Monday, June 15, 2015

June is berry month, and July, and August, and September

 A handful of strawberries a day is a pretty good deal in my book.  You can see that they are not huge, more the size of marbles.  Alpine strawberries are an ever-bearing strawberry.  They flower early and start producing the first berries about the end of May in our area.  They keep on producing until frost.  They love a top dress of compost every year, and occasionally need to be repotted.  I have successfully started more plants by letting them get over ripened.  I save those berries in a bag in the freezer and their little seeds fall right out of the fruit.  I put them on some growing media like seed starting mix, lightly covered, and keep them moist.  Bottom heat is not necessary, but light is.  They are tiny seedlings that can be transplanted a couple months after they emerge.  They do not run, so you can not propagate with that method of rooting the runners.  Keep the plants moist, but not wet.  I grow mine in window boxes in a stacked style planter.  A tiered planter might be more ideal.  Put the boxes in the ground over winter and pull them out again in spring to their summer home.  Berries must be fully ripe, no white on them, for the best flavor.  You will not be disappointed to have these lovely babies as part of your annual gardening traditions.
  

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