Seductive Strawberries.

Strawberries and champagne—the ultimate romantic hors d'oeuvre. Honestly, who doesn't remember Pretty Woman, when Julia Roberts coyly excuses herself to floss after eating strawberries?

It's one of my favorite scenes.

(Well, that...and every image of Richard Gere.)

Strawberries and romance share a long history. With its heart shape, the strawberry symbolized Venus, the Goddess of Love. In France, newlyweds received a soup made from strawberries, sour cream, borage, and powdered sugar to serve as an aphrodisiac. And if you're looking to fall in love, just break a double strawberry in half and share it with your crush. According to legend, you'll soon be inseparable.

With its rich mythology and delicious history, is it any wonder that strawberries are a main ingredient in Valentine's Day? Chocolate covered, tarted up, or baked into a pie, strawberries are the fruit of love.

Actually, it's perplexing. Strawberries aren't in season on Valentine's Day--unless you live in Florida or California. And honestly—nothing compares to the deep, rich, sun-warmed sweetness of just-picked strawberries. So, although they're the fruit of choice for Valentine's Day, strawberries eaten on February 14 hardly compare to the backyard berries of spring.

Growing strawberries is simple. Often, gardeners become intimidated when researching how to grow strawberries. Rows or mounds? Plastic or straw? June-bearing or everbearing? While there are many options for varieties and growing methods, the process doesn't need to be complicated for a home grower.

In our garden, for instance, strawberry plants serve as a border in our potager. As the strawberry plants in the potager grew new runners, I harvested the babies and began a new bed by the greenhouse. And when we harvested more runners, the kids planted them in their raised bed garden. We didn't mound, we don't use plastic—and we definitely don't use any spray. Our result? Hundreds of perfect, achingly sweet organic strawberries—in three small beds.

Large commercial growers, of course, treat their strawberry crops differently. Because strawberry plants decline in production after two years, commercial growers treat the plants as annuals. In our zone 7b garden, however, our strawberry plants are perennials, performing year after year, until we notice a decline. (We haven't yet.) Then, as our plants slow in production, we'll replace old plants with runners we've harvested from other beds, ensuring an endless supply of fresh starts as we need them.

Strawberries may be my favorite perennial plant.

Types

June bearing (spring bearing) strawberries produce a crop during a three-to-four week period in the spring, with the duration based on the climate. June bearers produce flowers, fruits, and runners and are classified into early, mid-season, and later varieties. June bearing plants are ideal if you want a large harvest at once to make jams, for instance.

Everbearing strawberries produce three periods of flowers and fruit: spring, summer, and fall.

Day neutral strawberries produce fruit throughout the growing season, producing only a few runners. These plants work well for gardeners with limited space or who want to incorporate strawberries into borders or containers.

Isn't this a great idea? Strawberry baskets for space-challenged gardeners!

When to Plant

In cold climates, plant strawberries as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring. In warmer climates, fall planting is ideal. 

How to Plant

Strawberries prefer well drained soil, rich in organic matter. Plant in an area that receives at least 6 hours of sun for best fruit production, and ensure the plants receive at least an inch of water per week during the growing season. Don't plant strawberries in a bed where peppers, tomatoes, eggplant or potatoes resided. Strawberry plants are susceptible to verticillium wilt, which can be spread by nightshade plants.

Like all transplants, strawberries should be planted on a cloudy day or during late afternoon, rather than in full sun. Set the strawberry plant in the soil so that the soil is just covering the tops of the roots. Do not cover the crown. After four to six weeks, the plants will produce runners and new plants.

When you research planting strawberries, all of the experts will tell you to remove the flowers of the newly planted strawberries during the first season to develop strong roots and runners. The goal is to ensure a large crop the following year.

I can't do it.

In fact, I've never pinched back the flowers. And guess what? We had a nice little, delicious harvest the first year...and the second year, we could barely keep up with harvesting the berries.

Maintenance

Spring frosts and freezes can wreck havoc on your strawberry patch. Mulch or row covers can protect the blossoms. In colder zones, a thick layer of straw provides good insulation for strawberries. Remove the top layers in the spring, but keep it close by in case of a late frost. Additionally, mulching with straw around the base of the plants helps retain moisture and keeps the fruit off the soil, which can promote disease and pest damage.

Always remove any damaged fruit or dead leaves to avoid pests or disease.

