Amazing strawberries
Strawberries are a great fruit to grow in your garden because they can be planted lots of different ways – in the ground, in pots, containers, and even hanging baskets. They are one of the first fruits to ripen in the spring, so you won’t have to wait long to enjoy the flavour
Why are they called strawberries?
Strawberry is a strange name when you think about it. Here are a few ideas about where it came from...
- Some people think it's from the way straw was put around the plant in winter
- Other people think it's from when children picked wild strawberries and sold them on grass straws
- People even think it's because of the way the fruit's seeds make it look like it's been poked with straw!
A closer look at the fruit
Strawberries are small, but if you look at them closely, you’ll notice that they are very interesting
Say goodbye to peckish birds
Another way to keep the birds away is to trick them by painting rocks. Paint them with acrylic paint to look like strawberries, the birds try to peck them and get confused. Then they will leave your real strawberries alone – hooray!
Protecting your strawberries
People aren’t the only ones that think strawberries are delicious. They are also very popular with lots of garden animals and insects
If you want to keep these hungry critters away there are a few things you can do:
- Choose the right spot – off the ground if they’re in a pot
- Adding straw helps protect fruit from slugs
- Add some netting on top to keep birds away
Here are some of the ones to look out for:
- Squirrels
- Mice
- Birds
- Slugs
- Hedgehogs
- Rabbits
Picking the perfect strawberry
Here's how to make sure you get the freshest and tastiest fruit
- Pick in the morning when the berries are still cool
- Pick them as soon as they turn bright red to stop other animals and insects eating them
- Be careful because strawberries can bruise easily
- Pick the fruit with a short piece of stalk attached
- Picking the fruit often encourages more fruit to grow
- You can store them for up to a week in the fridge, as long as you keep them dry