Thistle Strawberries

In the spirit of showing the bad along with the good. This is my strawberry thistle patch.

This side is the worst.... it took me a few hours to convince Mike that I really, really did want him to mow a path down the center of the strawberries. I had a path there anyway and only a few berries extended out that far. So now at least I have 2 paths through the thistle.

And among that thistle are strawberries!!! Today the kids and I picked about 3 pints. Some were not so ripe but we only had 10 that we saw that were animal chewed. So evidently the thistle is working and keeping away the berry eaters. Of course you can hear us all going - ouch- as we pick. We'll need to wear some thin gloves.

It'll probably take the entire summer to remove the thistle. Everytime I go out I'll just pick another 2-3 feet of thistle.... and by end of summer it will be done!