Harvest

Wait to harvest until the berry is fully ripe. Unlike some fruits, strawberries do not continue to ripen after harvest. Leave an inch of stem attached, and refrigerate to preserve freshness. Wash immediately before use.

Eat

In honor of Valentine's Day, I baked a classic romantic dessert: Strawberry Tart. It's February, so I admit--I used store bought Florida berries. Still, it was pretty delicious. Now, imagine it with fresh, just-picked strawberries...oh my. This is definitely a recipe to make again in May.

Strawberry Tart

Adapted from Southern Living

Ingredients

1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, cut up

2 tablespoons cold shortening

3 tablespoons cold water

½ cup sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

2 cups half-and-half

5 egg yolks

3 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced

Instructions:

1. Mix first three ingredients together, then add 1/3 cup butter and 2 tablespoons shortening. Mix until crumbly.
2. With mixer running, slowly add 3 tablespoons water. Mix until dough forms a ball, adding more water as needed. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
3. Roll dough to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Press into bottom and sides of a 9-inch tart pan. Line dough with parchment paper; fill with pie weights (which I don't own) or dried beans (chickpeas worked for me!)
4. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove the weights/beans and parchment paper. Bake an additional 3-5 minutes.
5. Combine ½ cup sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan.
6. Whisk together half-and-half and egg yolks. Gradually whisk half-and-half mixture into sugar mixture in saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Remove mixture from heat.
7. Stir in 3 tablespoons butter and vanilla; cover and chill at least 4 hours. Spoon into prepared pastry shell. Top with sliced strawberries and serve immediately.

So, are you ready to plant your strawberry patch? I promise—You Can Grow That!

XO~

Julie

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Berry-licious.

 

It's official. Spring swooped in and landed with full force. Yes, Poor Richard and his Almanac would disagree and remind me that March 20 was the official first day of spring.

He's wrong.

As any gardener knows, spring arrives with a ritual.

The Tasting of the Strawberries.

Honestly, what heralds spring more than the first scent of newly picked, perfectly ripened strawberries? It's edible aromatherapy.

I treat the first berries of the season as if I'm a pretentious vintner. Immediately after plucking the first, perfect fruit from its stem, I hold it close and inhale...banishing winter memories and infusing the stale, recycled air with sweetness.

(I do draw the line at swirling and spitting.)

From the time our children were young, spring meant anxiously awaiting the first days of strawberry picking. (To find your nearest strawberry patch, check out pickyourown.org.) Last year, however, we planted strawberries throughout our gardens—outlining the quadrants of the potager, as well as the kids' raised bed garden. This year, the plants are full and lush with blooms...and now, fruit.

My family can't get enough strawberries. So, in addition to the gardens, we have fraise des bois—tiny alpine strawberries—in pots by the driveway. 
 

The kids pick them and eat them when they are playing outside. 

Then, instead of filling a plastic bag with plastic toys for Kristen's birthday party favor, she and her girlfriends decorated terra cotta pots—and planted strawberries in them. 

And remember a few weeks ago, when Mikey and I created strawberry balls? Well, guess what is producing gorgeous, uber-sweet fruit—right outside our front door?

It's seriously addictive. Strawberry plants are taking over the landscape.

Honestly, though—why not? The foliage is lovely—and evergreen. The tiny flowers are adorable. Plus fresh, organic snacks just waiting to be plucked are the perfect enticement for kids to eat something healthy—without needing to stop their outside play. And they're perennial.

Plus, of course, by planting your own strawberries, you can control what goes on them. Don't even get me started on the methyl iodide used on commercial strawberry farms. I truly understand the challenges faced by commercial growers. I do. I just don't want to serve my family strawberries with a chemical dressing. (To read more about methyl iodide, click here.)

But—and here's where I get hypocritical—I still get berries from our local strawberry farm. And I haven't asked what they use on their crops. What I do know is—they grew organic sweet corn last year that they couldn't sell to anyone but me, because corn is darn tough to grow organically. Without spraying, you'll find caterpillars along with your kernels—a little protein bonus. I'm just nutty enough that I'm thrilled with organic, super-sweet, delicious, fresh-from-the-field corn...and can deal with cutting off the tip of the previously caterpillar-nibbled ear. In fact, after they warned me that the corn wasn't sprayed, and I'd probably find some caterpillars, they were shocked when I snagged five dozen ears. They told me that every customer interested in corn walked away when told it had not been sprayed for caterpillars. Grown men ran for their cars, disgusted by the corn worms.

