Mara Des Bois strawberry

[GardenNinja]

I've been searching around for recommendations on strawberries and it seems that Mara Des Bois is very popular for taste. I was wondering about the plants' yield and if there is any other variety worth considering over it.

[darcyvuqua]

Cambridge favourites and symphony I like.

I also have another mystery that is a heavy producer unsure of the name though sorry!

[Thelma Sanders]

I like Irresistible

[GardenNinja]

Thanks for your input, Darcy and Thelma. Have either of you grown Mara Des Bois before?

I'm currently growing Sarian, Sonata, and Korona. Sarian is ok while Sonata and Korona are very sweet... yet I find myself still searching for 'the one'

[darcyvuqua]

No never but the sonata rings a bell maybe that's my mystery one

[WendyC]

I have Gariguette and Chelsea Pensioner both delicious.

[GardenNinja]

Gariguette is my second choice, Wendy. How are your plants doing? I've read that they only produce fruit early on in the season.

[WendyC]

They are in their second year and producing well. The fruits are quite varied in size, some are huge. I have Chelsea Pensioner to follow on and those have not ripened yet so the plan seems to be working. I'm going to have to put some slug pellets down as they seem to find them delicious too.

[GardenNinja]

How long do you reckon Gariguette will carry on producing for?

[chris]

I can't taste the difference between different strawberries (I've had hundreds of plants before). The only difference I can see is the fruit shape, colour and time of ripening. The ones I have trimmed down to now were given to me by a member here, each plant is loaded with fruit and seem to crop for an age. Unknown to herself but was just told they crop for yonks... and so far they're living up to their name.

Are you just trying to extend your season, or are there any other reasons? -- just curious

[GardenNinja]

My primary concern is a variety that has the wow factor in terms of taste. I grow in containers, so productivity is already limited regardless of any variety's potential. That's why I'm looking for something that is the tastiest, juiciest, sweetest, etc.

I have grown three varieties so far (in addition to alpines) and I can definitely tell the difference between all three in terms of texture and sweetness. Can you tell the difference between supermarket and home grown ones?

[chris]

Well, yes depending on the type I buy - ones imported in for example as usual are pretty tasteless in comparison to UK grown / home grown.. But then that's down to the harvesting time/ripeness & shipping periods. Ones eaten straight away taste pretty much the same to me if I've gotten the fruit from a PYO or grown it

All my grown ones are very sweet - but it could be the growing conditions. That said, I haven't done a proper comparison - if I'm eating them together (different vars) with other fruit too - I can't tell the difference

[darcyvuqua]

My primary concern is a variety that has the wow factor in terms of taste. I grow in containers, so productivity is already limited regardless of any variety's potential. That's why I'm looking for something that is the tastiest, juiciest, sweetest, etc.

I have grown three varieties so far (in addition to alpines) and I can definitely tell the difference between all three in terms of texture and sweetness. Can you tell the difference between supermarket and home grown ones?

My experience is that shop bought ones are forced to ripen and have a sharp taste and a weird after taste where as the ones I grow at home have all been ripened on the plant giving you a much natural and sweeter taste as its gone on to fully ripen on the plant using the sun to increase the natural sugars

[GardenNinja]

All my grown ones are very sweet - but it could be the growing conditions. That said, I haven't done a proper comparison - if I'm eating them together (different vars) with other fruit too - I can't tell the difference

I agree that it can be very difficult to tell the difference if you are eating them together, especially if they were all picked at their best and your taste buds are getting bombarded with strawberry goodness I find that if you taste them separately with some water in between, you can tell there
are different types of sweetness... e.g sweet with some tang, sweet and mellow, etc. I've had sweet tasting strawberries from a supermarket before, but they have are a very flat type of sweet with what I would describe as no 'strawberry-ness' to it.

My experience is that shop bought ones are forced to ripen and have a sharp taste and a weird after taste where as the ones I grow at home have all been ripened on the plant giving you a much natural and sweeter taste as its gone on to fully ripen on the plant using the sun to increase the natural sugars

I know what you mean... shop boughts ones can be very firm and tart. It seems the bigger they are, the more this is the case.

[swaine]

Mara Des Bois is a real great strawberry ,in my top 5 of tasty ones, seems to be a couple of strains doing the rounds one with runners one without and have seen a few heated conversations between strawberry enthusiasts about which is the true type , ive had both but ditched the one with runners as got the non runnering strain from a person in france who got it straight from the breeder, so pretty sure that's the correct type, yield is ok without being brilliant, berries are smaller than other types, they would have you believe its an older sort but a hybrid of some newer sorts
best wishes

I've been searching around for recommendations on strawberries and it seems that Mara Des Bois is very popular for taste. I was wondering about the plants' yield and if there is any other variety worth considering over it.