GROWING STRAWBERRIES
Strawberries have long been fruits of love and luck. Their heart-shaped berries were once gifted as tokens of affection, believed to sweeten romance and bless marriages. In medieval Europe, strawberries were served at festivals of fertility and midsummer feasts, their red colour said to carry the warmth of the sun itself. Some old tales even claimed that fairies hid beneath strawberry leaves, resting in the cool shade before darting back into the garden’s magic.
To plant strawberries in your garden, then, is not only to promise yourself summer’s finest fruit, but also to welcome a little thread of enchantment into your everyday harvests.
HOW TO
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There are many ways to welcome strawberries into your garden. In summer, garden centres brim with pot-grown plants, ready to be tucked into the soil. In spring or autumn, you may instead receive runners by post—slender little shoots that carry the promise of next year’s berries. Choose wisely, for there are early, mid-, and late-season varieties, and with a merry mix, you can gather strawberries across a long, sweet season.
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Prepare their bed with care, as you would for honoured guests: dig in plenty of well-rotted compost or manure, then sprinkle with a little high-potash fertiliser. Plant each crown 30–45cm apart, in rows spaced 75cm, nestling the roots just below the surface. Firm the soil gently, give them a deep drink, and keep watering regularly until they are happily established.
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For those without much ground, fear not—strawberries are content in deep pots, window boxes, hanging baskets, or growing bags. Plant one per pot (at least 15cm wide), using soil-based compost with gravel or crocks at the bottom for drainage. From early spring, feed with a high-potash liquid (tomato food works well), and you’ll be rewarded with flowers that turn to jewel-like fruit.
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Watering is a kindness they crave, especially in hot weather or while young, but take care to keep the crown and ripening fruits dry to ward off grey mould. Birds and other small creatures find strawberries as irresistible as we do, so you may need to drape protection over your crop. The safest choice is a fixed netted cage, with holes wide enough for bees to slip through and do their pollinating work, but strong enough to keep the feast safe.
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Harvest only when each berry is fully red and glowing, for strawberries do not ripen once picked. Pinch the stalks gently with finger and thumb, avoiding bruises. And though they can be stored for a few days in the fridge, strawberries are at their most magical eaten straight from the plant, still sun-warmed and shining—summer itself in a single bite.