Tag Archives: seeding

Freak Strawberry Sighting: Update

Sprouting Strawberry When I posted the photo and story about the freakish Strange Seeding Strawberry the other day, a lot of people asked what was going on and commented that they’d never seen anything like it. But no one could shed any light on the mystery.

See, typically strawberry seeds need to overwinter (a.k.a. freeze) in order to germinate. Having them germinate on a strawberry that was still attached to the plant seemed more than a little unusual.

Well, I’m all about local so I decided to give our very own Driedeger Farms, a local strawberry farm dating back to the mid-1940’s, a chance to weigh in on the topic.

Rhonda responded to my query asking a few identifying questions that I couldn’t answer about what kind of strawberry it was. “Uhm, a red one” was about as specific as I could be.

In the end Rhonda did her research online and found me an article on how to grow strawberries where the comments below referred to strawberries being planted in soil and sprouting that way. I appreciate that, but it was a bit disconcerting that the strawberry expert relied on eHow.com, even more so when her parting comment was, “It was definitely interesting to see them in their ‘natural’ state.”

I can cut Rhonda some slack given that strawberries naturally propagate via runners and on a 65 year old farm it’s not likely they’ve needed to rely on seeding in quite some time.

But it still doesn’t explain why a strawberry that has neither been frozen nor planted in soil, sprouted on the vine.

Planning and Planting the Garden

After blending and resting the soil, it was time to plant. So, in early May I got busy and set about planning and planting.

Aside from last year’s garlic, a couple of thriving snap dragons and a pot of assorted flowers, the entire garden was a blank canvas. (The strawberries in boxes along side the plot are from last year and show promise of producing this year, unlike last.)

I decided since I was able to get an early start on the season, I’d try seeding my garden instead of buying sprouts. Last year I got a mid-July start because we’d only just got the plots and soil. In order to get a crop, I bought the last dregs of a nursery’s Brussels sprouts, cabbage and broccoli starts. In the end they flourished, I got a decent crop, and best of all, it actually looked like I  knew my way around a garden.

So on to the planning. Last year I planted rows that ran east/west in the bottom right section of the plot, then realized that because some plants shoot up quickly and others take a while, the late bloomers got left in the shade. This year I planted north/south in an attempt to alleviate that issue.

I also decided to draw up a garden map so I know what’s coming up where. This should enable me to have a better handle on what’s a weed and what’s a “real” plant.

And, I planted bush beans in the general area where winter barley was, in case this helps accommodate their nitrogen needs.

Then, it was water, watch and wait…