The Angus area of east Scotland is known for its commercial fruit farms. The area produces large crops of strawberries and raspberries. These are usually grown under plastic nowadays to extend the growing season. The strawberries taste so much better than the tasteless ones that appear in the supermarkets out of season. (who wants to have strawberries all year round anyway?)
But I have to tell you that the strawberry grown organically at home and not under plastic are the sweetest! The best way to eat them is warmed by the sun straight from the plant with no embellishments. Not even cream...
Some of the strawberries find their way into the fridge to be eaten for breakfast with yogurt and muesli the next day. It's good to take them out some time before so that the fruit have a chance to get to room temperature. Coldness seems to dull the flavour and the sweetness.
The ones we grow in our strawberry patch are Honeyeo, Elsanta and Cambridge Favourite. All tried and tested (or should that be tasted) favourites.
• Honeyeo This early fruiting strawberry likes sandy soil and full sun. It produces large sweet fruits which are ready to be picked about the middle of June and crops through to July.
• Elsanta This is a slightly later strawberry and is used by commercial growers for supermarkets and "pick-your-own". It crops well and the fruit is fragrant and sweet.
• Cambridge Favourite. This is another well known strawberry which produces sweet succulent fruit for several weeks from mid June through to July. It is tolerant of most soils.
We bed the strawberries in the old fashioned way by tucking straw round each plant to lift them off the ground as they begin to ripen. This method helps prevent slug damage and rot. It also keeps soil of the fruit when it rains. And this is why strawberries got their name.
We then net the whole bed using a metal structure about 18ins of the ground. Birds have been known to get underneath the nets so we pin them into place with metal hooks. It's a bit of a nuisance when it comes to picking but worth the effort. Perhaps I shouldn't comment on the effort involved as I'm not the one that picks the strawberries.
We have had few problems with disease or slugs on this strawberry bed but the plants do tend to lose some of their vigour after three or four years. New plants can be grown from the runners taken of the old plants and grown on in pots until they are big enough to plant out.
This is my favourite fruit. Next week I shall watch some Wimbledon and eat our strawberries.
Enjoy!
Beautiful strawberries. I agree homegrown are the best and need no accompaniment.
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