Grow What You Eat: Strawberries

In case I haven't mentioned it (because I certainly haven't stopped strangers on the street to tell them, certainly not), I've started a container garden. I want to grow more of what I eat. I already try to eat local and organic or both. When that fails, I try to go for less packaging or waste. But truly, there are very few foods that meet all of these criteria at one time.

Growing food in my own backyard really is as green as it can get.

So...strawberries. Everything I read about strawberries said that the plants don't produce strawberries in the first year, but that you can grow them in containers. This is confusing. How do I "winter" the plant so that it doesn't die in the cold weather in order to reap the rewards the second year? No gardening book could answer this question for me. So I decided not to grow strawberries.

And then...I went to Home Depot to pick up some trellis fixings for my bean and pea plants. The strawberry plants were right there. So inviting. So friendly. My pure and unadulterated excitement that spring was finally here won the better of me and I grabbed two strawberry plants on a whim and ran. (I mean, I paid for them and everything, but still.) I think I spent $4 per pot.



The plants I bought were Bonnie Plants' Quinault variety. Part of what sold me was their pots. Instead of the usual plastic pots that immediately go to the landfill, their pots are biodegradable! I actually tore them into little pieces and added them to the composter just as I would with cardboard or paper.

And in case you missed it (here's a larger view of my little strawberry baby), I have one bright, plump red strawberry growing on the vine, with more to come! What was this about strawberry plants not bearing fruit the first year?

What I'll do differently next year: I'll be sure to buy enough plants to fill all of the holes in the strawberry pot, instead of just two. I'll also buy a PVC pipe, drill holes in the sides of the pipe and insert it into the middle of the pot before adding soil in order to aid in watering.

Note: Bought strawberry plants: May 4. First red strawberry ready for picking: June 23.

Update: Poor baby strawberries met their maker. Not sure what creature got to them, but I hope the rest of them don't have this fate in store!



Update #2: As of the end of August, the strawberry plants produced small strawberries two more times, though they were never harvested because they were either too measly or too mangled. Maybe they will do much better the second year, after all!