stawberries

[always digging]

just harvested a wonderful crop of strawberries 2 and a half pounds in one go

[pjh75]

Impressive! I only get 2-3 strawberries at a time.

[Brengirl]

just harvested a wonderful crop of strawberries 2 and a half pounds in one go

Goodness gracious me. How may plants do you have? I only have 6 and the yield is in dribs and drabs

[coreopsis]

They look fabulous,bet they taste good.Even local strawberries bought of the farm shop are not ripe enough for me.
Mine just started turning red-3 fruit-so even if I have 3 rows of strawbs I'll probably get the crop the same as Brengirl-a few at the time

[orangepeel]

Nice one well done

[Tori]

how do you do it? I have 3 piddly little green ones and they are not ripening! The secret to your strawberry growing please!!!

[Two_Sheds]

I'm getting half a punnet every couple of days, but am sick of them now: I've started freezing them for winemaking

[pjh75]

I'm getting half a punnet every couple of days, but am sick of them now: I've started freezing them for winemaking

Wish I had that problem... I only have 6 plants, but have propagated some of the runners so will have double that next year.

[always digging]

im not sure if there are any tips i can pass on i have 10 plants and they are in full sun .every second year i dig them up clean them up and replant in a different place i never feed them and they just put up more fruit .have just picked another pound and a half

[Alison]

I'm finding it a very good year for strawberries, last year planted 12 runners in tyres (yes I know some of you don't like this but it works for me ) and got some fruit which was very tasty but not prolific. Took 12 runners off and planted them in 4 more tyres making 24 plants in total and they have all just gone beserk. Added some chicken manure when first planted which may help but nothing else and haven't been watering them either. Am picking about 1.5 to 2lb every 3 days or so and am in danger of turning into a strawberry. Have enough in the freezer to make jam but might freeze some more as a contingency as the raspberries are ripening now so we'll be moving on to them. Nothing beats home grown fruit.

[Flummery]

I have 15 plants and I just picked a little over 3 lb. 2lb are going into jam this afternoon to preserve the flavour of summer!

[always digging]

just picked another pound of fruit still more to come

[21again]

I have 15 plants and I just picked a little over 3 lb. 2lb are going into jam this afternoon to preserve the flavour of summer!

Can you please give me your jam recipe Flummery, I haven't made it before but have seen various recipes and want to use one that I know works!

Ta.

[Alison]

Don't know about Flum's recipe but this one always works for me:

STRAWBERRY JAM
MAKES 4 X 500G JARS
INGREDIENTS:
1.5kg Strawberries
1 lemon, juice only
1.25kg Sugar
METHOD:
1. To prepare your strawberries, remove all tops and greenery, and chop large fruits into chunks.
2. Put the strawberries and lemon juice into a large, heavy-based saucepan and simmer them very gently for an hour.
3. Add the sugar and turn up the heat until the temperature rises to setting point (104oC).
4. Check that setting point has been reached with a sugar thermometer or using The Wrinkle Test.
5. Once the jam has reached setting point, skim any scum off the top of the jam. Set aside until a skin starts to form.
6. Pour into sterilised jars.
7. Seal them and leave to cool. Label them and store in a cool place.

[21again]

Thanks Alison, I'll copy and paste it to my recipe file.