THE season of the garden is in full swing and as spring wanders along people are busily planting their gardens to provide interest, fragrance and flavour.
Arguably, the easiest and tastiest plant to grow has to be the common strawberry (Fragaria species).
Strawberries are grown all across British Columbia, from Vancouver Island to the Okanagan to the Fraser Valley. B.C. strawberry producers grow about 25 per cent of all Canadian strawberry production or roughly 3 million kilograms of strawberries worth about $6 million annually. It is interesting to note that Canadians consume more strawberries than we produce, requiring us to import more of those tasty berries from California, Florida, Poland and Mexico. It is also worthwhile noting that Canadian environmental and agricultural standards prevent our strawberry growers from drowning strawberries in pesticides, unlike other countries which rely heavily on pesticides, fungicides and herbicides for agricultural production.
Most modern, commercially available strawberries originated from French breeding that crossed Fragaria chiloensis with Fragaria virginiana to produce a plant that optimized the virtues of both parents. Over the last century, American and Canadian breeders have developed many new strawberry cultivars to meet the consumer's desire for more taste, bigger fruit and a longer fruiting season.
Our ancestors originally ate the alpine strawberry (Fragaria alpina) and the wood strawberry (Fragaria vesca), among other species. Today there are four main groups of strawberry: June-bearing, ever-bearing, day-neutral and alpine strawberries. June-bearing strawberries produce fruit once a year in June. Ever-bearing strawberries produce berries twice a year, occasionally more. Day-neutral strawberries produce berries every six weeks or so from June through September. And the alpine strawberries produce fruit once in July or August. The most commonly grown June-bearing cultivars are Hood, Totem, Benton, and Tillamook.
Some of the most popular ever-bearing strawberries cultivars include Quinault and Fort Laramie. The most common day-neutral cultivars include Tristar, Tribute, Selva, Seascape and Diamante. Totem, the leading strawberry cultivar throughout the Pacific Northwest, was bred by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Pacific Agriculture Research Centre. The strawberry varieties Rainier and Puget Reliance were bred by the Washington State University breeding program.
No matter the variety you choose to grow, all strawberries need the same conditions to flourish and produce their delicious fruit. Strawberries must have well drained soil that has been thoroughly amended with organic matter such as well rotted manure or compost to produce healthy leaves and therefore abundant fruit. Chemical fertilizer should be used sparingly because it promotes soft leaf growth that predisposes the leaves to foliar diseases. Excessive fertilizer also forces leaf growth on the plant at the expense of fruit. Mulching the soil is also recommended for strawberries to prevent soil drying and plant stress. Full sun exposure provides the best fruit production. Full sun means at least eight hours per day; however, some strawberries will grow well enough for the backyard foodie if there are at least six hours per day of sun.
Some growers find that strawberries will have more flavour when grown in areas with warm days and relatively cool nights. But that nuance should not prevent anyone from growing a strawberry or two in the garden here on the Coast. Keep strawberries well watered and moist during the summer heat but not waterlogged or they will rot and die.
The soil depth you grow strawberries in should be at least 20 to 30 centimetres deep to provide a deep cool root run for the strawbs. If you cannot dig deep to develop a planting bed, then build up using stone or untreated wood to create raised beds to attain the required depth and drainage. Strawberries can also be grown in hanging baskets provided a rich moisture retentive soil is used to build the basket. A strawberry hanging basket is interesting, attractive and edible and it can be hung up instead of using ground space. Another easy way to grow strawbs if space is limited is to grow them in containers or planter boxes. Growing strawbs in pots, planter boxes or baskets also keeps the plants off the ground and away from many insects pests like slugs, ants and other insects that like to eat the fruit.
Over time, strawberries will produce runners that grow away from the parent. Once runners have formed at least a few roots, cut the runner off and plant it on its own to have more plants. And every three to five years strawberries should be divided, their soil enriched and replanting done to allow new growth and plant invigoration to happen.
Strawberries are one of the most popular fruits in the world and accordingly the most popular yogurt flavour in North America is strawberry. Strawberries contain calcium, vitamin C, iron, carbohydrates, dietary fibre and protein as well as being visually interesting and tasty.
Todd Major is a journeyman horticulturist and chief horticulture instructor at the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden. For advice contact him at [email protected]
