3 ms·

Do you have any advice for this or for identifying why certain strawberries are different? My partner and I have found small patches of small delicious white st

Do you have any advice for this or for identifying why certain strawberries are different? My partner and I have found small patches of small delicious white strawberries in the forest but I tried saving some seeds without any success. There's also a short route in the Cascades with a variety of strawberries that appear to be the same species but change in flavor at various patches from piney, to slightly coconut-y, to concentrated strawberry essence (hard to describe unless you eat fresh wild strawberries) All the patches are at similar elevations and orientations within about 1-2 miles, the most likely explanation I can think of is that the soil is different? I think they are Chiloensis but I plan to go back next year and look more carefully. Finding strawberries in the woods has ruined store bought berries for my partner. Even farmers market berries are questionable because of the varieties they grow, which I understand, they have a business with different needs.

xeromal 2y ago
You know what's interesting? I watched a video the other day, maybe max miller?, about strawberries in europe and they used to only be able to be gathered in the forest as you say and were never conducive to agriculture. Once the big strawberries were discovered in the new world, they cross bred them but they lost a lot of flavor but could be grown. I never even considered wild forest strawberries but I want to try one now. If you're ever in california and have money to burn, try harries berry's. They are tiny little delights and VERY tasty
- throwup238 2y ago
  I strongly recommend going out to collect the wild strawberries (and wild bilberries!) if you’re ever visiting Europe when they’re fruiting. They’re one of the things I miss most about living in Europe. Even the best California strawberries picked ripe off the vine don’t come close. Once in a while one of my local Russian restaurants or grocery stores will have wild strawberry jam imported from Europe. Usually $15+ a bottle and I buy out every single one they’ll let me (my favorite store now sets aside half the stock for me). They make the perfect gift too.
  - xeromal 2y ago
    I'll look out for that jam!
    - throwup238 2y ago
      The word to look for is «земляника» since I don’t remember any English text on the bottles. Most of them are now from Belorus which I suspect is a dodge around sanctions.
  - dendrite9 2y ago
    I've recently been on a hunt for farmer's cheeses and visiting Eastern European grocery stores, I'll have to look for that jam. On the Bilberry front, I found a book about the vaccinium species of North America to try and identity the different huckle/blue/bilberrries around here. And the various rubus' that are not commercially grown but still taste good. My partner and I are not Foragers(TM) but I'm always interested in food and I talked them into joining me on hikes in the spring as a chance to scout berry patches. So far it has worked. Unfortunately the cloudberries I found this summer were in a place I haven't been back to, so I still haven't picked them myself.
- steve_adams_86 2y ago
  Oh man, the strawberries here in BC are incredible. They appear in the woods and various other areas, usually in small patches with relatively few berries. But they make up for their scarcity with flavour. It’s exceptional. If you head into any alpine terrain in mid September you will find endless huckleberry (red and black), bog and alpine blueberries, and various others. They’re all absolutely incredible. I head into the mountains (usually via Strathcona provincial park’s various southern access points) this time of year to collect buckets upon buckets for my freezer. Nothing in a store compares. Even fresh farmed blueberries, which are really nice here, are almost disappointing compared to the varieties that have grown along the slopes of the mountains. They’re such a treat. You do have to work for them, though.
  - xeromal 2y ago
    I grew up in appalachia so our mountain produce is a little different but my favorite wild treat would be the muscadine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitis_rotundifolia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitis_rotundifolia). A wild mountain grape that has a hard skin but fantastic flavor. We make wine and jam out of them too but I love just eating a whole basket. We also have wild blackberries and blueberries and we have a sugar cane type plant called sorghum that makes a really rich smokey syrup that goes great on biscuits.
    - steve_adams_86 2y ago
      That's so fascinating! I know nothing about native species around there. Muscadine sounds awesome from reading about it. I'd love to have something like that around here. Sorghum is such a great food. I wish it was easier to access here as well. As a cereal it's incredibly nutritious, much more so than what's commonly available, but it's rare to see it in any form at all. "Rich smoky syrup" sounds nice too. Is it made from boiling the grains, or for the stalks/canes?
      - xeromal 2y ago
        To make it, you crush the stalks and then boil the juice until it has a consistency of molasses. https://imgur.com/a/yVTCvep https://imgur.com/a/yVTCvep Here's a pic I took of a jar I recently got from a neighbor. You should really try some muscadines. They're a great fruit in season and even frozen.
steve_adams_86 2y ago
In order to get the seeds to grow (you may know this already) you typically need to vernalize them, which requires exposing them to very cold temperatures for a while and then warming them. Different species prefer different procedures, but as I recall, most if not all require it in order to get consistent results. I would recommend bringing some ziplock bags with some damp (not soaked) paper towel next time. Collect a few plants, especially any runners with plantlets that are developing roots which haven’t submerged into the soil yet; they’re highly adaptable and primed to grow, so they will handle transport more easily than an established plant in the soil already. Wrap them gently in the towels and pop them in the bag, and you’re set. They should be okay for a surprisingly long time in there. I collect plants this way quite often. I like to harvest aquatic plants, mosses, and random interesting terrestrial species which I put into terrariums (to recreate native biotopes), and rarely have anything die. I’d still try to keep seeds as well if you want to experiment, but definitely research vernalizing. Something I would recommend there is don’t vernalize all of your seeds in one container. Break them out into a few and try removing them at different times. Keep track of the dates, conditions, and success rates. One approach will likely work much better and then you can stick to that procedure. Unless you don’t care enough and one successful run is enough for a lifetime, haha. I do this stuff often so that’s kind of baked into my M.O.