(I shared a little marketing-girl advice with my farmer friends: make a big sign promoting organic sweet corn, and refer to the corn worms as caterpillars. I'm not sure if it helped the corn sales or not, but it certainly couldn't hurt.)

But I digress...it's not corn season. We're talking strawberries. And commercial strawberries. And I think the point I was trying to make is—if you know your local grower, you can also know about his or her growing philosophy...and you can make informed decisions about whether organically raised strawberries are important to you, or whether conventional practices are good enough so that you can enjoy a beautiful day of strawberry picking with your family.

A friend sent me an e-mail. She had a refrigerator full of strawberries, ready for eating and freezing...and then read about California's allowance of methyl iodide for use on strawberries. She did some research and discovered it's also approved for use in South Carolina. She asked at the farm if the strawberries were organic, got some vague response (which neither of us could decipher), and then worried that she shouldn't feed the berries to her kids.

My response? My kids and I have been eating just-picked strawberries in fields probably full of pesticides and herbicides for years. YEARS. And everyone is alive and well. To me, the real risk involves the field workers who are inhaling/absorbing the chemicals through their skin. That's what we need to be taking a stand against. And yes, I love that we have our own organic strawberries in our gardens. But—I also love those memories of picking strawberries at farms with my children. I'm sure someone will take me to task for endangering my children's lives through non-organic strawberry picking. If that's the worst thing I do as a mother, well then—I'm clearing space on the mantle for my “Mother of the Year” trophy.

Back to strawberry picking fun:

Strawberry picking is a very exacting art, particularly if it involves small children.

First, make certain each child has his or her own basket. Trust me. Avoid combining the contents of the baskets, because this will cause much anxiety over whose berries belong to whom. Somehow—they know. And they only want to eat the ones that they picked themselves.

Next, teach the kids to step over the rows, not on the rows...and remind them that they do not get bonus points for berry-smushing.

After the rules of “only pick red berries” and “do not play in the fire ant hill” are firmly reviewed, it's time for the ritual tasting.

Each picker plucks a large, perfectly ripened, sun-warmed strawberry. On the count of three, bite it.

Not a wimpy bite.

This bite must encompass at least half of the berry, so that sticky-sweet juice runs down the biter's chin and dribbles over the front of her shirt. (Of course, this shirt will be white, because some mother forgot the rule banishing white clothing from strawberry patches.)

Remember to pick up Zout on the way home.

Ah...now spring is here.

As you weave your way through the rows, searching for the perfect berry, remember that for every berry that makes it into the basket, two berries are eaten in the field. This is important to remember, because tummy aches do not make for a fun outing.

At some point, particularly if you have younger children, they will foist their baskets upon you. You will find yourself with three gallon-containers that are only partially filled. You will feel an overwhelming compulsion to fill each container to overflowing while you try to keep the kids from berry-squishing.

Soon, your sticky, muddy, sweaty cherubs' excited voices will turn to whines, while you tell them, “One second...just one more.” Finally, hateful looks from other berry-picking mommies will let you know that it's time to pay up and head out before your babes succumb to heat exhaustion.

Once home, it's time for another tradition: the first strawberry milkshake of the season. Honestly, this isn't truthful. I'm amending it to say the first fresh strawberry milkshake of the season. We freeze a lot of strawberries to get us through the winter, so the kids have a pretty regular indulgence in strawberry milkshakes. (Have you ever made a blackberry milkshake? It's a strangely Barney-ish purple color. It tastes good, but drinking something the color of Barney is a little disconcerting...)

So here, to help you toast spring in all of its glory, is the non-official, thoroughly improvised recipe for strawberry milkshakes:

2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries
2 cups milk (adjust amount based on how thick you like your milkshakes)
¼ gallon vanilla ice cream (Yes, we use a lot of ice cream. You could, I suppose, use healthy alternatives, like frozen yogurt...but we stick to ice cream.)

Blend strawberries and milk together until smooth. Remind children that the lid of the blender must be firmly secured before hitting the “blend” button. Add ice cream and blend again until smooth. Makes 4 8-ounce milkshakes.

What is your favorite strawberry recipe? Please share...(the milkshakes are making swimsuit season problematic.)

Cheers to spring, to strawberries, and to the beginning of a lovely growing season!

XOXO ~

Julie