Field Strawberries

At The Fruit Fields we continue to grow some crops of strawberries in the soil due to the superior flavour that can be achieved (field grown). For field grown strawberries we use June bearing varieties which are plants which produce fruit at one point in the year, usually June. These are planted in rows at 45 cm intervals. We lay a trickle irrigation pipe down each row at the base of each plant which enables us to water the plants even when the customers are picking.

Our preference is to plant cold store runners as this gives us the flexibility to plant in ideal conditions as the plants can be called from storage with minimal notice. These are planted between March and June depending on the weather. For the first season the plants are deblossomed to stop them from fruiting. This encourages the plant to divert its energy into the production of runners which are used to gap up the beds and thus producing continuous rows. The plants will then fruit the following years and should be productive for three seasons.

VARIETIES GROWN IN THE FIELDS (June Bearers):

• Main Crop: Symphony (has an excellent sweet flavour that scores high in taste tests)
• Late Season: Malwina Great shelf life colour and taste 

PICKING

• Choose firm strawberries with a bright red colour.
• Pick carefully by removing with a short length of stalk. This will keep the strawberries fresher for longer.

STORING

• Once picked keep the berries cool to extend shelf life. However, for the best flavour return to room temperature prior to consumption.
• To retain freshness do not remove hulls (the green cap), or wash, until ready to eat.
• Strawberries are suitable for freezing if they are to be used for cooking. Frozen strawberries are particularly good for jam making.

NUTRITIONAL BENEFITS

Not only do strawberries look good and taste good, they do you good as well. Just nine strawberries gives you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vitamin C and, at just 50 calories per 100g serving, eating healthily is a whole lot easier when the food tastes as glorious as strawberries.

STRAWBERRY FACTS

• Strawberries were cultivated by the Romans as early as 200BC.
• In Medieval times strawberries were regarded as an aphrodisiac and soup made of straw-berries, borage and soured cream was traditionally served to newly-weds at their wedding breakfast.
• In the 16th Century strawberries were sold in cone-shaped straw baskets, thus becoming one of the earliest packaged foods.
• The strawberry is a small plant of the Rosaceae (Rose) family. All varieties of the strawberry plant belong to the Fragaria genus.
• The strawberry plant has seeds on the outside skin, rather than having an outer skin around the seed as most berries do. They do not, however, normally reproduce by seeds. When the fruit is developing the plant sends out slender growths called runners. These look like strings and grow on the ground sending roots into the soil. These in turn produce new plants which grow and bear fruit.