Friday, June 03, 2011

Strawberries and Patience

The problem with strawberries is that they take an extra year to grow. That means we plant them and let them grow a whole year before we get any berries off of them.
Each time the strawberry decides it should flower and produce a berry, we have to snap off the flower. It seems cruel to both the plant, which is trying to produce fruit, and to me, who would love to eat strawberries. The reasons for not letting it flower are vague to me, but something about establishing the plant. Planning for the future, blah, blah, blah...
But that was last year. This year, with monsoon rains throughout the spring, the strawberry plants flowered and produced tiny green berries that grew into lush red berries.
We've had strawberries for a few weeks now. Grace picks a handful for a smoothie in the morning. I stop and gather a bowl to have after my run. We've sliced them and put them atop the lettuce that grew in another garden bed. We probably need to fix some strawberry daquiris too.
If you haven't ever eaten a strawberry straight from the plant, full of warmth from the sun, you should.
I think this picture will serve as a testimony to their tastiness straight from the plant. Unlike adults who might ask if the strawberries have been rinsed, Caroline had no problem picking berry after berry and wolfing them down. She even ate the green topper when Grace didn't pull it off fast enough.
What are you growing this year?

5 comments:

judifreud said...

our first crop of asparagus this year. woot. looking forward to blueberries and peaches later this summer.

Anonymous said...

Baby Caroline is always such a treasure to see. She certainly makes your strawberries look delicious.

Stephanie said...

My mouth is watering!

The bunnies are waiting for us to plant our garden. They've gotten to the sunflowers that MacKenzie planted - ate them as soon as they came out of the ground. Last year they devoured most of what was planted.

bokblog said...

halo..saya..dari.indonesia saya juga suka strawberri

bokblog said...

kembali ku renung kan kisah lama yang telah yterlupakan kucing-kucing yang dulu...

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