Yesterday as I drove my daughter back up to college in the late morning we drove past a huge pile of tree chippings that had a light steam or smoke coming out of the top. I explained to her about spontaneous combustion. Don't see it often, but it has been known to burn down barns in the hay was put away wet.

I'm going to work on building up the soil levels over the winter. It will probably be on the budget plan--for every bag of store-bought top soil and bag of humate I'll mix in a bucketful of my backyard compost. It will get mixed in the wheelbarrow and then poured into the places I want a higher profile.

I have a question. I haven't grown strawberries before, but I put in some this year. Will they overwinter if I put mulch over the top of them, and what about all of these new little plants on the runners? Can I dig them and relocated them without harming any of the rest of the plant (my guess is yes, but I'd like to hear what creative strawberry things the rest of you are doing). Have you ever used one of those strawberry pots? I have one that I've never planted, but if I tucked some of these little plants into it, will they overwinter and will this continue to produce for more than one season?

SRS