It got ahead of me

The strawberry bed was doing really well.  I had thinned out the center so I wouldn't have a complete jungle.  I had disturbed the black oxalis weeds to the point I thought they would be manageable....

And then I covered the bed for the week the berries would first ripen to keep the chipmunks out.

And it got away from me.

I did get several pickings of nice berries.  As much as I wanted really.  But then the ants started farming aphids in there and it all went to heck.  All of a sudden it appeared that all of the strawberry plants were pretty much gone.  Frankly, it became an eyesore.  One that I had to walk past 10 times a day.  Something drastic had to be done.  I've reached the stage of gardening where I do not hesitate to pull something out and start over.  Or go to Plan B. 

Zinfandel Oxalis sold by Proven Winners

Now a "weed" is anything that is growing where you don't want it.  Some of the "weeds" that I deal with a lot are actually useful plants under some circumstances. Oxalis, Purslane, Bachelor's Buttons... some people even plant Golden Rod on purpose.  But the Oxalis is getting pretty tiring.  It's everywhere - both the light green, upright, yellow sorrel, and the sneaky, low growing creeping woodsorrel.  The yellow sorrel is pretty easy to deal with but the woodsorrel is nearly impossible to pull.

Maybe I should have weeded the strawberries more carefully.  

^That ^ is a tree.

Some pretty nice soil

My initial plan was to strip out the top 4 inches of soil and discard it.  Instead of planting the semi-permanent strawberries back in there I will use it first for fall lettuce, and next year for broccoli and cauliflower. But when I got to digging around in there I remembered that this was some of my best soil.  Just look at how well it grew weeds.  So the plan changed.  I will have to keep an eye on it and keep the oxalis cultivated out.  That will be easier with seasonal crops than with the strawberries.  The strawberries are going into "time out" in a strawberry tower where they can't get themselves into as much trouble.

Meanwhile. the neighbor's new raised beds are doing great.

The Tiger Lilies are in full bloom.  In fact, I think that bed may need to be thinned in the spring.  Tiger Lilies are quick to take over.

The neighbor's have also finished setting up their rain water collection.  This tank stores water from the barn rain gutters.  There is a submerged sump pump to pressurize the hose, and a wall light to tell you when the switch is on so it doesn't get left on.