Albion Strawberries

Strawberry season is here and I am so delighted with our Albion variety. Last year, I decided to plant strawberries. The taste of store bought strawberries can't compare to berries from your garden, and strawberries are one of the dirty dozen  crops regarding pesticide use.  It was my first year, so I did the research and settled on a day neutral variety. Albion is a variety developed at UC Davis and has good disease resistance and excellent flavor. Strawberries are divided into these major categories: 1) day neutral, which produce on a relatively consistent basis over the growing season (May-September for us); 2) ever bearing, which are similar to day neutral except they produce a few crops in bursts over the season,  3) June-bearing, the most popular type, producing over a 3-week period in the spring, and 4) Alpines, bushy little plants that yield tiny, tasty berries. Our strawberry experiment has been so delicious, and I have learned a lot in the process.

June-bearing strawberries are planted in 3 or 4 year rotations. The first year, berries are not allowed to form (the flowers should be picked off) , and by year 4, the plants slow down production and should be rotated to a new bed using new plants (purchased or rooted from the older plants' runners). Day neutral varieties are often planted as annuals. They produce the first year. For this reason, day-neutral varieties are favorites for container planting. I purchased 20 Albion bare root plants last year at a big box store and only about half grew after planting. They are sensitive to planting depth, and many were really dried out when I bought them. I imagine more would have survived if I would have purchased them from a good nursery. I spaced them about 8 inches apart in the two beds along the house. The Cornell website has excellent advice for planting. It's very thorough though a bit outdated as it does not mention Albion.  I watered well- almost daily- since they are in raised beds, and mulched with pine needles. We did not pick any of the flowers off of our Albions. Some sources recommend taking flowers off in the first month for day neutrals.

The first year they produced reasonably well; we got about 2 quarts over an 8-week period, with a few here and there in late summer. They sent out many runners, which surprised me because I had read that day-neutral varieties don't have many runners. Maybe that's just in contrast to June bearers. I pruned some, but left many to root new plants because I love getting plants for free! My Albion plants seem to runner prolifically, and already each plant this year has put out a few. They escaped the bed last year and new plants- called daughters- sprouted a few feet away in my herb garden, as well as in the cracks of the bricks between beds, and even in an area next to the beds that just had gravel for a downspout to drain in to. When the runners set leaves on the end, simply bury the stem in a little soil right around the leaves, and pin them with a bobby pin so they stay in place. Be careful not to let too many runners root. This will crowd your bed and drain energy from the parent plant. Ideal spacing seems to be 4-6 inches between plants. I have violated this rule and some of the plants are not producing well. Some thinning of the small and weak plants is in order soon.

I left the daughters in till the next spring, but they can be cut in 5 or 6 weeks after rooting begins. In November, when the plants drooped to the ground and the leaves started to turn red, I mulched them with several inches of straw for winter protection. Just cover the whole plant with straw or some other light mulch (leaves or grass clippings will work). I did not trim the leaves, as is recommended for June bearing varieties.

So the real fun started this year. The first great surprise was the number of new plants we had. When I pulled the mulch off in April and checked my beds, there were over 30 new plants. I cut the runners, gently dug them out, and planted them in a new bed. When I ran out of space, I gave a bunch to my neighbor.Those new plants are already producing. I plan to use this method to start a new bed every year. If all goes well, I'll never have to buy strawberry plants again!

The second surprise was that the plants I started last year are extremely productive. I'm glad I left them in. Some sources claim that day neutral varieties don't produce well the second year. This has not been the case for our Albions, which are much more productive this year than last. Another surprise: the berries are much larger than I expected. Most are between 1 and 2 inches in length.

Strawberries are relatively easy to grow, with this exception: humans aren't the only critters who love to eat them. Our first beautiful berries were chomped on (it's so disappointing when that happens). After reading a very helpful post about slugs, I decided this was the problem. I set out traps using a yeast, flour, sugar, and water mixture poured into tuna cans buried into the soil. Most sources recommend beer for trapping them, but apparently it's the yeast they go for. Why waste beer on slugs?  I caught a few, but the damage continued. One evening, I was looking out the kitchen window and noticed a stunning red cardinal making it's way to the strawberry beds. Turns out, the birds were doing most of the damage. After I did some more checking on line, it's fairly easy to distinguish the damage. Slugs put a neat little hole in the berry, like someone dug out a chunk with a miniature melon baller. Birds leave an irregular gash. I bought some nylon tulle and covered them, although I have to leave the ends opened so the bees can get in to do their pollination magic. So far, that has kept our strawberries intact and gorgeous. I also added some nontoxic slug bait (Sluggo) to the beds for good measure.

A few other notes: Standard advice is to pick strawberries at their peak of ripeness because they don't ripen further after picking. I have experimented with various picking times and find it optimal to pick them just before they turn dark red. Left in a bowl on my kitchen counter, they do continue to darken over the next day or two. However, they don't sweeten much after picking. If I wait too long to pick them, they sometimes start to rot. Timing is tricky. In addition, they can be refrigerated to prolong freshness but I think they taste better at room temperature. That's just my preference. Don't wash them until you are ready to eat them, and don't let them soak in water. They get spongy. Our plants began producing in the third week of May and have really hit their stride. As of today (June 2) I have already picked about 4 quarts. I'll update this post as the season progresses. I expect things to slow down when the days get really hot.

We started 25 June bearers this year (Earliglow). We are picking off the flowers and letting the runners root (4 runners per plant). This will give us a bounty of spring berries for freezing and preserving, as well as enough extra daughters to start a new bed. In combination with our Albions, we hope to have a long season of strawberry joy.

First year strawberries (Earliglow) with volunteer sunflower