A Fruitful Morning

Eli and I were busy picking strawberries from our little patch this morning.  Well, I was busy picking and Eli was busy eating!  After getting only a handful or two last year, the strawberries have outdone themselves this season.   I had an early harvest at the end of April,  and after shortcakes, pies, fruit salads, and 6 half-pint jars of preserves, I thought I had a pretty good spring.  Then three weeks ago, the strawberry plants were once again filled with drifts of white blossoms, cheery yellow centers echoing the late spring sunshine.  Each of these blossoms transformed into hard, green fruits which, with sun, plentiful rain, and non-stop squirrel patrol, became this morning's lush, ruby-bright bounty.

Nothing says happiness quite like a baby with a strawberry in each hand and juice dribbling down his chin!  I planted a mixture of ever-bearing and June-bearing strawberries, hoping to get a heavy crop for preserves in the early spring and handfuls to munch on through out the summer.  Quinault and Ozark Beauty are my two ever-bearing varieties, and  All-Star and Festival are the June-bearers, though I picked strawberries from every single one of my plants this morning.  The bulk of my plants are bedded on black plastic, and I have found that this is the best way to keep weeds down, keep the berries relatively dirt and bug-free, and keep the shallow root systems of the plants moist and warm.  Strawberries are members of the Rosaceae, or Rose, Farmily, and the Genus Fragaria, derived from the Latin word for "fragrant."  After an hour spent among the plants, enclosed in the heady aroma of sun-warmed berries so ripe that the merest touch stains fingers red with juicy syrup, I can think of no more fitting a name.

The strawberry is a unique plant, in that the parent plant sends out "daughter" plants on runners.  The runners feed the daughter plants until the roots come in contact with the soil and the new plant is established.  You can allow the daughter plants to establish on their own if your strawberries are bedded in the soil without plastic.  Last year I snipped off the daughter plants that branched out in all directions across my plastic and relocated them to a raised bed, where I now have an additional two row of plants which all contributed to this morning's harvest.  Strawberries are among the easiest and most-rewarding plants to grow, and I recommend even the novice gardener to try a few plants.  Great information for growing strawberries can be found at http://strawberryplants.org and many other gardening sites.  

For me, I am now off to make more strawberry preserves!  The boys (including my husband) have reduced my 6 half-pints to 2, so thank goodness the strawberries saw fit to produce again!  Making strawberry preserves is simple, and all you have to remember is the"rule of 2" - 2 cups of strawberries, 2 cups of sugar, and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.  Cook the mixture slowly, stirring frequently over medium to low heat until it begins to coat the spoon.  The preserves take on an impossibly deep garnet shine when they are just ready.  You can then process your preserves in a hot water bath for 10 minutes and you're done.  Done, that is, until the boys raid the cupboard again!