Our strawberry patch was full of blossoms when the wind/freeze/snow hit last night. Is it best to pick the blossoms off or let it run its course?
How to deal with frozen strawberries
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Bummer. How cold did it get? The damage depends on the bloom stage, lowest temp and the length of exposure. If the plants were in full bloom (not closed bud stage) and the frost was like 28 for hours, it is likely they are damaged. If the frost was short and just around 32 they might make it. In the next day or two, watch to see if the centers of the flowers turn black. Is so, pinch off those blossoms. Leave the just opening to see if they made it.
Thanks BG, I'll keep an eye on them the next few days. The garden terraces are on top of the hill and don't see frost. We only see it at the bottom of the yard. However, the freak for this time of year snow caught us off guard. The snow is almost done and most has melted already but they probably saw high 20s and high winds for a prolonged period last night.
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- Oct 8, 2008
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We'll see what happens. Everything stood right back up after the snow melted this afternoon. The strawberry crop won't be a problem. We have 1200 sq ft of them as we were a little naive when we planted them last year. The tomatoes and peppers will just be a learning experience. Even if they did survive last night, we have two more cold nights ahead of us before it warms up.
Hello...I don't know what zone your in there...but here in southern maine...where I live...we are in zone five. I don't plant my peppers and tomatos until Memorial day so I don't get caught by late freeze...ask me how I learned that...
Franklin
FranklinThe strawberries will be fine, the first ones may be catfaced or small, but the later ones will be fine. The tomatoes and peppers may be "experience". Even if they survive, they'll never thrive like they should. You're better off putting new ones in when it's warm enough, they'll take off and not look back.
5 here as well. We are doing our own starts next year and I imagine they will be kept warm by the stove behind south facing glass until Memorial day.
It looks like we will be picking in full force this week. Not sure on the variety, I'll check with my wife as I am just the cheap labor in the garden.
We're in picking mode as well. Eating fresh all we want and wife will soon be making jam and also trying out a new dehydrator.
I think we have production just about figured out but it seems the real trick with a big garden is to turn the product into something that stores well. I suppose its not that different than firewood. It was a nice easy hobby when it was a cord or two for entertainment but requires more planning and better infrastructure when you rely on it exclusively. Otherwise, it turns into work.
SolarAndWood - indeed, especially when lots of things are ready all at the same time. If this year is like last, we'll have a 3 or 4 week period after which we'll actually be tired of fresh strawberries, and strawberry shotcake, and strawberry muffins, .... My wife started making freezer jam last year and it's excellent - a way to continue enjoying the fruits of our labor well into the winter. We purchased an Excaliber 9-tray, top of the line, dehydrator to try out this year and hope to freeze and dehydrate some berries as well.
Do you can? We're hoping to getting into that as well this year - thus far we have eaten everything fresh and experimented a bit with freezing. Never canned before.
Do you can? We're hoping to getting into that as well this year - thus far we have eaten everything fresh and experimented a bit with freezing. Never canned before.
Looks yummy!!
I picked over a half a gallon in the past 3 days (most yesterday). I'm freezing them until I can make jam etc. I love store bought dehydrated strawberries, so I'll be trying those as well.
I picked over a half a gallon in the past 3 days (most yesterday). I'm freezing them until I can make jam etc. I love store bought dehydrated strawberries, so I'll be trying those as well.
We do a lot of canning. Pickles, sauce, curry, peppers, tomatoe products, etc. Last year, we tried the dehydrator and liked that as well.
BeGreen said:
June bearing Surecrop from Burpee last spring. Not available from them now for some reason.
Thanks. I have had Catskills and Sparkles back east in NY that were delicious, but haven't tried Surecrop. Here's a description from Millers:
http://www.millernurseries.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=66
We have grown Shuksums and Hoods, both very good, but now grow day-neutral (everbearing) Tristars for the past decade or so.
http://millernurseries.com/cart.php?m=product_list&c=6
http://www.millernurseries.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=66
We have grown Shuksums and Hoods, both very good, but now grow day-neutral (everbearing) Tristars for the past decade or so.
http://millernurseries.com/cart.php?m=product_list&c=6
Picked 5 gallons yesterday and have a shelf full of jam now. Any idea why Millers recommends replacing them every 3 years? Is it a yield thing or do they stop producing entirely?
Some places recommend only renovating them once if at all, ie plant each year for the next years picking and till them in after one crop.
The idea is that it's so easy to establish a new bed, and so hard to get an old bed to produce that it's cheaper and easier to only pick the very best crop. The plants will keep producing for many years, so yes it is a yield thing, but also a work thing. They claim it's easier to put the work into a new bed than pick the smaller and fewer berries. The small ones seem to have a more intense flavor than the monsters though, not sure if this is fact or perception.
I made the mistake of planting a mid season and a late season variety so no berries for me yet, a few for the mice.
The idea is that it's so easy to establish a new bed, and so hard to get an old bed to produce that it's cheaper and easier to only pick the very best crop. The plants will keep producing for many years, so yes it is a yield thing, but also a work thing. They claim it's easier to put the work into a new bed than pick the smaller and fewer berries. The small ones seem to have a more intense flavor than the monsters though, not sure if this is fact or perception.
I made the mistake of planting a mid season and a late season variety so no berries for me yet, a few for the mice.
Strawberries taper off in production after the third year. They will still produce after that, but not in as great a quantity. If you carefully thin out the 3yr old mother plants and nurture the babies, you can keep production going at a good pace.
Ben, having a later variety can be a good thing, especially when there is a cool spring and the pollinators are not out. Our berries produce continually from about mid-June, through October. My wife prefers the steady stream of berries to one giant batch. You are correct that the biggest berries are usually not the tastiest. Same thing for blueberries. A couple years ago we planted a jumbo variety of strawberries on the recommendation of the nursery owner. They were big alright, but they were poor seconds for flavor, just like the giant Calif. strawberries they sell in the store. We ripped them all out and replanted the bed with Tristars last year and had a nice, delicious crop. This will be our second year with these plants. If it ever warms up, we should get a bumper crop this year.
Ben, having a later variety can be a good thing, especially when there is a cool spring and the pollinators are not out. Our berries produce continually from about mid-June, through October. My wife prefers the steady stream of berries to one giant batch. You are correct that the biggest berries are usually not the tastiest. Same thing for blueberries. A couple years ago we planted a jumbo variety of strawberries on the recommendation of the nursery owner. They were big alright, but they were poor seconds for flavor, just like the giant Calif. strawberries they sell in the store. We ripped them all out and replanted the bed with Tristars last year and had a nice, delicious crop. This will be our second year with these plants. If it ever warms up, we should get a bumper crop this year.
Do the old plants become obvious after 3 years? Maybe it would be easier to transplant the babies into a new bed the Spring of Year 3 and then till the original bed under after they are done producing?
SolarandWood - we are trying to transplant the very new/obvious runners that spring up in an effort to keep the beds going. We also have 3, 4'x8' beds full of berries and hope to replant (if required) one bed at a time in successive years rather than a single, step-fuction changeout all at once. From what I've read, the plants just run out of steam after 3 or 4 years. Next year will be year 3 in production for us, so we'll see how it goes (year one we pinched off all flowers).
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