Selecting for Better Berries in the Future
I’ve been growing strawberries for many years. After trialing many varieties, ‘Sparkle’ has emerged as a favorite around here. It’s a great berry with good flavor and it freezes well but it doesn’t last long once picked. Two years ago we noticed that a couple plants were producing exceptionally large berries (which still had great flavor) and producing a few more than other plants.
We selected those plant and allowed them to runner and reproduce while removing the plants that produced smaller berries. The following year we had a slightly larger patch of plants producing good sized berries. This summer we have a patch of about 50 plants producing the nice large berries.
As you can see in this photo, the larger berries on the left are the ones from selected plants. The smaller ones on the right are from non-selected plants.
We are once again selecting plants from this original plant to increase our stock of plants that produce the best berries. Next year our entire patch will be from these plants and all the berries should be of good size.
Do you grow strawberries? Do you have a favorite variety?
Filed under Around the Garden, Berries, Edible | Comments (2)Out With The Old
The strawberry patch was in need of removal last year, which didn’t happen because I spent too much time traveling in the spring/early summer. I started pulling the plants last fall, but didn’t get that far. Now that strawberry season it over, all the crowns are being removed to make way for other produce.
We will still have strawberries, they will just be in raised beds in the new soft fruit section of the main garden. I purchased 50 new crowns this spring. We also have a few ‘Old North Sea’ strawberry crowns that will be transplanted and propagated. Next year we will have a small harvest, but the following years should be decent. We are looking to reduce the number of strawberries but add other soft fruits, like red and black raspberries, currants, and blueberries.
Do you grow strawberries in your garden?
Filed under Around the Garden, Berries, Edible | Comment (1)A Yearly Favorite
Mr Chiots is a happy camper, it’s strawberry season. We grow ‘Sparkle’, along with a few everbearing plants. This variety is our favorite, we’ve grown others in the past, but this on reigns supreme for flavor.
We’ve been making crepes, strawberry shortcake, and just eating them out of hand. It’s a short, sweet season, one that we look forward to every year. Of all the soft fruits, strawberries are probably my favorite. I would definitely choose it over all the others if I had to make a choice.
What’s your favorite seasonal fruit?
Filed under Berries, Edible | Comments (2)The Wildlife Tax
This year the wildlife tax has been really high for the strawberries. We have a large patch of berries, they are one of Mr Chiot’s favorite fruits. There are two, 70 foot long rows that are 3-4 four feed wide. Last year we froze around 40 quarts for winter. This year we lost the first flush of berries to waxwings. A flock of about 15-20 of them came in and gobbled up about 12 quarts of berries in one night.
We realized what was happening and covered the berries with row cover to protect them. The few nights later, the raccoons came in and ripped holes in the cover and ate the ripening strawberries. Thankfully we aren’t keeping pigs this year, so we have just enough electric fencing to surround the big garden.
After building Fort Knox around the strawberries, we were finally able to harvest a few quarts. We celebrated with shortcake for dinner that night and the next night as well. Generally we love to share our bounty with friends and neighbors, but there hasn’t been enough berries for that.
Overall we lost about 50% of our harvest this year to wildlife. Since there has been a drought this spring in Maine, the harvest was already reduced as well. Luckily we have a large patch and are still getting a few for the freezer and a few for eating. At least we have a large enough patch that we are still getting a few berries for the table. Next year I will definitely be covering the berries really early to protect them from the birds and the electric fence will most likely go up around the garden first thing in the spring.
What methods do you employ to protect plants from marauding wildlife?
Filed under Around the Garden, Berries, Edible, Wildlife | Comments (3)New Varieties
I’m a sucker for trying new varieties of all kinds of things, especially vegetables. I have six different kinds of strawberries in the garden and I just acquired a new one.
These ‘Old North Sea’ strawberries were said to have been found on an ancient ancient, viking village site in Denmark.
I thought this variety would be a nice addition to my collection of interesting strawberries. It should be interesting to see how it performs and reproduces in the garden. I’m looking forward to tasting one of the berries next summer.
Do you collect different varieties of the same plant?
Filed under Around the Garden, Berries, Edible | Comments (4)