Sweet Strawberry Season
It is strawberry season! At long last, harvest is underway.
No, harvest is not later than normal this year; in fact, it is just about on time – but that first ripe strawberry for me is the first real proof that summer is indeed here. Of course, given the rain and gloom of the past few days, that may be hard to believe. Even though the weather has been lowery, I have picked some berries – they were worth getting wet for.
What makes our New Hampshire strawberries so special? Taste one and you will know! Our berries aren’t shipped thousands of miles so we (or you) are able to pick them perfectly ripe. They are just so sweet.
- Sweet New Hampshire strawberries ready for eating fresh or in a shortcake. Photo: W.Lord
Looking for a place to pick your own sweet, ripe, New Hampshire strawberries? Follow this link to find a U-pick farm near you. NH Harvest-Your-Own List
How do they grow?
Most strawberries we grow in NH are what we call ‘June Bearing’ or ’short day’ plants. These plants produce a heavy crop of fruit starting in early to mid-June and lasting into very early July. Floral initiation begins as days get shorter and cooler. In New Hampshire that mean mid to late September until late autumn is the time of year our plants are initiating flower buds. These flower buds initiated in the autumn will flower the following spring.
What do strawberry plants do during the long days of summer. They grow. Those long, warm days stimulate the plants to produce runners – horizontal stems called stolons that develop from buds in the axils of leaves on the crown. Each runner produces a new strawberry crown at its tip.
So we plant in early spring. Plants grow and multiply during the summer. We remove excess runners, keep beds weed free, and mulch with straw or pine needles in late November to protect our plants over winter.
Mulch is removed in April, and plants respond to the warmth of spring with the growth of new leaves, flowering, and fruit production.
After harvest, we get physical with our plants. We start by mowing the foliage off an inch or two above the crowns. We rototill deeply in the aisles, narrowing plant rows back to 12 to 16 inches. Then we fertilize and irrigate. Plants regrow quickly, producing new leaves and runners, and come fall, flower buds. We mulch again in late November, and wait for the promise of ripe fruit again come spring.
Bill Lord
June 16, 2009
Posted: June 16th, 2009 under Fruit Growers Journal.