Gardening- Strawberries

So its Wimbledon again!! I like the tennis but I LOVE the strawberries even more.

A couple of years ago we had an allotment and although we had some good crops and enjoyed it, it really took up too much of our time . As the children left we didn't need such a large plot. So 2 years ago we made the decision to dig up half our garden ( we are lucky that we have a quite large space) and have an allotment that was more manageable and we didn't have to travel to right on our doorstep.

But I had a fantastic strawberry bed. I would get 20 - 30 lbs of strawberries a year and give loads away and make jams, jellies and Ice cream ( heavenly) with the rest. I wanted to take it with us. But the weeds were terrible to manage at the allotment and so I took the decision to start again I bought new plants as I didn't want to risk bringing unwanted weeds with me with the runners from the allotment.

So last year was not brilliant, but wow this year we are getting a good crop. Yesterday I went out and picked this lot in the picture and am getting that amount most days. As its roughly a pound in weight per punnet then I estimate I have had so far picked about 8lbs, not bad considering I probably have another couple of weeks to go, before they stop producing so many and a smaller plot.

When I am picking them it always brings back memories of when I

was a child growing up in the vale of Evesham. They had just started doing Pick Your own. I was not happy as I lost a part time job picking them for local farmers after school, but I do remember on one occasion a couple arrived with a large ruck sack once they had picked a few strawberries they sat in the middle of the field and brought out 2 small stools, bowls spoons and a pot of cream, and sat in the field enjoying eating the ones they had picked, they then packed up and left without paying for anything, the farmers face was a picture when he was told what had happened, and he was threatening after that to weigh everyone as they went in and came back out again..... it did make us all laugh.