We love fruit at our house, and strawberries & blueberries are at the top of the list. My daughter and I especially love the little alpine strawberries that pump out fruit all summer long, so there were plans to expand our little patch this year. My first seed sowing was strewn across the floor by a troublesome feline, but no worries, a replacement batch is in the works.
While waiting at the vet yesterday I read an article on alpine strawberries, and it said a family of four should have 26 plants or so if I remember correctly. Yikes. I only have 3 out there now, with 8 more in the seed tray. Seems as though my plans are falling short. Nothing that can not be fixed with a few mouse clicks though- looky what we have coming soon.....
From The Strawberry Store:
ALPINE
Regina (2)
Alexandria (2)
Pineapple Crush (4)
Reine des Vallees (2)
Deese des Vallees (2)
MUSK
Profumata di Tortona (2)
Capron (2)
Male (2)
I have always wanted to try musk strawberries, I hope we like them as much as the alpine. This order should put us at the recommended capacity once my seedlings are in full production next year.
6 comments:
I have never tried them in the garden because I thought they were challenging. How labor intensive are strawberries?
I'm not sure who said that you need 26 plants but these alpine strawberries are very prolific so if you're looking for a snack in the garden a 3-4 bushes are more than enough. If you're looking for making jam then obviously you'll need more. We have 6 in the garden and it's way more than we need and I end up giving them away each summer.
@ Tomato Thymes- alpine strawberries just need to be well watered in order to produce well, along with dividing if the clumps grow too large. Musk strawberries I have zero experience with, but I believe they send out crazy runners, which the alpine plants do not.
@Jenny- I have 3 alpine plants now and it is not nearly enough. We never get out of the garden with fruit. I don't want to make jam, but we put berries on everything, and just plain eat them by the handful. I think the article was spot on for our family's needs.
I'm not familiar with the alpine strawberries at all. They would HAVE to be prolific producers for then to produce enough for us. We eat TONS of berries. I wonder how they would grow in pots?
I don't devote the space to them anymore since they are a huge cash crop here, they love the sandy soil we have so we just go picking at a farm, BUT I could never not have them in our freezer/jam stash! Hope yours work out great!
@ Sue- they produce all season once established, but the berries are very small, and maybe one to three ripen per day on each plant. Regular strawberries are better suited to small containers, but the alpines will grow well if given the room to expand in the pot. The taste is worth growing them for in my opinion.
@Erin- I think you are speaking of standard berries, I think it is rare to see alpines being produced commercially in this country. I am sure they make a delicious jam, but I can not imagine how many alpine plants one would need to get to that point, lol.
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