Planting a Strawberry Patch
If you enjoy gardening and want to grow some delicious summer fruits, try strawberries. Strawberries are among the easiest berries to grow. They are cold-hardy and adaptable, and can be planted in both garden beds and containers.
Every year, I plant a crop of strawberry plants. This season, we have some growing in my vegetable greenhouse - a few are deep red and ready to pick. And last week, my gardeners planted a large bed of strawberries in a patch behind my main greenhouse just next to my garlic. As long as they are planted in a location that gets full sun, they'll thrive and will provide sweet, luscious fruits for several years.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Summer strawberries are among the most popular fruits here in the United States. I love eating strawberries fresh from the garden or as jams and jellies I make myself. Do you know why it is called a “strawberry”? One theory is that woodland pickers strung them on pieces of straw to carry them to market. Others believe the surface of the fruit looks embedded with bits of straw. Still others think the name comes from the Old English word meaning “to strew,” because the plant’s runners stray in all directions as if strewn on the ground.
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- These fruits are growing in my vegetable greenhouse. Strawberry is a member of the Rosaceae family and goes by the scientific name of Fragaria x ananassa. Strawberries are native to temperature regions all around the world; however, it was the union of two species native to the Americas that developed into the garden strawberry. Here, one can see a an unripe and a rip fruit. Strawberry fruit ripen from the tip towards the leafy stem end.
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- Strawberries do not continue to ripen after picking, so it’s good to harvest strawberries without any white or yellow spots. They should also be firm and not soft because those are overripe. And do you know… strawberries have more vitamin-C than oranges? One may think that an orange has the most vitamin-C, but one large sweet red strawberry contains 10.5 mg of vitamin-C, compared to 70 mg of vitamin-C in a medium-sized orange.
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- Strawberry is an herbaceous perennial. The plant has a short stem and trifoliate leaves which form a crown close to the ground.
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- I decided to plant this season’s strawberry patch in a new location behind my main greenhouse. Strawberries prefer to be in full sun, and well-drained, well-established, nutrient-rich soil. The area was already cleared of any rocks, weeds and other debris, tilled, and fed.
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- The strawberries will be adjacent to our crop of garlic, which is growing so nicely this year.
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- First, Brian sets up the twine, to make sure everything is lined up straight and perfect.
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- We have several different strawberry varieties, so we measured the bed and calculate how many rows would accommodate the plants.
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- Fortunately, there is room for about 100-plants in each long row.
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- Using a heart shaped hoe, Brian starts by digging shallow trenches. Heart shaped hand hoes are great to use for getting under the soil to make these furrows or to weed.
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- The trenches should be large enough to accommodate the roots without bending them. Strawberries also need slightly acidic soil with a pH between 5.5 and 6.8.
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- Many varieties of strawberries send out numerous runners throughout the season and fill in the space between plants, so it’s important to give them ample room – these trenches are a foot apart.
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- These are bare-root strawberry plants that have been placed in water until ready to plant.
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- Bare-roots are plants without any soil around them, which makes the plants easier to handle. These are also lower in cost than potted strawberry plants. Brian starts by carefully separating the plants and placing each one where it will be planted.
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- Strawberry plants can be planted about six inches apart.
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- Brian splays the roots, so they remain straight.
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- Planting strawberries at the right depth is important – if the crown is buried, the plant could easily rot. Be sure to plant dormant strawberry transplants in spring as soon as the soil is warm enough to garden.
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- Once the plant is at its proper depth, Brian backfills and tamps down lightly to ensure good contact with the soil.
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- The varieties we planted include ‘Jewel,’ ‘Galletta,’ ‘AC Valley Sunset,’ ‘Earliglow,’ ‘Sparkle,’ and ‘Honeoye.’
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- Here, one can see that they are planted properly – the crown of every plant is even with the soil line.
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- Finally, the bed is given a good drink of water. I am sure these strawberries will thrive here and, once established, produce lots of flavorful sweet summertime fruits. I can taste them now, can’t you?
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