are prepared to wait for the bed to
fill. To be economical spread them out, to be quick buy more and put them
closer.

David