Strawberry growing lessons

Lesson 1: Best to grow them in a sunny location that is not beneath a cedar tree.  A few years ago, I constructed a planting bed in an open, sunny area of our yard that also happened to be somewhat under one of our huge cedar trees.  The strawberry plants grew well, but the berries they produced were quite bitter.  Strawberries do like a slightly acidic soil, but I suspect the needle drop from our western red cedar is just too much. Berries grown from the daughter plants in other beds seem to bear that theory out. They’ve been sweet and delicious.

Lesson 2: Everyone likes strawberries - including the neighborhood squirrels, bunnies, birds and rodents!  For strawberries grown at ground level, even in a raised bed, plan to *share* some of your berry bounty and even strawberry leaves.  Yes, you could put netting over them, and hardware cloth in the ground beneath them.  But experience tells me they will still find a way in.

Lesson 3: Growing strawberries along a wall or fence works quite well. I tried it last year and was happily surprised by how well our little crop turned out. The method gets bonus points for keeping out the bunnies. See my Vertical Gardening 2.0 post here on how to make and hang quick, burlap-lined baskets to expand your growing capacity.

Lesson 4: It’s hard to water a strawberry pot full of plants.  It always seems as though a fair amount of water gets wasted trying to adequately reach all the side pockets where the plants are rooted. The remedy: before adding soil to a strawberry pot, place a length of plumbing pvc pipe down through the middle of the pot that you’ve pre-drilled with holes every few inches.  The pipe should be long enough to be exposed by about 2 inches above the uppermost soil level. When it comes time to water, fill up the pipe. Water will disperse through the holes and efficiently reach the roots throughout the pot.  This is certainly not an original idea, but having given it a try, I give it a big thumbs-up.

Lesson 5: Buying strawberry plants can be a one-time investment.  If you save and replant the daughter plants each mother plant produces, you’ll never need to buy more.  Deal!

Lesson 6: Be sure to plant strawberries with the crown above soil level - or else it will rot!

Lesson 7: Strawberries need consistent moisture during the growing season. Don’t let them dry out.

Lesson 8: In cooler areas like mine, best to mulch strawberry plants in winter with a 4 inch layer of straw. Pull back the mulch when temps warm up again in spring.

Lesson 9: Assuming they are not eaten right away, freshly harvested strawberries can be kept at room temp for up to 24 hours. After that, best to get them in the fridge. Also, don’t wash strawberries until just before eating them. The drier they are, the longer they will last.

Lesson 10: Nothing tastes better than a fresh-picked, warm, juicy, ripe strawberry from your garden. Plan to plant more for next year!

P.S. A wonderful way to enjoy your harvest is with this delicious Spinach Strawberry Salad recipe :)