16:27 - 11 June 2010
Everyone loves the smell and the taste of strawberries. But when a small bowlful can cost the earth, isn’t it time you grew your own? The flavour of these home-grown fruit far outweighs anything you can buy in the supermarket and even if you only pick a handful of fruit for the first year, you can be sure they’ll be the nicest one’s you’ve ever eaten. Plant them now for great results for many years to come.
How to do it
Buy top quality plants and specially named varieties from a good garden centre or nursery or order mail order from a specialist supplier. Strawberries are tolerant of most soil types but grow best in a sheltered spot away from the prevailing wind. Keep them clean by mulching under the plants with straw, or grow them in a dedicated strawberry pot. Alternatively opt for a Strawberry Planter, like a deep grow bag, that encourages a healthy root system and supports a bumper crop of fruit, plus it looks great too.
Buy cold stored runners from a specialist supplier or pot grown plants from the garden centre for planting now. Order from a reputable supplier and plant them as soon as possible for a small crop this summer.
Providing that you look after your plants, feed them while flowering with a high potash feed and a general feed after fruiting, they should yield a small crop in their first year. If the plants are weak or there is a delay in planting them out then it is better to remove the flowers and allow them to direct their energy into establishing a healthy root system. Next year the crop will be bigger and better.
Tips
Remove the runners that appear after fruiting, as these will weaken your plants. If you want to propagate your plants then pick one strong plant each season and allow this to form runners that you can pot up and grow on to extend your strawberry patch.
When fruiting has finished in late summer, weed around the plants thoroughly. Using sharp, clean secateurs remove all the old leaves, taking care not to damage the crown. Feed with a general, balanced fertiliser and keep the plants well watered.
For organic fruit choose to grow your plants in an organic planter, feed with an organic feed and deal with pests and diseases without the use of chemicals. Think how much they would cost to buy in the shops.
Good Varieties
To get a continuous supply of fruits over the summer choose your varieties with care. If this is your first attempt at strawberries, then choose ‘Elsanta’, it’s a midsummer variety that has heavy crops of rich red and very tasty fruits. If you then want an earlier crop choose an early fruiting variety such as ‘Honeoye’ (AGM – RHS Award of Garden Merit) and a later fruiting variety such as ‘Rhapsody’ (AGM) or ‘Symphony’ (AGM).
Eating
If you can resist eating the fruit while you are out in the garden, then experiment with them in the kitchen. A bowlful is easy to serve with cream, ice cream or a splash of caster sugar. Be sure to serve them at room temperature for their full aroma and flavour. For something a bit different, serve them with chopped basil. Or be daring and splash with some quality balsamic vinegar. Divine.
If there are only a few fruits to start with don’t waste them: A handful of ripe strawberries are a fabulous addition, sliced and added to fresh garden salad.
