How to Grow Strawberries

My plan for next year is to have a market garden, and to provide a CSA to 20 people with my garden and a friends. We also plan to have fresh eggs.

I have always gardened, but on a small scale. I know nothing about yield, or succession planting.

My purpose with these posts is to learn all I can about each of the vegetables and fruits I plan on planting.

This means starting to learn how to grow strawberries. There are several large scale strawberry farms near our area. Every year, when they come to our local market, people get there at dawn, and they are sold out by noon. Your other option would to be go to the source to buy, or buy not so local from your grocery store.

I would like to add strawberries to our CSA for those who can’t make it to the market, but still want fresh, local strawberries.

I have tried to buy non GMO seeds and plants when available, but when I saw these Whopper June bearing Strawberries I knew I had to have them and purchased 12 plants. I live in gardening zone 7, so my plants have a scheduled delivery date in March. They are hardy in zones as cool as Zone 5.

When you purchase your plants, all the information you need about the growing, spacing , and yield, can be found on the website. I like to order catalogs, because they not only have the plants you want, but provide a lot of information you need to grow. Your local nursery should also be able to provide you with local growing conditions. This information on how to grow strawberries is from Gurneys website where I purchased the plants.

How to Grow Strawberries:

Height: 8 – 10 inches.

Spacing:12 – 24 inches.
Depth:Set with crowns at the soil level.
Spread:8 – 12 inches.
Sun/Shade:Full sun.
Pollinator:Self pollinating.
Yield:Approximately 1 – 3 pints.
Foliage:Green foliage.
Fruit:First berries can be slightly irregular in shape, but beautiful large strawberries follow. Huge fruit, some fan shaped-wide.
Form:Spreading
Flower Form:White
Soil Requirements:Moist, well-drained, slightly acidic, sandy loam soil.
Growth Rate:Medium growth rate.
Size:Fruit as big as peaches.

I have clay soil, and a few areas in my garden that may have a tendency to stay wet after several days of rain, so it’s important that I locate them in the right spot. I think a raised bed garden will be the best choice, and I can bring in a garden soil mix from a local nursery.

Full sun is not a problem in my garden, since the whole garden area is in full sun.

Each plant will yield one to three pints, so 12 plants would be anywhere between 12-36 pints. I may need more plants if I want to include some for a CSA box, a market and me. About 24 more plants sounds about right.

Strawberries require high nitrogen fertilizer, so I went ahead and purchased this all natural fertilizer to get them off to a good start.