Ed. — From the Sunday, May 8, print edition.
VIRGINIA BEACH — Nothing speaks of spring to me like a fresh strawberry.
I’ve grown strawberries for about 27 years, and it’s a popular springtime crop that never fails to bring folks to the farm.
Unfortunately, some years ago, I once found a copperhead who was only a couple inches shy of the state record among my berries.
It did not seem to have brought its wallet.
But most other visitors to the fields are welcome. With you-pick berry season well underway, lots of people are finding the fields and farm markets in our city right now. It’s a wonderful thing to see the look on a child’s face when they encounter row after row of red berries.
Admittedly, kids are not always the best pickers. Some seem to eat as many berries as they place in a bucket. But that’s all part of the celebration of a local crop that connects consumers with the growers right here in Virginia Beach.
I often write to you about issues such as sustainability and food security, but we should also never forget that our local produce can be simply delightful. Strawberries remind us.
Our area is a good one to find pick-your-own fields. We have the right population density to support growing strawberries, a strong, early crop that gets people outside and out to the farm after it’s been cold.
These berries are wonderful for a number of reasons. They are tasty and healthy. The you-pick businesses many consumers know and love delivers a family outing that ends in deliciously. The crop is also a good one for our farms because it is popular with consumers and, when conditions are right, profitable. And strawberries are also something we can grow at home even if we aren’t a farmer.
The crop requires its grower to be vigilant, but it holds promise for the farmer or gardener. You need to plan ahead.
The berries we find at you-pick fields are planted in the fall, and farms turn berries over and replant each year. Farmers need row covers for a late frost, needing to put them out at a moment’s notice. That’s to avoid losing any berries. Strawberries are finite, despite the impression we might have of a busy berry field in May.
As always with me, it all starts with the soil. Prepare it before planting. Some people grow on plastic, though I do not. A cover such as straw can break down eventually and help create new soil while allowing moisture to be retained.
At home, you’ll have to thin out the plants. A home patch might be planted in two-foot strips, with plants carefully spaced because they will send out runners. I plant every 12 or 14 inches in a row, with two rows together in a raised bed.
You can rototill every other strip each year, and the remaining plants will send their runners out to the tilled areas. Sometimes the berries that result are the best, to me.
Strawberry plants also can make for good ground cover if you let them go, but I’m not one who does that sort of thing with this plant.
I’m in it for the berries.
Strawberries are also great because you can make that slice of sweetness last all year by preserving them. A jam made from fresh berries is different in the best way from one bought in the store. It tastes better, and you can regulate the amount of sugar.
But many of us will be content to let farmers do the hard work while we visit to pick and eat the fruits of their labor.
The author is a farmer and consultant who writes about sustainable farming and gardening for The Independent News. Reach him via farmerjohnnewearth@yahoo.com.
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