Strawberry Disappointment

shandypants5

I have some Pegasus strwbs growing in hanging baskets and they have done really well.

problem is its too easy to pinch one as you walk by.:rolleyes:

They are really tasty, and 9 times out of 10 they automatically "de-core" themselves as you pull them off the plant.:D

valk_scot

I grow a lot of strawberries on my allotment and never bother with the supermarket ones...even in season they are totally tasteless. I'd rather have only four or five weeks eating decent strawberies than all year round pish ones.

As to the core coming out, well, it depends on the variety. Pegasus and Marshmello are two varieties where this happens. But the varieties sold in supermarkets will almost always be ones which keep their cores. Why? Because strawberries with hulls weigh more, of course, and also they don't squish as much so they transport better.

A._Badger

Corona wrote: »

Very helpful thanks. The reason I asked is because someone told me that you need to replace plants regularly otherwise they pick up viruses, which then affect the soil, so you can't grow more strawberries in that area for a while (don't know if that's right). However, potting up runners sounds like it might get around that - at least for a few years. And, I guess using grow bags instead of straight into the ground would help too? Will look out for a mail order source to get me started next year.

If anyone can recommend varieties for home growing other than Jubilee (in case I can't get them) that would be appreciated.

Your friend is right about viruses and that, plus I wasn't sure if you had a garden from what you'd said, was why I suggested growing bags. The only real problem with those is that you need to be careful with the watering as they dry out very easily.

As for varieties, the breeders are developing new ones so fast it's almost impossible to keep up. I grow about six different varieties just to vary the time of cropping and you may want to do the same - or maybe even pick a time you want the fruit and buy suitable varieties.

If you go to Ken Muir's website (kenmuir.co.uk) he is a leading expert and you will find plenty to choose from!

Hope that helps.

shirleymarye

JackieO wrote: »

I am very lucky in that I live in Kent the Garden of England .withing 20 minutes of me I can pick fresh strawberries and have them on the table very quickly.Where one of my grandsons goes fishing there is a pick your own cherry farm as well. half an hour and I can be in Whitstable and buy the fish so fresh off the boat its almost jumping into my bag. I do try to use the local farm shop or fresh 'proper' butchers rather than the supermarket if possible as I like to think my food hasn't been boxed up weeks ago and flown halfway around the world.I know for some its hard to buy fresh food if you live in a city.

I used to live in Kent till 8 years ago and always did "Pick your own" and they were lovely,I moved to Scotland and I think the strawberries are awful,my friend who was scottish told me not to buy them as they are not sweet like the English ones are, I really miss Kent for lots of things and the strawberries are one of them !

Plushchris

shirleymarye wrote: »

I used to live in Kent till 8 years ago and always did "Pick your own" and they were lovely,I moved to Scotland and I think the strawberries are awful,my friend who was scottish told me not to buy them as they are not sweet like the English ones are, I really miss Kent for lots of things and the strawberries are one of them !

I'm lucky enough to live in Kent, they certainly dont call it the garden of England for nothing!
The strawberries have been superb this year, I'm spoilt for choice for farmshops around my area, usually £1.50 for a large punnet.

I also totally recommend the "recipe" for macerated strawberries on eggy bread that Hugh Fearnly Whittingstall did on his program a few weeks ago, delicious!

Bookworm63

I've had strawberries from Tesco and Sainsburys this year, and the Sainsburys ones were much better, though I didn't look at the variety.

A good way to get the white stalk out of the strawberries is to use the pointed end of a vegetable peeler and run it around the stalk in a cone shape - very easy and quick to do!

[Deleted User]

Bookworm63 wrote: »

I've had strawberries from Tesco and Sainsburys this year, and the Sainsburys ones were much better, though I didn't look at the variety.!

I agree with you about Sainsbury's - they are a bit more expensive but the fruit is usually good quality. Was passing Tesco yesterday so bought some of their strawberries - when will I ever learn ?? By-passed Elsanta and went for their Finest range which was the Ava variety; not very good (to be fair, most of them weren't properly ripe).

Definitely going to grow my own next year!

Chris25

shirleymarye wrote: »

I used to live in Kent till 8 years ago and always did "Pick your own" and they were lovely,I moved to Scotland and I think the strawberries are awful,my friend who was scottish told me not to buy them as they are not sweet like the English ones are, I really miss Kent for lots of things and the strawberries are one of them !

the raspberries are better though

cootambear

Strawberry pearls

1. Your senses are not fooling you - the strawberries you remember from your youth are not the ones you get from the supermarket now. They are viscious breeds like elsanta, bred for toughness not flavour.

2. Flavour is closely linked to aroma. Smell them in the tub at the supermarket, if you dont get an overwhelming blossomimg of powerful strawberry aroma, they will not taste good.

3. Homegrown is not necessarily better. If you grow elsanta, you`ll get elsanta. Try the sublime mara de bois. This variety was bred for flavour, not shelf life.

4. Strawberries are one of the easiest plants to grow. If you have no garden, they love pots too. Get some mara de bois from Ken Muir.

mcduff16

90% of the time i go to my local pick your own farm and pick the strawberries myself. The closest taste is definelty Marks and Spencer strawberries- just as good as the picked ones