Have you ever had a ripe strawberry grown in a home garden? There is really no going back once you have. Juicy, sweet, and delicious, the pure strawberry-ness of them make the ones sold in plastic clamshells at the supermarket seem like a poor imitation of those pretty bright red fruits. Like when you send someone to the store with a grocery list and they come back with the -gasp- store brand item instead of the name brand. Smiling as if there is no difference at all!! But it is just not the same.
Let’s talk about why you would want to grow some of these beauties for yourself and the best way to go about it.
Why Should I Grow Strawberries?
Well, as we covered above, they are delicious. If you are already ready to grow strawberries and need no further encouragement, please skip to the next heading. If you are still on the fence, here are a few other reasons:
They Are One Of The Most Highly Sprayed Crops. The Environmental Working Group, Or EWG, consistently lists conventionally grown strawberries as one of the most pesticide soaked foods you can eat. (Click here to read the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen, a guide the EWG publishes every year after testing supermarket crops for chemical residue)Wash them all you want to, there will still be pesticides on them. This is not to discourage you from washing them, as it will remove alot of the chemicals, but many will still remain.
About Those Plastic Clamshells… it’s probably time that we sort of just stop buying food that comes in packaging that will still be on this planet hundreds of years after we have left it. If you are confused about why plastic is a problem please make a note to watch one of the 87 documentaries available on this topic.
Organic Is Expensive. And Still Sprayed With Lots Of Things. So assuming you are ok with the plastic clamshell thing or you find a supermarket selling strawberries in eco friendly packaging, organic strawberries are very expensive. And one more thing about organics: They are still sprayed with things! Yes, it’s true! Sometimes they are even sprayed with ALOT of things. These chemicals have just been classified as “natural”, that doesn’t mean they are good for us in large amounts. I personally prefer my food completey unsprayed.
How Do I Grow Strawberries?
It Is Actually Super Easy! They like to be grown almost anywhere: in a pot, in the ground, in a strawberry tower, so it is a perfect crop to grow if you have limited space. I like to buy strawberry plants, or cut and plant runners, rather than grow them from seed because I am just impatient like that. So first things first:
Pick A Location: The location should receive at least 6 hours per day of sun, more is better, but 6 will do. Decide if you will grow them on the ground, in planters, raised beds etc. Amend the soil with compost, worm castings, manure, or all three. Amended soil is full of nutrients so that your plants can grow strong and give you lots of nice berries. Healthy soil will also lead to healthier plants that will be more resillient when it comes to pests and disease. Also, the more nutrient dense your soil, the more nutrient dense the food grown in it will be. It is best to prepare the soil a couple of months before the actual plants go in, so it is a perfect Winter activity. However, do not let it stop you from planting some if this timeline does not work for you. I know sometimes when I wait for everything to be “Perfect” that day never comes.
Get Your Plants. You can buy bareroot plants, live plants, or start them from seed. I have had mixed luck with crowns (bareroot) but to be fair, I always have any number of animals or children running around the yard and they really need to be undisturbed until they get established and begin growing. One year my cat inexplicably buried every single strawberry crown I planted. Seed can be started indoors in the Winter if you have an indoor growing space, but you may not get berries the first year. If you are planting in the ground or a garden bed plan on spacing your strawberries about 18 inches apart so they can spread. I like to plant them as soon as the nightime temperatures are staying above 32 degrees and I like to plant lettuce densely around them. The lettuce will grow and act as a groundcover to preserve moisture and will be ready to be harvested by the time the berry plants are growing and getting more established. As they spread they will act as their own ground cover. Although, we still mulch bare spots with wood chips.
How To Grow Great Berries
Plant Your Strawberries Early In The Spring, as soon as nighttime temps are above, and will stay above, 32 degrees. They really don’t mind a bit of cold, and can handle colder temps when dormant. If you wait too late in the year, like Summer, they will struggle to get established because of the heat and will have to be watered daily to keep them alive. So plant them as early in the season as you can. Make sure the soil is rich. Water them daily the first week or so, skip the watering if it rains. After that you can water twice a week deeply and three times a week deeply when it is really hot and there is no rain. Another strategy is to plant your plants late in the Fall, allowing them to develop strong roots over the Winter so they are ready to go in Spring.
