Page 26 - ALG Issue 2 2017

Feature on... Strawberries
Fruit Focus... Strawberries
Strawberries are cultivated worldwide and here in Britain we have been harvesting and enjoying strawberries for millennia. However, the small, tart, wild fruit collected in hedgerows by our Iron Age ancestors has been replaced by large, sweet, juicy, modern hybrids. The luscious varieties that we consume with cream, as we watch Wimbledon in June each year, are descended from a 19th century cross between strawberries from Chile and Virginia in North America – Fragaria x ananassa.
Growing your own strawberries on the plot opens up opportunities to try other species and some of the tastier varieties of the modern hybrids that are not available at the shops. Personally, I am quite partial to the wood strawberry, Fragaria vesca - I love the tiny explosions of taste as I browse the plants I have dotted around my plot.
Garden strawberries, Fragaria x ananassa. There are many different varieties of the modern hybrid and by choosing a mix of varieties that fruit at different times, you can harvest
from June to early autumn. They will also be much
tastier than supermarket produce that has been
picked before full ripeness. Plants can be bought
as runners or cold-stored plants.
Wild or wood strawberries, Fragaria vesca, sometimes called alpine strawberries. These fruit all summer long, will withstand some shade and are ideal for hanging baskets or containers. The berries are small, very tasty and there are white varieties available. They can be grown from seed or cold stored plants.
Musk strawberries, Fragaria moschata, are native to Europe. They are prized by chefs for their musky aromatic avour, known as hautbois strawberries
in France and are very popular in Italy. Available as seeds.
Seven strawberries (80g) provide your recommended daily amount of vitamin C and are an excellent source of vitamin K and manganese, as well as folic acid, potassium, ribo avin, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, copper, magnesium, and omega-3 fatty acids.
Get the best from your strawberries
Strawberries will grow best in a soil that is fertile and well drained
but moisture holding. They will not tolerate shallow, thin soils that are liable to dry out quickly during periods of dry weather. The site must be sunny and free from shade; they like to feel the warmth of the sun on their face. Feed the strawberry bed with a top dressing of general fertiliser in early March to ensure development of strong healthy plants. Plant rmly with the crown or neck of the plant just level with the surface of the soil. If the crown is planted too deeply it could rot away and if it is set too high above the soil it will dry out and die. Just make sure that the soil has been gently rmed before any planting
takes place to ensure that the newly planted crowns can’t sink into the soft soil.
Plant summer fruiting cultivars in August to September; this will give the plants enough time to develop a good root system before winter sets in. Plant autumn fruiting cultivars in August to mid- November and the following March.
The autumn or late season fruiting strawberries are known as remontant or perpetual fruiting types. These extend the strawberry picking season well into October. In the rst year after planting, remove the early ush of owers that are produced around May to allow further development of the plant during the summer. This will encourage the later production of strawberries during the autumn.
James Wong, in his 2015 publication “Grow for Flavour”, suggests that growing your strawberries through a red plastic mulch will improve the avour. However, the only source of red plastic mulch/
There are many different varieties of the modern hybrid and by choosing a mix of varieties that fruit at different times, you can harvest from June to early autumn
sheeting that I could nd would have produced some very expensive strawberries! James also advises that you can improve avour with a fortnightly feed of a potassium rich fertiliser such as comfrey or molasses tonic and remove the runners as they appear.
There are dozens of different varieties to choose from but the cultivars below are recommended by James for avour:
Summer Late season cultivars Mara des Bois Honeyoye Aromel Marshmello Buddy Malwina
How to Harvest
When harvesting strawberries, it is important not to touch the actual berry itself as they bruise very easily and after a few hours there will be bluish marks on the fruit where it has been damaged. Always pick strawberries by nipping through the stalk just behind the shoulders of the fruit and using it as a carrying handle. Gently place, never drop, the strawberry in a container lined with soft paper or cloth and don’t stack them more than two fruits high.
Never pick strawberries during the hottest part of the day. The fruits suffer in the heat and will be tasteless. Pick them in the cool
of the morning or evening and store somewhere cool. In the salad compartment of a refrigerator they will keep in good condition for about three or four days. James Wong quotes a Canadian study that found the avour of strawberries actually improves if kept in a cool room (not the fridge) for a few days.
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