🍓 Strawberry

Strawberries are the most popular soft fruit and are easy to grow in beds, pots, hanging baskets and growbags, so suit gardens of every size. Nothing beats the flavour of a fully ripe homegrown berry, warm from the sun.

There are three main types: summer-fruiting varieties give a big crop in June and July, perpetual (everbearing) types fruit lightly from summer to autumn, and alpine strawberries produce tiny, intensely flavoured fruit and tolerate part shade.

Varieties to try

Cambridge Favourite (reliable, heavy summer cropper)Honeoye (early, heavy and sweet)Elsanta (large, firm, mid-season)Mara des Bois (perpetual, aromatic, wild flavour)Albion (perpetual, large, sweet)Mignonette (alpine, from seed)

Plant bare-root runners in late summer (August to September) for the best crop the following summer, or in March–April for a lighter first crop. Potted plants can go in almost any time. Choose a sunny, sheltered spot with fertile, well-drained, slightly acidic soil, and dig in compost before planting.

Plant with the crown (where the leaves emerge) exactly level with the soil: too deep and it rots, too shallow and it dries out. Space 30–45 cm apart, in rows 75 cm apart. In pots, use a 25 cm pot for three plants, or a hanging basket or strawberry tower. Water in well.

Top tips

• Plant the crown level with the surface.
• Plant in August for the best first crop.
• Buy certified virus-free plants.
• Replace plants every three years.

Water regularly, especially when the fruits form, but aim at the base, not the fruit. Mulch with straw around the plants just as the fruits begin to swell, to keep berries clean and suppress weeds. Net the plants to keep birds off, and use slug traps or wool pellets.

After the summer harvest, cut off the old foliage 5 cm above the crowns, clear it away, feed with a general fertiliser and remove excess runners. Peg runners into pots of compost to create new plants. Replace plants every three to four years, as the yield falls and viruses build up.

Top tips

• Mulch with straw as berries form.
• Net against birds.
• Cut back foliage after fruiting.
• Peg runners to make new plants.

Watch out for

Slugs and snailsBirdsGrey mould (botrytis)Vine weevil in potsAphids and viruses

Pick strawberries when fully red all over, with no white or green near the stalk, usually from late May or June for summer types. Pick every two days in the warm, preferably in the morning when the fruit is cool. Leave the green calyx and a short stalk on the fruit by pinching the stalk off with your fingernails.

Remove any rotting or mouldy fruit promptly to avoid spreading grey mould. Perpetual types give small flushes through the summer. Avoid picking when wet, which makes fruit rot quicker.

Top tips

• Pick when fully red.
• Pick with the stalk, not the berry.
• Remove mouldy fruit at once.
• Pick in the cool of morning.

Eat fresh with cream, add to salads and desserts such as Eton mess, pavlova and tarts, or make jam, coulis, sorbet and smoothies. Strawberries pair well with mint, balsamic vinegar and black pepper. Over-ripe fruit is best for jam and sauces.

Fresh strawberries keep for only 1–3 days in the fridge, so use them quickly, and bring them to room temperature before eating. Freeze whole berries on a tray, then bag, for up to a year; they will be soft when thawed, so are best for sauces, smoothies and baking.

Top tips

• Don’t wash until just before eating.
• Freeze on a tray, then bag.
• Pair with mint or balsamic.
• Use soft berries for jam.