每个做园艺的人都知道自家种植的食物比你在商店里买的好吃。草莓就是最好的例子。
Since a perfectly ripe strawberry is even more juicy and soft than a ripe peach, they are practically impossible to pick and transport commercially. Industrial farms grow hardy breeds of strawberries that hold up better to handling but are relatively hard and flavorless. Good strawberries, if you can find them at your farmers market, are expensive.
I put off planting strawberries for a long time because I didn’t have a place to plant them permanently, and I didn’t want to be dragging around potted plants. But there really is nothing like a homegrown strawberry, perfectly ripe, still warm from the sun.
And if you do have to move unexpectedly or leave your strawberries for some reason, consider the gift you are leaving to the next gardener lucky enough to follow you.
Strawberries are quite easy to grow, in the right climate. Here are some tips and tricks to picking great varieties, preparing to plant, and keeping pests away—because all kinds of critters want a bite of those sweet, sweet strawberries.
Strawberry Basics
Strawberries are a hardy, long-living perennial withnative varieties occurring in temperate regions在整个世界。现代草莓是两个新世界品种的杂交后代,一个来自智利,另一个来自美国。
The wild American variety produces tiny, brilliantly sweet fruit, smaller than the tip of your pinky finger. When I was a child, they were my favorite treat to hunt for on hikes in temperate mountains during June and July.
Over the last 300 years, strawberry breeders have created many varieties that produce well in most climates. Like tomatoes, strawberries varieties are categorized based on when they bear fruit.
- Everbearing varieties produce multiple crops throughout the season.
- Day-neutral varieties produce steadily throughout the season.
- June-bearing varieties produce just one crop (not necessarily in June, the name is somewhat misleading).
As a general rule, the more berries per season that a plant produces, the less energy it will use to produce runners and promote growth. The size and flavor of the fruit varies—from the hard, bland strawberries the size of crabapples grown by commercial growers, to small, squishy heirloom varieties.
Strawberries usually fruit in their first year, and throw out runners that year also. If you allow them to establish for one season, the runners can be divided and replanted. In good conditions, if allowed to reproduce unchecked, some varieties can form a loose ground cover, although they still require weeding.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWAgYF1BAqL/?tagged=growingstrawberries
Since strawberries are a perennial, you must pick a variety that can withstand the most extreme temperatures in your climate. Strawberries are not happy when they’re too hot or too cold.
The biggest strawberry farms are in the temperate, coastal parts of Washington and California, but there are varieties suited for many climates.
Conditions For Strawberries
草莓需要充足的阳光,排水良好的土壤,不要暴露在太多的风下。如果你种植的地方有稳定的风,像一些沿海地区一样,把草莓种植在建筑物的背风处,或者考虑种植树篱作为防风林。2022世界杯四强亚盘赔率
Strawberries areself-pollinating, which means you don’t need more than one plant to produce berries, and they don’t require pollinating insects. However, the best yields of fruit come when there is a healthy population of bees and other pollinators.
草莓在华氏65至75度之间生长最好。虽然这些植物本身对高温和低温很耐寒,但如果天气太热或太冷,它们就不会开花或结果。
As long as the plant is getting plenty of water, a very hot summer won’t hurt it, but if it gets too hot, the plants won’t flower and won’t produce fruit.
同样,当植物开花时,一场霜冻(低于28华氏度)会杀死花朵,损害果实的收获。和往常一样,研究哪些品种在你的气候条件下生长得最好,并检查种子包里的理想温度。
Speaking of seeds, most people don’t actually plant strawberries from seed. Strawberry seeds are particularlyfinicky and difficult to germinate.They need very precise temperature, humidity, water, light, and air circulation, and can take up to six weeks to sprout. After that, they can be transplanted into larger pots and gradually hardened off by exposing them to cool temperatures before planting.
虽然这种情况不常见,但如果种子在12月或1月在加热的温室中发芽,第一年就可以收获果实。考虑到头痛的问题,大多数人,包括我自己,都会选择一年生的草莓。你可以从种子公司订购。
Planting
When you plan your garden bed for strawberries, choose carefully. This will be your strawberry bed for the next 3-5 years or more, if you’re lucky. It is possible to move established strawberries but transplanting damages the roots and sets you back at least a year in harvesting as the plants establish.
Before planting, get to know your soil. Soil quality is especially important for growing a perennial like strawberries, since you won’t be able to turn the soil after you’ve planted. Giving your soil the best possible start will prevent headaches down the road. That includes incorporating lots of organic matter, amending to adjust pH, and focusing on getting a great soil texture.
草莓喜欢浅色、沙质、易排水的土壤。土壤质地是很难修正的,所以如果你有重的粘土,考虑种植在你可以控制土壤质地的培育床上,而不是直接进入地面。你可以在播种后施肥增加营养,但你不能将任何新材料融入土壤。
Plant your crowns 18-30 inches apart, at a depth where the soil just covers the root structure and not the base of the plant stems. Leave a wider distance between the plants if you plan to allow the runners to root themselves. Plant in the early evening or on a cloudy day to prevent stressing the plant with heat during transplanting.
