Strawberries

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Today I picked the first strawberry I ever grew! I got the plants last year, but they're the kind that don't bear the first year. So I read up on the sandy loam soil they required, how much to mulch and water and even made friends with the original grower company, Bonnie Plants, in my Twitter garden chat. I placed catnip nearby to deter the ants and added fencing to protect them from rabbits, armadillos and deer. I kept a watchful eye on them through last summer's drought and winter cold as best I could, praying all the way for success, allowing them to propagate daughter plants via runners. Recently, my strawberry plants had begun to blossom and I got excited, knowing fruits were not far behind. Sure enough, the fruits began to form and extend from beneath the round, jagged-edged leaves. I watched closely as one berry went a little pink. Then today, as I was weeding the raised beds, there it was, a perfect, plump red strawberry, my very first! I promptly picked it before watering and, once inside after chores this evening, popped it into an individual peach biscuit cobbler. The taste was utterly divine!