Strawberries are very prolific, meaning, they reproduce fairly rapidly. What you see above only took up 6 squares out of the 9 last year. The square foot box has filled in nicely. I have it under a greenhouse tent, because we have an abundance of birds in the neighborhood that love strawberries as much as I do. Putting a netting over them would probably work just as well.
The strawberries that I planted are everbearing. I planted them last year in April, and got a semi-decent crop considering they were first year plants. This year I got way more, and my first crop was in late May/Early June. My second crop is coming in now and I am getting even more than I did earlier in the summer. I pick them, wash them, freeze them on a cookie sheet, and store them in a ziplock bag. And yes, I sneak a few here and there as a snack while doing all of this. I am freezing as many as possible for smoothies. At this rate I am picking almost 2 lbs of strawberries every few days. I figure if I can do that for a couple of weeks, I will end up with 8-10 lbs of strawberries just from this square.
I have another 3X3 square right next to it and the strawberry plants are migrating over and taking over the other box. I am thinking of just letting it happen, and maybe planting a few more strawberries in the Spring. It would be nice to end up with two crops each year harvesting 30-40 lbs of strawberries total. That wouldn't be a bad haul for smoothies through the winter!
Strawberries:
Growing Season -Typically Spring and Fall in cooler weather
Seed to Harvest - Seed-started plants take up to 3 years to bear fruit. Use starts from your local nursery.
Indoor Seed Starting - No
Earliest Outdoor Planting - 4 weeks before last Spring frost
Harvest - Pick the fruit leaving a short piece of stem attached; use scissors for a clean cut. Harvest as fruit ripens.
Recommendations - Plant an entire square of strawberries. I like the 3x3 square because when the strawberries come in, they come in fast and there are a lot to pick!
Problems - Birds and slugs. People who put too many in their mouth and too few in their basket.
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