Strawberry patch failure... 
3 years ago, I bought about 16 strawberry plants to plant in a raised bed. The first year, I got maybe a dozen or two of strawberries, and no more that year. The next year, all my strawberries were eaten up by bees. I asked around, and the problem was that there was not enough rain that year so the insects were eating the berries. This year, I did not even bother to cover the strawberry patch with bird netting. I don't think I ever saw a full strawberry on any of the plants. But it could be that the squirrels and birds just ate the small berries on the plant before they had a chance to grow. All in all, I estimate it cost me about $3.00 per strawberry I actually harvested and ate.
So, that was a big disappointment. I have read that strawberry plants are not productive after the second or third year, so I will be digging them out and be done with them. I don't plan on getting any more.
Another lesson learned on this failure is that I will never again grow multi-year plants in one of my hügelkultur raised beds. Each year, as the wood in the hügelkultur raised bed composts, the level of the soil in the raised bed drops maybe an inch or two. Well, how do you top off the strawberry bed without actually covering the plants in the raised bed? Never thought of that before I planted strawberries. Now, that bed is down about 5 inches from top level. I'll dig out the strawberry plants and backfill everything with fresh compost for the garden next year. But I will only plant one season crops in those raised beds from now on.
I don't blame anyone but myself. Fortunately, my other crops did very well this year and we were very happy with all our other successes. So, that strawberry bed will be turned into something else next year, like maybe kale, onions, and Swiss chard which I did not plant this year. Love those greens but did not grow any this year. Really missed them.
