Strawberry Plants - knowing when they're done!

cootambear

twiglet98 wrote: »

I once tore out a cutting recommending strawb varieties with girls' names, I can't find the cutting and can't remember them all - I THINK they included Rosie, Alice and Sophie? None of these are at my local garden centre, they only had Cambridge Favourite last year

Cambridge Favourite is a good tasting variety, respect to your garden centre

cootambear

iQueen wrote: »

When you look at the age of the foodies, is it surprising that they promote whatever a supermarket will pay them for?

We now have at least TWO generations that have never experienced the REAL taste of fruit and vegetables - just the insipid, under-ripe, manufactured carp, demanded by the supermarkets! No one takes the complaints of older people seriously, blaming our 'failing' tastebuds, rather than admit that the supermarkets are selling us rubbish. Before long there will be no one left to complain.

When I was a kid, a time so long ago that I care not to admit it, I used to internally snigger at older people who complained that food didnt taste as good as it used to.

I was young, and I had nothing to compare it with.

It must be acknowledged that our taste buds, along with our other senses do decline as we get older, but that is not the whole story.

I suggested to my brother last year that his kids could come down and pick my strawbs and gorge themselves on the treats, but he said that they didnt like strawberries. Lots of people dont like them these days.

I was amazed. Those lucious fruits that I would die for as a kid are now treated with disdain, but who can blame joe public, what with the turnip tasting squash ball textured simulacrums on sale, and that is all they know.

Strawberry sales are on the decline. That doesnt bother the supermarkets because the shelf space can be taken up by other products, meanwhile the strawbs they have on sale have a longer shelf life so there is less wastage.

The farmers arent bothered either. They grow crops based on what will fetch the highest price x greatest yield, not what is the most tasty.

I don`t blame the super markets, nor do I blame farmers. We live in a capitalist system so the driver is profit.

Gardening should not be a pious act, only a pleasurable one. Pleasure in the outdoors, in learning and honing skills and sharing those, in social interaction with neighbours and fellow allotmenteers, pleasure in great tasting food.

There is no point in complaining to the supermarkets, it will fall on deaf ears. The way forward is evangelising, giving runners to my brother and neighbours like I do, strawberries are so easy to grow and propogate that even someone with a tub and a bit of sun can have a good crop.

I means sharing information, about which varieties are the best for flavour and buying those.

The cambridge favourite was probably the shop bought variety you tasted as a kid (if you are over 40).

Farmers abandoned it because of its relatively low yield (and a disease problem which has fairly recently been bred out). But gardeners kept it alive due to its flavour.

Good flavoured strawberries will never die, because gardeners won`t let them.

cootambear

Ambidou wrote: »

If you want alot of older varieties that arent mass produced, the best way is to buy the seed and grow them on yourself, i find garden centre's only stock the most common varieties as acctual plants ready for going in

you can obtain good varieties through ken muir and thompson and morgan mail order

iQueen

cootambear -

I agree entirely - it is not our ancient taste-buds!

Several years ago, I bought a very cheap 'boiling fowl', from a national chain supermarket! It looked so good, I thought they had mis-labelled it... and roasted it! :rotfl:Despite the trend, over many decades, for the mass slaughter of chickens at a few weeks old, this was what it said on the label, and... it was inedible when roasted! However, The taste of the 'leather', was exactly as I remembered from childhood. The next day, I put the bird in the pressure cooker and had the tastiest chicken for some thirty-odd years.

CHEAP Strawberries! :T

After spending hours yesterday, researching the flavour of strawberries, I have just ordered 30 Elsanta :eek: bare-rooted plants from Marshalls, (yes, the tasteless supermarket ones!) Apparently, they are absolutely delicious when garden grown, according to the gardening pundits.

They are part of a cancelled commercial grower's order and are being sold off at £4.95 for 10, or £9.90 for 30 (plus £1.95 p&p).

Raspberries

I was also looking at raspberries and came across a lot of growers of Autumn fruiting varieties (which are often sturdier and may not require supports).

[Autumn varieties fruit on canes grown the same year and are normally cut down around the following January, as the new stems start to grow.]

Apparently, it is possible to get fruit from May/June to November, by cutting down half the old canes in January. These will fruit again, giving an early crop, and be cut down immediately after.

The new growth, begun in January-ish (along the whole row), will provide the Autumn crop and, if half are left un-pruned in January, an early one the following year, and so on.

I gather that it is best to cut down half the row (with a hedge-trimmer!), rather than try to prune individual old canes.

There was no information about how this affects the total size of the crop. I shall be giving it a go anyway: a longer season will suit me fine! :rotfl:

cootambear

iQueen wrote: »

cootambear -

I agree entirely - it is not our ancient taste-buds!

Several years ago, I bought a very cheap 'boiling fowl', from a national chain supermarket! It looked so good, I thought they had mis-labelled it... and roasted it! :rotfl:Despite the trend, over many decades, for the mass slaughter of chickens at a few weeks old, this was what it said on the label, and... it was inedible when roasted! However, The taste of the 'leather', was exactly as I remembered from childhood. The next day, I put the bird in the pressure cooker and had the tastiest chicken for some thirty-odd years.

