Author Topic: Alpine strawberries (Read 5577 times)

sellickbhoy · « **on:** August 30, 2009, 09:29:10 pm »

I've tried to grow these twice from seed with nothing to show for my efforts

anyone grow them from seed and can you give me some hints/tips to get some success next time?

doganjo · « **Reply #1 on:** August 30, 2009, 11:59:13 pm »

I tried too - got the plants growing, and flowers, then just a few berries and really really tiny, but very sweet. Mine were in very poor soil under the trees with only a little natural water filtering through. Oh, and they had gravel round their necks like the other alpine plants

sunnyjohn · « **Reply #2 on:** September 12, 2009, 08:42:21 pm »

Hi, Bought a couple of small plants from the left-over trolley (reduced prices for doubtful stock) at our B&Q garden centre. That was last year. They did fine, but little fruit (pun intended). This year they've gone like a train! HUNDREDS of the tiny, fiddly, sweet fruit, plants quadrupled in size and have colonised half the (conventional) strawberry bed with their runners!

The fruit is delicious, but are oh, so fiddly, I question how useful they are..? It takes an age to gather enough for a single serving. Likewise, their flavour would be good in tarts, smoothies, jam, etc, but would take days to gather enough. I'm loathe to bin them, like anything that thrives against weeds and pests, but I wouldn't recommend them as a main crop. Unless someone can tell me something important I've missed...?

John

doganjo · « **Reply #3 on:** September 12, 2009, 08:45:37 pm »

My pal had loads of them in her rockery - just used them as pretty flowered ground cover that you could snack on while weeding the bits they hadn't invaded

Unicorn · « **Reply #4 on:** September 13, 2009, 10:54:27 am »

Sunnyjohn

A cook would love those - Nigella would cover them in chocolate and use
them to top her muffins

sandy · « **Reply #5 on:** September 13, 2009, 11:44:06 am »

;Dwe have some strawberry plants that are a waste of space, we should look at those Alpine ones, the thought of them on my muffins tempts me!!! We also bought 2 Blueberry shrubs thhis year,one has some fruit the other only a stick now so must be dead, between the strawberry plants and the Blueberries we can collect much more out on walks with the dogs!!! We may nip of to B&Q today and my OH always goes to the bargain bit, this time we need some tulip bulbs, love them when they flower.

sunnyjohn · « **Reply #6 on:** September 16, 2009, 07:32:26 pm »

Quote from: Unicorn on September 13, 2009, 10:54:27 am

Sunnyjohn

A cook would love those - Nigella would cover them in chocolate and use
them to top her muffins

THERE's a sight to behold! Dream on!

Unicorn · « **Reply #7 on:** September 17, 2009, 09:18:59 pm »

I did wonder - well smile to myself after I had posted it

Can be taken two ways - and she does have a nice pair of muffins

r+lchick · « **Reply #8 on:** September 29, 2009, 04:20:07 pm »

I had a glut of them this year. They are in my boyfriend's (he is also my neighbour, very handy) flower bed. He picked them and we dried them in my dehydrator. We have put them on our cereal instead of buying cereal with bits in them. Worked great, a lot gets you even less dehydrated, but who cares, they are yours and you know what has gone into them. Knowing his garden mainly cat P......