Strawberries

For many years I have grown strawberries very successfully in the polytunnel. The variety is an everbearer or perpetual meaning that it produces fruit throughout the summer rather than just in one flush.

To minimise slug damage and make them easier to pick I grow them in raised troughs that I made myself from some offcuts of wood. As the demand from strawberries has increased from my family I also grow them in the raised beds under the tomatoes.They fruit well from late May until the frosts and are very sweet.

This year I decided to try some outdoors and planted them last autumn through black weed suppressing membrane on ridges. They looked a little sorry for themselves as the winter started, disappeared from view under snow for a couple of months, and then reappeared in early spring and took off, beginning to flower in May and producing their first fruits in June. The revelation was that these fruits were even sweeter than the ones under cover, and though they started later they cropped heavily and with little slug or bird damage. This despite the fact that this has been the coldest British summer for 18 years! It has been so successful that it will be repeated.

Strawberries are best moved onto fresh ground on a regular basis and new plants used every 2 to 3 years. My experimental bed used up part of the bean/pea patch. To increase the quantity would mean reducing the amount of peas and beans, not good. I have decided a dedicated bed needs to be created. The ridges will run north - south to enable sunlight to reach both sides. Ridges allow the fruits to hang down without necessarily lying on the ground. Water also runs away from the crown of the plant minimising rot. The black weed suppressing membrane kept the weeds out and the fruits clean and dried quickly after rain helping to prevent rotting fruit. Giving adequate space to the plants is also crucial, they grow large and air flow around the plants keeps mildew at bay. Two feet either way is not excessive although it might look too much when they are first planted. Planting in autumn is best, the plants settle in quickly in the mild weather, frost helps flower bud initiation and they are likely to produce an earlier crop. We were enjoying large bowls of sweet, tasty strawberries about 3 times a week with a couple of helpings of homemade strawberry icecream. With a punnet of strawberries selling at £2 or so that is a significant saving for not much effort and much better tasting.