xeromal 2y ago

You know what's interesting? I watched a video the other day, maybe max miller?, about strawberries in europe and they used to only be able to be gathered in the forest as you say and were never conducive to agriculture. Once the big strawberries were discovered in the new world, they cross bred them but they lost a lot of flavor but could be grown. I never even considered wild forest strawberries but I want to try one now. If you're ever in california and have money to burn, try harries berry's. They are tiny little delights and VERY tasty

throwup238 2y ago
I strongly recommend going out to collect the wild strawberries (and wild bilberries!) if you’re ever visiting Europe when they’re fruiting. They’re one of the things I miss most about living in Europe. Even the best California strawberries picked ripe off the vine don’t come close. Once in a while one of my local Russian restaurants or grocery stores will have wild strawberry jam imported from Europe. Usually $15+ a bottle and I buy out every single one they’ll let me (my favorite store now sets aside half the stock for me). They make the perfect gift too.
- xeromal 2y ago
  I'll look out for that jam!
  - throwup238 2y ago
    The word to look for is «земляника» since I don’t remember any English text on the bottles. Most of them are now from Belorus which I suspect is a dodge around sanctions.
- dendrite9 2y ago
  I've recently been on a hunt for farmer's cheeses and visiting Eastern European grocery stores, I'll have to look for that jam. On the Bilberry front, I found a book about the vaccinium species of North America to try and identity the different huckle/blue/bilberrries around here. And the various rubus' that are not commercially grown but still taste good. My partner and I are not Foragers(TM) but I'm always interested in food and I talked them into joining me on hikes in the spring as a chance to scout berry patches. So far it has worked. Unfortunately the cloudberries I found this summer were in a place I haven't been back to, so I still haven't picked them myself.
steve_adams_86 2y ago
Oh man, the strawberries here in BC are incredible. They appear in the woods and various other areas, usually in small patches with relatively few berries. But they make up for their scarcity with flavour. It’s exceptional. If you head into any alpine terrain in mid September you will find endless huckleberry (red and black), bog and alpine blueberries, and various others. They’re all absolutely incredible. I head into the mountains (usually via Strathcona provincial park’s various southern access points) this time of year to collect buckets upon buckets for my freezer. Nothing in a store compares. Even fresh farmed blueberries, which are really nice here, are almost disappointing compared to the varieties that have grown along the slopes of the mountains. They’re such a treat. You do have to work for them, though.
- xeromal 2y ago
  I grew up in appalachia so our mountain produce is a little different but my favorite wild treat would be the muscadine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitis_rotundifolia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitis_rotundifolia). A wild mountain grape that has a hard skin but fantastic flavor. We make wine and jam out of them too but I love just eating a whole basket. We also have wild blackberries and blueberries and we have a sugar cane type plant called sorghum that makes a really rich smokey syrup that goes great on biscuits.
  - steve_adams_86 2y ago
    That's so fascinating! I know nothing about native species around there. Muscadine sounds awesome from reading about it. I'd love to have something like that around here. Sorghum is such a great food. I wish it was easier to access here as well. As a cereal it's incredibly nutritious, much more so than what's commonly available, but it's rare to see it in any form at all. "Rich smoky syrup" sounds nice too. Is it made from boiling the grains, or for the stalks/canes?
    - xeromal 2y ago
      To make it, you crush the stalks and then boil the juice until it has a consistency of molasses. https://imgur.com/a/yVTCvep https://imgur.com/a/yVTCvep Here's a pic I took of a jar I recently got from a neighbor. You should really try some muscadines. They're a great fruit in season and even frozen.

steve_adams_86 2y ago

In order to get the seeds to grow (you may know this already) you typically need to vernalize them, which requires exposing them to very cold temperatures for a while and then warming them. Different species prefer different procedures, but as I recall, most if not all require it in order to get consistent results. I would recommend bringing some ziplock bags with some damp (not soaked) paper towel next time. Collect a few plants, especially any runners with plantlets that are developing roots which haven’t submerged into the soil yet; they’re highly adaptable and primed to grow, so they will handle transport more easily than an established plant in the soil already. Wrap them gently in the towels and pop them in the bag, and you’re set. They should be okay for a surprisingly long time in there. I collect plants this way quite often. I like to harvest aquatic plants, mosses, and random interesting terrestrial species which I put into terrariums (to recreate native biotopes), and rarely have anything die. I’d still try to keep seeds as well if you want to experiment, but definitely research vernalizing. Something I would recommend there is don’t vernalize all of your seeds in one container. Break them out into a few and try removing them at different times. Keep track of the dates, conditions, and success rates. One approach will likely work much better and then you can stick to that procedure. Unless you don’t care enough and one successful run is enough for a lifetime, haha. I do this stuff often so that’s kind of baked into my M.O.