Alpine Strawberries

 Last year I planted alpine strawberries from seed. Those seeds were absolutely teeny-tiny and I was surprised they actually grew and eventually became pretty big plants. I grew a red variety as well as a yellow variety and my husband kindly made two nice raised beds for them which look a whole lot neater and prettier than my poor photograph below of one of the beds. I am going to have to get some lessons in photography one of these days!

 We have regular strawberries as well, which are my husbands domain. Unfortunately this was not a great year for them and many of the few we got were chowed on by slugs. But as you can see, we have the alpines, though slugs like them just as well. They just present a smaller target I guess.

Alpine strawberries are much smaller than cultivated strawberries as they are essentially a wild strawberry. They are less juicy and have a creamier texture. But they are everbearing and will produce all summer and well into the fall. Picking them takes a lot of effort, a bit like picking wild blueberries because you do a lot of work for a relatively small return, but there is something about their wildness that I find attractive and worth the effort.
Last year we noticed how productive they were even in early October and were patting ourselves on the back in anticipation of a nice little fall harvest. The very next morning I went out and found both strawberry beds mowed to the ground, with just stubble remaining. I guess deer like the taste of those nice green plants with a touch of sweetness thrown in when the rest of the greens have gone. It's probably too much to hope they don't remember them this year!