Garden Berries, Part I: Le Fruitful Yield

It's been over 3 years since we started the backyard garden and our most consistent (and delicious) output has been from our strawberry and raspberry plants. They are both hardy perennials in zone 4 and would take over the entire yard if they were given the chance.

The strawberry starters we purchased from Dehn's Nursery at the Minneapolis Farmers Maket were June Bearing, Everbearing, and Alpine. The June Bearing and Everbearing names are a bit mis-leading because both tend to flower in mid-May and stop producing in early July. 

Late March 2012

Early April 2012

Mid May 2012

These plants practically grow themselves. They are so densely packed now that the soil rarely sees any sun, which keeps the weeds down.  After the most of the leaves die off after the first frost we usually just crush them up with our hands and use them to mulch the bed before it gets too cold. They are not fussy about water or about heat. It just doesn't get any easier!

Since they like to spread like crazy, we have no idea which berries are June bearing, and which ones are Everbearing. The Alpines are easy to spot. They have smaller leaves and produce a much tinier fruit than what you see in the market.

Alpine

June/Everbearing, no idea which is which!

 Although the June and Everbearing plants spread more and produce more fruit, the Alpine variety is the most impossibly delicious strawberry I have ever eaten. When you are spending a half hour every day for a month harvesting berries in the hot sun, the Alpines are a nice treat to enjoy while the bigger berries get hulled and prepped for freezing. The alpines have a deeply colored (and very tender) flesh with a bright white center. They practically melt in your mouth if you wait until they are very ripe. I could go on forever about how delicious they taste, but......

On to the raspberries. We acquired the plants from Chris's Aunt and Uncle and transplanted them to the south facing area on the side of the deck. Raspberries are notorious for spreading under the soil so we made a 12" deep box to try to keep the roots from taking over the lawn. They are still finding ways to spread outside of the box but the problem isn't too bad.

After we pruned ALL the plants the fall of 2010 (little fruit production), we decided to not prune at all in the fall of 2011.

Raspberries: Late March 2012

Raspberries: Late April 2012

 As you can see, the plants are taking over. The harvest was delicious and plentiful! We were taking in a sheet pan (below) per day for about 3 weeks and eventually ran out of space in the freezer. At that point we just had people over to come and eat (or take home) whatever they could pick.

 The garden-to-freezer procedure is as follows:
1.)    Pick and Wash (big yogurt containers work great for collecting and washing)
2.)    Air dry on tray (with paper towels) in refrigerator for 8 hours or so
3.)    Remove paper towels and freeze on tray for 4 hours or so (best results if the berries don't touch)
4.)    ??????????
5.)    Profit!

Look forward to Garden Berries, Part II: Le Preservening