Do Not Overwater. Over watering strawberries will make the berries tasteless and not as sweet, also, overwatering plants in general keeps them from digging their roots deep into the soil, which is what you want them to do. Most food crops prefer to be watered less often for a longer period of time. So don’t sprinkle water on them every morning for 5 seconds, rather water them with a steady, but gentle, stream for about 1 minute per plant once or twice a week. If you think they look thirsty and want to water them more, go ahead, just know that excessive watering may lead to less flavorful berries.
Pinch The Flowers Off (Or Don’t) If you pinch the flowers it will encourage the plant to better establish its roots and increase its vegetative growth. Which should, ideally, lead to more berries the following year. Go ahead and do this if you have a will of iron. I do not and neither do my four children. Planting strawberry plants only to tell them they cannot have any fruit that year seems like something a wicked stepmother in a Disney film would do. And if the children do not listen? They will lose their sense of taste! Forever! Muah ha ha. Once we have some established plants, this is easier to do when we add new ones because we still get to snack on berries during the waiting time. Which leads me to the next point:
Add Some New Plants Every Year. Strawberry plants are the most productive for the first four to five years. So every year root some of the runners from your favorite plants, then dig them up and transplant them to add them to your strawberry patch. After a few years pass, you can also remove plants every year based on their productivity. (Here is a cool video on how to root your runners, it is very simple). Also remember to prune the runners you do not want to root and keep, as they will take energy from the plant. Remove the runners to produce more fruit. If you are less concerned about production and want them to serve as more of a groundcover then cutting off the runners is not necessary.
Protect Them From Pests And Disease. In my experience the three biggest foes of growing strawberries are slugs, birds, and fungal disease. I am sure there are plenty of others, but I trust that if you bump into one of those issues Google will not let you down. Here is how I deal with the aforementioned. For slugs we put a mixture of coffee grounds and crushed eggshells around the plant. The eggshells can cut the slugs body and they don’t like crawling on them and they do not like the smell of coffee. The bonus is that the coffee ground eggshell mix is a nice little fertilizer. Another trick for slugs is to put a couple of tablespoons of cornmeal into a jar and lay the jar on its side. If you do this in the evening the slugs will eat the cornmeal, which they should not eat, and they will meet their demise. For birds you can get a lightweight netting to cover the berries before they come ripe. Sometimes birds can get tangled in the netting though which can be very sad. Strawberries can get fungal disease because they can grow so thick and the air circulation does not get to all the leaves. Make sure to cut those runners back and cut back the leaves at the end of the season. Some people even use a lawnmower to prune their June bearing strawberries, I don’t because it has always seemed a little harsh (Poor little strawberries!), but some people swear it is the only way to go. It needs to be right at the end of the season, before the strawberry crowns begin their new growth, and the lawnmower should be on its highest setting. After pruning make sure to remove all the extra leaves to prevent pest infestation and fungal growth.
Companion Planting. My background in gardening is permaculture, so I am always looking for a way to have more plant relationships in the garden. Our strawberries are often between a couple of young fruit trees, where there are many other plants nearby that will support them. Chives and nasturtium to deter insects, lupine or goumi berry for nitrogen fixing, yarrow and coneflower to attract pollinators, etc. I find all my plants are happier when I give them friends, just like people. But also just like people, not all plants get along. (Except borage, that guy gets along with everybody.) Strawberries get along best with borage, beans, asparagus, chives, onions, lupine, and lettuce. Anything in the brassica family does not love strawberries however and can be inhibited by their growth. Also anything that can host verticillium wilt should not be planted near strawberries, in fact strawberries should not be planted in the same spot of a possible verticillium wilt host for five years. These include: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes, okra, melon, mint, bush fruit, bramble fruit, stonefruit, or roses. These are not exhaustive lists of course, if you think of a plant relationship you would like to try that you do not see here just do some research you little matchmaker!
Now you are ready to grow your own delicious fruit. Watch out! I have heard strawberries are a gateway plant. Tomatoes are like this too. grow a couple of these plants and soon you will be wearing overalls, putting raised veggie beds in your front yard and buying chickens and maybe goats. You will stop going out, saying you can’t leave the “farm”. When you do go places you will bring veggies (and maybe eggs) as gifts. So, be careful, you have been warned.
Below are some items you may want to begin your strawberry growing adventure. These are all affiliate links.
