The missus, who is really loving this growing lark, is also loving the finding and buying anything and everything. If it can be grown, she buys it! And the more unusual it is, the better!
The latest is white strawberries from Wilkinsons.
I've certainly never seen a white strawberry before, so had to look them up. Good news is there are several varieties of white strawberry, so they're definitely strawberries and not some ornamental thing that looks like a strawberry.
A couple of years ago, Waitrose apparently sold a white strawberry called Pineberry. I say apparantly because although newspapers carried articles announcing the Pineberry, the articles were published just before 1st April, so many people seem to think it was just an April fools joke.
In any case, the Pineberry is a genuine white strawberry with red seeds and apparently tastes of pineapple. These white strawberries from Wilkinsons look the same as the Pineberries that were apparently sold in Waitrose.
Apparently, the Pineberry was native to South America and was almost extinct until about 7 or 8 years ago. A group of Dutch farmers grouped together to save the Pineberry. The Wilkinsons white strawberry packet says it was grown in Holland, so maybe it is the Pineberry?
The picture on the Wilkinsons white strawberry packet looks like a picture of a normal large strawberry. However the Pineberry is an alpine strawberry, so it's quite small. We'll have wait and see what it looks like when it grows!
There are some other white strawberry varieties listed on http://strawberryplants.org/2011/03/white-strawberries/ - and it seems there are several other colours too. I like things that are a bit different!
Anyway, the white strawberries have now been planted into pots in the greenhouse. Just got to wait and see how they grow!
Showing posts with label strawberry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label strawberry. Show all posts
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Overwintering Update
2 weeks ago we started sowings for overwintering. The results so far are:
Garlic - shoots are now 2 inches tall
Carrots (Early Nantes) - seedlings are now 1 inch tall
The seeds we sowed in the cells have sprouted, but we used home made compost which turned out to have some sort of weed seeds in it. Luckily these weeds are easily identified with the Cauliflower and cabbage, but we're not sure if the Strawberries have sprouted yet.
Lettuce (Winter Gem) - some have sprouted, maybe to half an inch or so
Cauliflower (All Year Round) - seedlings are coming on well, most are between 1 and 2 inches tall
Cabbage (Durham Early) - about 8 out of the 12 have sprouted to about 1 inch tall
Cabbage (Winter Jewel) - all 12 have sprouted well, looking healthy
Strawberry (Sarian) - some green growth, not sure if weeds or strawberries - will have to wait longer ....
Garlic - shoots are now 2 inches tall
Carrots (Early Nantes) - seedlings are now 1 inch tall
The seeds we sowed in the cells have sprouted, but we used home made compost which turned out to have some sort of weed seeds in it. Luckily these weeds are easily identified with the Cauliflower and cabbage, but we're not sure if the Strawberries have sprouted yet.
Lettuce (Winter Gem) - some have sprouted, maybe to half an inch or so
Cauliflower (All Year Round) - seedlings are coming on well, most are between 1 and 2 inches tall
Cabbage (Durham Early) - about 8 out of the 12 have sprouted to about 1 inch tall
Cabbage (Winter Jewel) - all 12 have sprouted well, looking healthy
Strawberry (Sarian) - some green growth, not sure if weeds or strawberries - will have to wait longer ....
Monday, 3 October 2011
Back in Business
Sat 24th September we raided Wyevale for the 50p seed clearout. Got loads!
Sowed various seeds that should grow over the winter in the greenhouse:
2 tubs Early Nantes carrots
24 lettuce Winter Gem
24 strawberry Sarian
24 cauliflower All Year Round
12 cabbage Durham Early
12 cabbage Winter Jewel
1 tub of garlic
The lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower and strawberries were all sprouting within a few days. These will be transplanted into pots in the greenhouse when they're big enough.
The carrot tubs will probably stay in the greenhouse all winter. Hopefully they'll be ready in spring.
The first garlic clove was showing a small green shoot within a week. The garlic tub will stay outside through the winter so that the frost gets to it and makes the bulbs split.
I've dug up half the potato bed - got one bucket of new potatoes. The other half will be dug up when the bucket is empty!
We've picked loads of apples. Some have been peeled and sliced and frozen - these will make good crumbles throughout the winter. I still have loads of blackberries frozen too, so we'll have variety with crumbles etc. We've also had apple sauce with our roast this weekend.
Sowed various seeds that should grow over the winter in the greenhouse:
2 tubs Early Nantes carrots
24 lettuce Winter Gem
24 strawberry Sarian
24 cauliflower All Year Round
12 cabbage Durham Early
12 cabbage Winter Jewel
1 tub of garlic
The lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower and strawberries were all sprouting within a few days. These will be transplanted into pots in the greenhouse when they're big enough.
The carrot tubs will probably stay in the greenhouse all winter. Hopefully they'll be ready in spring.
The first garlic clove was showing a small green shoot within a week. The garlic tub will stay outside through the winter so that the frost gets to it and makes the bulbs split.
I've dug up half the potato bed - got one bucket of new potatoes. The other half will be dug up when the bucket is empty!
We've picked loads of apples. Some have been peeled and sliced and frozen - these will make good crumbles throughout the winter. I still have loads of blackberries frozen too, so we'll have variety with crumbles etc. We've also had apple sauce with our roast this weekend.
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