Care
除草是草莓保养中最重要的部分。对于所有多年生植物来说,由于每年春天都不进行耕作来破坏杂草种子库,所以杂草是持久且无处不在的。呆在它们上面,不让杂草在附近发芽是有帮助的。
你可以用铲子或锄头在很小的杂草长出来之前把它们铲除掉。这必须每周做一到两次,特别是在春天,为了防止它们侵占你的浆果。
Another technique to control weeds is to use a ground cover material like organic mulch, ground cloth, or black plastic. Along with weed suppression, ground covers warm the soil, retain moisture, and keep the fruit itself from touching the ground and transferring disease.
使用地面覆盖物可以让你免于每周的除草派对,但如果你有一块很大的草莓地,地面布或黑色塑料会很贵。有机地膜会腐烂,需要重新使用。此外,如果你生活在非常潮湿的气候中,这些覆盖物下面可能藏有真菌疾病。
Whatever method of weed control you use, the most important thing is to start early in the season, as soon as weeds germinate. Keep at it regularly so that weeds never get firmly established. Especially with young strawberries, vigorous weeding around them can disturb their roots.
Strawberries need plenty of water, especially during their fruit-bearing times.
Propagation
All strawberry varieties throw out runners, some more vigorously than others. As a general rule, the more energy a plant puts into producing runners, the less energy it will have for making fruit. If you want the greatest possible fruit harvest, cut back the runners regularly. The opposite is true too, if you want to encourage propagation, pluck off the blossoms as they develop to prevent fruiting.
However, if you want to cultivate more strawberry plants, learning to nurture strawberry runners is the ideal way of propagating, since the berries are difficult to start from seeds. Runners will sit on the soil surface developing for several days before they begin to develop root structure.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWswqwvhdbV/?tagged=propagatingstrawberries
Once they do, they will root themselves. You can make the process more orderly by planting the runners yourself. This ensures that each plant has the maximum amount of space and sun. A good time to do this is each day when you water. Check the runners, and if any of them are developing root nubs, pat them gently into the soil surface.
Another clever trick to propagating strawberries is to use an old egg crate to root runners in. Put soil in the container and leave it beside your strawberry plant. As the runners become mature for rooting, coax them to root in one of the egg carton spots. Then you won’t have to dig them up again to move them to a new spot. They are already neatly separated and ready to move for replanting.
Mulching And Maintenance
If your climate consistently has frozen soil during the winter, you shouldmulch your strawberry plants用稻草、剪下的草屑或堆肥。就像覆盖大蒜或其他越冬植物一样,在你的第一个霜冻日期之后,在地面完全冻结之前,覆盖覆盖物。
A thick layer of mulch helps protect the crown and root system from freezing temperatures, as well helping to hold moisture in the soil, suppress weeds, and enriching the soil with organic matter. If you live in a temperate climate that doesn’t freeze hard, mulching is not necessary and can even be detrimental in wet climates, as mulch holds moisture.
Mulching too early can hold excessive dampness around the plant during autumn rain and cause rotting. Likewise in the spring, the mulch should be carefully raked off after permafrost has stopped and before the first steady rains.
The key time is when the plant has stopped putting energy into the upper part of the plant for the season. A good sign of this is when the foliage begins to look wilted, limp, or flat. By this time the strawberry leaves should also have turned red and orange.
Harvest And Storage
Depending on your variety of strawberries, you may have one large harvest or a steady production throughout the year. The berries are ready when they are a deep red and come off the vine easily.
Once harvested, strawberries are a versatile ingredient and also easy to preserve. They can be canned, mixed with apples in strawberry applesauce, dehydrated, or just washed and frozen.
几乎每个人都有自己喜欢的新鲜草莓食谱。从草莓柠檬水、草莓酥饼、巧克力草莓和其他甜食,到草莓沙拉、披萨或沙拉配肉或鱼等美味佳肴。
Strawberry-Basil-Balsamic Ice Cream
I first tried this refreshing ice cream at a co-op grocery and knew I had to go looking for a recipe to try at home. However, this combination of flavors is not exclusive to ice cream.
I have seen recipes using these ingredients as the basis for a jam, chutney, glaze, salad, cocktail ingredients or even as pizza toppings. Go wild!
Ingredients
- 2 cups cleaned and cut strawberries
- 1 ½ cups half and half, heavy cream or coconut milk
- ½ cup honey, maple syrup, or sugar
- ¼ cup thinly sliced fresh basil
- ¼ cup limoncello
- 2 or 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar to taste
Directions
- Add the strawberries, cream, sweetener, and limoncello to a blender.
- Blend, adding the balsamic vinegar and basil gradually, to taste. (The balance of flavors is important).
- Let the blended liquid stand in the refrigerator for several hours to let the flavors meld.
- Once the mixture is chilled, run it through your ice cream maker, following the normal user instructions, or make by hand blending and freezing for thirty minutes repeatedly until it is the desired consistency.
Whether you are just starting out, or if you are an experienced strawberry grower who is looking for new tips, always remember to ask other gardeners, local experts, farmers at the market, specialists at your县扩展or members of your local master gardener program. As always, when we are farming or gardening, the most important thing we are cultivating is community.
Leave a Reply