When I perused the aisles at the local nursery last year for ideas on what to plant, I picked up a six pack of strawberry plants. They looked healthy, with tiny white flowers showing promise to produce berries. I planted them under the still leaf-less dogwood with hopes they would generate more flowers and subsequent berries. I got a total of 6.
This year, the plants crept past the dogwood into the garlic patch; from the beets to the kale bed. And the plants produced more fruit than I anticipated. I didn’t like how they cramped my other vegetables, but I decided wait and see how they tasted before I uproot them.
My first harvest was enough to actually make something, but opted for savoring their flavor, not masking it with too much sugar or cream. I also wanted to make sure they were worth the space. The berries were soft and juicy, as opposed to the hard and crunchy “berries” sold at the supermarket. They had a bright acidity with a little sweetness. (Though, right after brushing my teeth, I would have given them a different, less favorable description.)
I could have made strawberry shortcakes or a pie. Instead I decided to toss them with arugula and scallions from the garden, and season simply with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and black pepper. The salad was a perfect foil for Vanilla Scented Duck Breast (same marinade as used here). And the duck skin played the role of croutons.
The big question remains – will the plants live to see another season? The berries were good, and the yield was better than the raspberry plant. But I don’t like they way the plants creep around. I will probably cut back what has crept too much and leave the rest.
So cool that they were your own and I hope they last.
I need to do something savory with the berries before they go out of season. I’ve only made desserts and strawberry lemonade so far. Typical!
I’ve always wanted to plant strawberries but never have. There’s so many things to make with the beautiful berries.
Glorious strawberries! I love to combine them with asparagus and spinach in a green salad.
Mint, horseradish and strawberries, dangerous things to plant hear the things you love. they need a little corner of their own. Not so easy in a small plot.
Wow – looking forward to picking strawberries this weekend – and you’ve now got me very excited!
Melissa — nothing wrong with sweet things! If I had enough, I’d probably do something desserty.
Julie — if only we had unlimited land, eh?
Lydia — that sounds like a great combo too! I’ll have to try that.
jo — good tip! I’ll stay away from horseradish.
T.W. — How fun! I look forward to reading about what you make.
I having a similar experience with the 6 strawberry plants I started 3 years ago,(6 berries the first year, about 2 quarts last year, this year picking ~a quart a day and still going). The variety wasn’t listed on the tag at Mahoney’s, it just said day-neutral, but they are similar in size and shape and taste about like the ones you describe.
I’ve let them grow at will and they’re making a decent ground cover. They wandered into the asparagus patch and that’s working quite well – the asparagus pokes up so I can see it and the strawberry plants keep down the weeds. But now the darn things are advancing into the lawn…I’m sort of curious to see what will win in the battle of fragaria vs. crabgrass 🙂
Karen — I’ve heard that strawberry plants have a three year cycle, so maybe I need to give them one more year.
Ok – so I won’t take it personally if my strawberries don’t do much this year. I vote you keep them.