You are handling the situation appropriately. If you did differently, you'd be enabling her behavior. People choose their life styles, and their priorities. Obviously, she can pay for what ever is important to her.We buy in bulk and can, but have to hide it in our closet because when my mother comes over she'll basically "go shopping" at our house if she sees we have an abundance. She went through about 10 jars of my husbands pickles within about 4 weeks because they went so well with her beer! She was also constantly asking for eggs, which we were happy to share with her, until we found out she was sharing them with her 3 dogs!
She has cable, we don't. She has internet, we don't (except our phones). We pay for her cell phone, she keeps hinting that she needs a newer one (because she can't get some apps or facebook the way she likes). We bought her a new car a few years ago (she had the audacity to ask my husband for money for new tires a few months ago). She supposedly can't afford food and goes to a food pantry, but she CAN afford internet, cable, new clothes, beer, and both a winter and a summer shower curtain (who the *bleep* has one for winter and one for summer?).
Because of this woman's habits, I was homeless many times during my childhood. I've lived in a city park, a metal storage building, and once in a bread truck for 9 months. There is a certain mentality that people who live frugally have. Many folks either don't get it, or choose to be ignorant of it. I truly believe some people will ALWAYS be poor, no matter how much they are given.
Interesting re: the grapes and strawberries. I have strawberries that have wandered into my blueberry bed. They are both acid loving plants, and the strawberries are done producing by the time the blueberries are ready. Strawberries also make a good companion plant with corn. You plant the corn beside a producing strawberry bed, and let the runners spread into the corn rows. When the corn is done, you cut down the corn stocks, and till in the old strawberry bed, or just cover it with mulch. In Florida, they grow strawberries as an annual crop, and interplant onions in the middle of the beds.We're in TX too, and I finally figured out how to grow strawbs. We have ours in raised beds under our grape arbor. The grapes are planted in the raised beds too. The dirt is a loose mix of dark compost, manure, and old dirt from failed container gardening attempts.
Around the strawberries we have wild onions, carrots, and lettuce (in the winter). They seem to really like this mixture of plants. We pour old watered down wine on our grapes a few times a year, and maybe the strawberries like the acidity or something.
I just basically leave the strawbs alone. We have a thick layer of mulch around the bases and between the raised beds under the arbor, and the strawbs put out runners that drape down and take root in the mulch (which stays shaded and cooled by the grapes). I just gently lift the new strawb plants and add them to other raised beds. This is the ONLY way I've been able to grow strawberries. Ever.
Our grapes start from fallen fruit with this method too (which I was always told was super difficult to do).
We bought a farm a few years ago, and I duplicated this method (with some modifications due to the wabbit population).
So far it's working again. If I can find some pics, I'll post them, so you can see the set-up.
If entries must be limited... I'm in deep trouble! You can figure out if you want them after they start producing. How hard is it to root a grape cutting anyways? I have a friend who can give me some grape cuttings this spring.