CHEAP Strawberries! :T

After spending hours yesterday, researching the flavour of strawberries, I have just ordered 30 Elsanta :eek: bare-rooted plants from Marshalls, (yes, the tasteless supermarket ones!) Apparently, they are absolutely delicious when garden grown, according to the gardening pundits.

They are part of a cancelled commercial grower's order and are being sold off at £4.95 for 10, or £9.90 for 30 (plus £1.95 p&p).

Raspberries

I was also looking at raspberries and came across a lot of growers of Autumn fruiting varieties (which are often sturdier and may not require supports).

[Autumn varieties fruit on canes grown the same year and are normally cut down around the following January, as the new stems start to grow.]

Apparently, it is possible to get fruit from May/June to November, by cutting down half the old canes in January. These will fruit again, giving an early crop, and be cut down immediately after.

The new growth, begun in January-ish (along the whole row), will provide the Autumn crop and, if half are left un-pruned in January, an early one the following year, and so on.

I gather that it is best to cut down half the row (with a hedge-trimmer!), rather than try to prune individual old canes.

There was no information about how this affects the total size of the crop. I shall be giving it a go anyway: a longer season will suit me fine! :rotfl:

Home grown elsanta will certainly taste better than supermarket, because the farmers pick them underipe for even longer shelf life. Moreover they `extend the season` by use of polytunnels which detracts further from flavour in the earlier or later parts of the season.

They are however still a disgraceful simulacrum of a strawberry.

If `garden pundits` are recommending them then I shudder

Anyway, good luck with your growing, I am sure your elsanta will taste better than the supermarkets

cootambear

iQueen wrote: »

cootambear -

I agree entirely - it is not our ancient taste-buds!

Several years ago, I bought a very cheap 'boiling fowl', from a national chain supermarket! It looked so good, I thought they had mis-labelled it... and roasted it! :rotfl:Despite the trend, over many decades, for the mass slaughter of chickens at a few weeks old, this was what it said on the label, and... it was inedible when roasted! However, The taste of the 'leather', was exactly as I remembered from childhood. The next day, I put the bird in the pressure cooker and had the tastiest chicken for some thirty-odd years.

CHEAP Strawberries! :T

After spending hours yesterday, researching the flavour of strawberries, I have just ordered 30 Elsanta :eek: bare-rooted plants from Marshalls, (yes, the tasteless supermarket ones!) Apparently, they are absolutely delicious when garden grown, according to the gardening pundits.

They are part of a cancelled commercial grower's order and are being sold off at £4.95 for 10, or £9.90 for 30 (plus £1.95 p&p).

Raspberries

I was also looking at raspberries and came across a lot of growers of Autumn fruiting varieties (which are often sturdier and may not require supports).

[Autumn varieties fruit on canes grown the same year and are normally cut down around the following January, as the new stems start to grow.]

Apparently, it is possible to get fruit from May/June to November, by cutting down half the old canes in January. These will fruit again, giving an early crop, and be cut down immediately after.

The new growth, begun in January-ish (along the whole row), will provide the Autumn crop and, if half are left un-pruned in January, an early one the following year, and so on.

I gather that it is best to cut down half the row (with a hedge-trimmer!), rather than try to prune individual old canes.

There was no information about how this affects the total size of the crop. I shall be giving it a go anyway: a longer season will suit me fine! :rotfl:

http://www.dutchbulbs.co.uk/plant-0001196-gc-4/strawberry-cambridge-favourite/

£5.50 per 25
£19.00 per 100
+ pp

These are a very good tasting older variety
I got 100 of them last year

cootambear

btw chums, get your plants in sharpish

cootambear

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Can I ask a completely naiive q on this thread?

I've wanted to grow strawberries for years, but have been put off by the fear of attracting vermin. How do you protect your plants from unwanted attention from rats / squirrels / foxes. And do nets really keep them safe from birds?

just grow em and see

I have no problem with birds for example, there are trees all around, cats, I am in a dip, and the odd bird of prey so they dont like ground foraging

I do have a problem with slugs, more so because the slugs let the woodlice in

It all depends on your garden, but to be honest all gardeners have problems with pests on all edible plants

they are cheap, they propogate like wildfire, give em a go

as for vermin, they like regular supplies of food like composters, strawbs are generally short seasoned so they dont get in the habit of coming round your house.

iQueen

cootambear wrote: »

http://www.dutchbulbs.co.uk/plant-0001196-gc-4/strawberry-cambridge-favourite/

£5.50 per 25
£19.00 per 100
+ pp

These are a very good tasting older variety
I got 100 of them last year

Oh, bu**er! Just ordered some fruit trees from Parkers, from their Spring booklet. I didn't realise they had a wholesale site!

I was tempted to buy 3 varieties, to cover the whole season, and that included CF. This year, I just wanted to something acceptable (and cheap). I shall buy some seed for next year's crop.

Have you any suggestions for early and lates? I get a lot of rain in normal years, pretty temperate climate, and also my garden is plagued by slugs!

shegirl

cootambear wrote: »

http://www.dutchbulbs.co.uk/plant-0001196-gc-4/strawberry-cambridge-favourite/

£5.50 per 25
£19.00 per 100
+ pp

These are a very good tasting older variety
I got 100 of them last year

I'm loving that site...and the lilies:D