"Growing Strawberries"

Growing strawberries gives you a lot more choice of variety - and taste - than eating shop-bought strawberries.

'Strawberries and cream' has become part of the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament tradition, and every year thousands of punnets of strawberries are sold ( about 10 strawberries with cream around £2.00 ) just at Wimbledon fortnight alone!

Our passion for strawberries is well grounded. Strawberries are a good source of complex carbohydrates, and are packed with vitamin C.

Commercial strawberry growers are slightly limited with their varieties, as many types will not store well. 'Pick them and eat them' types are perfect for the home grower.

Prepare the soil

Choose a spot that hasn't been used for growing strawberries or potatoes within the previous 3 years.

Strawberries like full sun and will not do well in a 'cold' spot.

Remove all weeds and dig in as much organic compost as you can. This will almost guarantee a huge crop! Hoe and rake over the ground.

Later on, you will need some straw or black plastic sheets..

Choosing Your Plants

Growing strawberries from seed is possible - Thompson & Morgan have a couple of varieties here Growing strawberries from seed UK
Strawberry seed in the US
Thompson and Morgan Worldwide

However, most gardeners start their strawberry patch with young plants.

Strawberry plants are available for delivery in the UK from this page: Growing strawberries from plants

Or in the US from here Gardener's Supply Type 'strawberries' (without the quotes) into the search box on their homepage.

Or browse your local garden centre or nursery.

Planting strawberries

Growing strawberries is a piece of cake when you follow the right steps!

Strawberry plants should be spaced to about 35cm-45cm in a row, in rows about 75cm apart.

Dig holes for your plants. Not too deep though, strawberries have a shallow rooting system. Make sure the 'crown' of the plant ( the chunky part above the roots ) is above the soil.

Firm down plants with your hands and water well.

Growing Strawberries: Caring for your plants

Place slug pellets around the plants. If you can't find an organic variety try using broken egg shells or dry sand.

Natural collection get to grips with slugs - organically -
Beat those slugs!

Keep plants well watered. Because they are shallow rooting plants, strawberries will dry out very quickly in hot weather, and your crop will be affected.

In early summer or late spring, when the small fruits start to appear, cover the ground around your plants with a fairly thick layer of straw. Try and get 'weed free' straw. Barley is the best.

If no straw can be found, use black plastic.

Covering the ground in this way keeps the weeds down, and stops the fruits getting in contact with the soil, where they will rot very quickly or get eaten by the slugs.

Growing strawberries in your garden will encourage just about every garden bird you can imagine. The trouble is, they will ALL eat your strawberries...... if you let them!

Make a small wooden frame to stand over your strawberry bed, and cover in fine netting. Don't use heavy materials, as you will want to move the cover every day during cropping season. Use light wood, and perhaps tent pegs or the equivalent to secure it against being blown over by the wind or stray cats and dogs.

Remove the 'runners' - little plants coming off the main plant, before they root. This will encourage your 'mother' plant to produce more fruit.

Pick your strawberries every day in season.

With good weather and a fairly long growing season, starwberries can produce up to 3 crops a year.

Growing Strawberries - long term

After the third year, your strawberry plants will produce less fruit, and so on every year afterwards.

It is widely advised to replace your whole strawberry bed every 3-5 years. Don't use the same plot for your new plants though. Go back to the beginning and prepare your bed well.....:-)

Happy Gardening!

More "Garden" Reading

Herb Gardening: Herbs are becoming recognised more and more as superfoods, as if we didn't know that really! 'Herb Gardening' has been beautifully put together by the publisher (Crowood Press) into a well presented book with full colour photos.

Along with the growing instructions for forty different herbs, there are lots of great ideas, including culinary delights and medicinal alternatives.

You'll also find gardening advice as well as some ideas on planning a herb garden. Order it now direct from the publisher... Herb Gardening

Grow Your Own Pharmacy: If, like me, you want to be able to eat the best food on the planet, grow your own!

Grow Your Own Pharmacy
• Clear instructions on planning, planting, growing and harvesting the fruits, vegetables and herbs required for a healthy vitamin intake.
• Recipes and menus to help incorporate the fruit and vegetables into your daily diet.

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Granny's Book Of Good Old Fashioned Common Sense is packed full of great ideas and tips. Granny brings traditional home-making up to date with cooking, gardening, needlecrafts and even games to play with the kids...Click on the link below to order your copy.

Granny's Book Of Good Old Fashioned Common Sense

Cooking doesn’t have to be a chore and preparing nourishing home cooked meals for the family will certainly keep them away from the goodie shelf. Gardening encourages physical exercise and a good healthy dollop of fresh air. And you can get the kids involved too.

Before the days of computer games and electronic pets, children used to have fun without rummaging about in the fridge every five minutes. Enjoy a few rainy-day games and crafts of yesteryear with today’s kids. They’ll love it and so will you!

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Watch This Space! 'Grow Your Own Groceries' coming soon...

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