Hmmm, I still have some green berries left, will have to look for rubber snakes. I do have a garter snake who lives in the garden but doesn't seem to bother the squirrels. Electric netting looks interesting - 28" tall and open at the top good enough? I'm assuming squirrels can't jump that high. I'm also going to build a chicken run (in my spare time LOL) and have the 4ft tall 23 mesh and some poultry wire (my uncle said put UNDER the run as well as over top to keep predators from digging). Electric might work there too? Except I would think you'd still need top (for hawks) and bottom (for foxes digging)... No one thinks I need to move the bed and try to bury the wire to keep the rodents out?

Let them get through several frosts before covering. You want the ground to be frozen solid before you cover them. You want to keep them frozen all winter, the covering of straw is to keep them cold. Otherwise, freeze-thaw cycles will hoist the shallow plants out of the ground. Uncover them in the spring a bit before the last frost, but keep the mulch handy in case the early flowers get caught in a late frost. It's probably too late to thin them, that's best done in July or August. I think thinning might stress them too much before the winter, and there isn't a lot of time left to overcome stresses. Don't worry too much, they'll still produce fruit! I wouldn't worry about mowing them, the frosts will kill the leaves eventually. I think the extra "fluff" from leaves actually protects the crown of the plant, a bit.

a, Below is info on installing drip irrigation. http://www.ehow.com/how_5900550_install-drip-line-irrigation.html There is other info and different ways to do drip irrigation on line. All need screw-on-the-faucet vacuum breaker with pipe-threaded end, an in-line pressure reducer(regulator) to 20 psi(for drip), pipe thread adapter with poly line end to run the poly line and last a poly line to drip tape adapter. All the big box stores can help you with what you need as well as many on-line stores. It is a good idea to know your pressure(faucet screw on gauge) and the flow rate(GPH or GPM) of your source(time the filling of a 5-gal bucket). Let us know how it goes or if you have any other questions ask away. Aloha

I would give the spinach some time - maybe they're just putting down roots, and waiting to start on their leaves again especially given the fluctuating weather. My spinach grew soooo slowly at first over the winter and suddenly was huge. I'm not sure what's happening with your strawberries but I will tell you that upper 80's is not hot for strawberries. ;) They grow by the mile here in SoCal in full sun. What they do need though is consistent moisture - could they have dried out between waterings? My understanding is that they need to stay moist - that's the hard part here in SoCal, not the sun/heat. They love that!! We just came out of a heat wave (100*+ with less than 10% humidity) and I think my strawberry plants' only complaint was that I couldn't keep them watered enough.