One of the touchstone memories of my childhood was a strawberry patch in our small farmhouse garden. When the time came to buy a place of my own, the half-remembered nostalgia of summertime strawberries stuck in my mind, alongside the reminder to be careful what you wish for…
For the second year running, the sporadic runs of unseasonally hot days has pushed my berry crops into an early frenzy. It’s that time of year when all the tiny seedlings and dormant plants from a couple of weeks ago, that you could never imagine growing as fast as they’d need to catch up in time for summer, suddenly quadruple in size every few days. Some plants cope well with early hot weather, others need more care to see them through.
My strawberry patch is one of my garden’s marvels, responding to warm days with a flush of juicy, red berries. Starting early and finishing late, they grace my dessert plate alongside a dollop of cream or yoghurt all through summer and beyond – while those I can’t eat fast enough are transformed into jam or syrup, or frozen for smoothies and pancakes through the winter months.
When they’re in full flush, however, there’s a moment when I start to wonder if I haven’t gone and created a rod for my own back as I dedicated hours every week just trying to keep up. Last year I gathered a whopping 35kg – not too shabby for a garden patch – and this year looks like it might even beat that record!
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