Question for 9/3/2018... Strawberries...

[daylilydude]

Do you grow them... which one do you prefer? Do you grow them in-ground or in pots?

[coppice]

I bought some June bearing strawberries this year, I just could not get them to field. Ended up giving them to SIL.

[Deleted]

Jung seeds is having a very good sale on plants, strawberries, too. I just bought some of the Maria De Bois ones, the almost as tasty as a wild strawberry. I plan to pot them up, at least for now for the winter.

[guruofgardens]

Sorry, but we don’t grow them in our garden - not enough space.

[pepperhead212]

I gave up on them years ago - couldn't keep the birds out of them, no matter what I did. Same thing happened with other berries.

[spike]

Nope! I live near several Amish farms that grow and sell Amazing strawberries. I happily give them my money!

[paulf]

For years we tried to grow strawberries with limited success. We still have several jars of strawberry jam that most likely needs to be thrown away because it is so old. There are a couple of pick your own berry patches in the area if we want fresh fruit. For us, it was not worth the time or space to continue. Don't remember the variety.

[bestofour]

I had a strawberry patch for several years and it was hard keeping it weeded. I got lots of strawberries and always made freezer jam. Then I realized I could buy organic strawberries from local farmers for a lot less work so I didn't weed for a while and the patch was run over. I've tried growing in containers and get a few to eat but not nearly enough to freeze.

[september]

My experience was like bestofour , hard to keep weeded, especially the 2nd year. We did enjoy the strawberries though, and the nearest pick your own is about 45 minutes away. If I ever give up growing so many tomato varieties, I'll consider using some of that room for a new strawberry bed.

[farmerjack41]

Have 2 30 ft rows. Put PVC hoops over them, then netting to keep the birds out. Yes, weeding is a pain it the _____. Hoops are only about four ft tall, so crawl thru on hands and knees to weed and at same time cut the runners off. Do not remember the variety, but plants grow quite tall. Have been picking the fall crop about three weeks, a nice amount ever three or four days. If I were to start a new bed, it would be on raised bed and thru plastics to keep weeding down.

[brownrexx]

More work for what it's worth to me and a very short season so I buy them from local farmers.

[bestofour]

farmerjack41, wow jack that’s a lot of work. Do you make jam or jelly or just love to eat them fresh? Bet fresh strawberry ice cream is delicious. I never had much of an issue with birds eating them but this year the mockingbirds picked off a lot of the tomato flowers and squirrels and blue jays ate or ruined every single fig.

[whistech]

I grew them in a raised bed for 3 or 4 years. I'm in zone 9 so growing strawberries was a challenge, I believe the variety I grew was Chandler which was supposed to be good for the deep south. What I found was the slugs, ants and other bugs love strawberries and I decided that they were more work than I was willing to devote to them.