Strawberries: You Can Grow That!

Sweet. Luscious. Juicy. No wonder this fruit is blushing! Strawberries are one of the most loved edibles. They can be eaten straight from the plant; used in jam or dessert recipes; or frozen and enjoyed in mixed drinks and shakes throughout the year. Not only is it versatile in the kitchen, it is also amazingly easy to grow. If you attempt no other edible this year, we encourage you to at least give this berry a try.
   Strawberry growing can be as simple as a pot on your patio or hanging by your back door. Set aside a 4x4 foot bed in your garden and you can have strawberry crops for the next few years.
   Strawberries grow best in a raised bed of well-drained soil. Mix in plenty of organic materials. If you put a wood frame around the bed, ensure that the wood is not treated with harmful chemicals that will leach into your planting.
   Plant strawberries in full sun during the spring. The first year may not yield much of a crop. Strawberry plants send out runners. Pinch them back or guide them back into the bed. Some even recommend pinching off all flowers and runners during the first year to get even bigger crops the following year.
   The plants peak at three-years-old. So buy new stock every few years to replenish them.
   Put the new, bare-root plants in so the crown is just resting at soil level with the roots gentled fanned out beneath the surface.
   They need only about one inch of water per week and are prone to root rot, so don't over do it.
   There are two main kinds of strawberries: ever-bearing and June-bearing. As per their names, ever-bearing and June-bearing fruit at different times. June-bearing from late-May to mid-June, while ever-bearing can have several waves of berries throughout the summer. Select June-bearing if you want one large crop for making jams or freezing. Choose ever-bearing if you want to throw some fresh berries in your cereal bowl every few days.
   Relatively disease-free, compared to other fruits you may grow, they are plagued by a few pests. Most notably slugs and birds.
   To combat slugs, sprinkle around the beds with Sluggo (iron phosphate), which is safe for use around edibles.
   For birds, put some shiny, moving objects nearby. For instance, used CDs hanging by strings on your fence or trees. You might also consider investing in some bird netting to cover the beds as the fruits ripen.
   In the fall, mulch the strawberry bed with straw (not hay!) or other materials such as pine needles to insulate the plants over the winter. Remove the mulch again in spring.
   The strawberry flowers themselves are pretty. Usually white or light pink, some varieties are grown more for their decorative value than for their fruit. The 'Pink Panda' aka Strawberry Potentilla is especially attractive with its bright pink blooms.
   Strawberry plants also make good border plantings. They stay low and fairly tidy. The runners are easy to pull if they go astray. (If you choose Alpine varieties, you will not have a runner problem.) So don't hesitate to plant a row of strawberries on the front edge of your flower beds for a sweet treat every time you pass by.

Advice from Local Growers

According to Larriland Farms, the berries are very consistent in their ripening schedule — coming exactly 28-30 days from bloom to harvest.
    Lynn Moore of Larriland says some of their best customers are gardeners. They find that the time and effort it takes to invest in growing the plants is just not possible with a full work schedule and busy life, so they visit pick-your-own farms for their annual strawberry “fix.” Lynn says she rearranges her life around her plants schedule. “They need what they need when they need it,” she explains. “And most gardeners are just not going to keep that kind of schedule.”
   Butler’s Orchard reports that June-bearing varieties do the best in our region. The intense summer heat can damage the ever-bearing varieties. Besides pick-your-own berries, Butler’s also sell the plants themselves including: Earliglow, Northeaster, and Darselect.
    Strawberries are expected to be in season for picking at all area pick-your-own farms starting in late May into June. Call first (or check their web sitrs/Facebook pages) to see if the berries are ripe before you make the trip.

All who are involved with You Can Grow That! (YCGT!) believe that plants and gardening enhance our quality of life. We want people to be successful with what they grow and to become more aware of the many gifts that horticulture brings. Find out more at http://www.youcangrowthat.com/.

Asparagus: You Can Grow That!

Nothing says, "SPRING!" like fresh Asparagus. With no real work on my part, I was able to get a decent harvest of Asparagus this week from my community garden plot. The only thing this perennial vegetable really requires is patience.

Having to hold off on harvesting for three years from the initial planting date was a real test of my will power, but the wait is worth it. They are so tender fresh from the garden that I do not bother to cook them in any way, I just snack on them raw.

To plant them, buy Asparagus crowns via mail-order or in bags from your local garden center. Plant them in a trench about 6-12-inches deep and a foot wide in a sunny spot in your garden. Add in some organic compost when re-filling the hole and then keep the area well-mulched.

Asparagus baby in trench

I let strawberries encroach in my Asparagus bed as their surface-runners don't really interfere much with the Asparagus roots, but you really should keep it weeded and free of interloping plants.


Other than that, the only other thing I do is tie-up the long Asparagus fronds in the summer and fall with a bungee cord as they like to flop over into the pathways. These get cut back and composted at the end of the growing season.

Asparagus spears in strawberry patch

If I had to do it all over again, I definitely would have started off the first year in my garden plot with Asparagus, instead of waiting for year two. I also would have planted much more of it. I started with only three rootlets and I am harvesting a decent amount, but I am greedy for more, more, more!

All who are involved with You Can Grow That! (YCGT!) believe that plants and gardening enhance our quality of life. We want people to be successful with what they grow and to become more aware of the many gifts that horticulture brings. Find out more at http://www.youcangrowthat.com/.

Kale: You Can Grow That!

Kale is "king" according to nutritionist and trendy chefs alike. This frilly cabbage cousin is packed full of nutrients and antioxidants. Kale is a versatile green and can be used as a spinach substitute in virtually any recipe.

In the current issue of Washington Gardener Magazine,
our "EdibleHarvest" columnist Elizabeth Olson provides the following advice for growing kale.

Growing requirements for kale are very similar to those of cabbage. Gardeners who want to grow kale in spring should either purchase transplants in early to mid-spring or start seeds indoors about four to six weeks before the last expected frost date. 

Seeds for autumn-harvested kale should be started in mid-summer and the plants should be installed in the garden by mid-September.

   Be sure to harden off young plants before transplanting them to the garden and do not crowd them to ensure good air circulation. Space them based on usage (such as harvesting whole young plants or growing them to maturity and harvesting leaves as needed) and the recommendations for each cultivar. 

    Kale grows best in full sun. The soil should drain well and be well-worked and amended with compost. Fertilize the plants with an organic vegetable fertilizer. A consistent moisture level in the soil is necessary for the highest-quality leaves; supplement rainfall with a soaker hose that is installed soon after planting. Keep the kitchen garden well-mulched and free of weeds.  

   The plants should be covered with a floating row cover to protect them from flying insects. It is challenging to extract pests that get into the leaves, especially the ruffled ones.

Read more about growing kale along with a few kale recipes in the February 2016 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine.

All who are involved with You Can Grow That! (YCGT!) believe that plants and gardening enhance our quality of life. We want people to be successful with what they grow and to become more aware of the many gifts that horticulture brings. Find out more at http://www.youcangrowthat.com/.

Arugula: You Can Grow That!

Guest Blog by Joelle Lang

On September 30, the first day of my internship with the Washington Gardener Magazine, I was confronted with a difficult decision — what did I want to grow? As part of my internship, I was to plant something and monitor its growth over the course of the semester. While I can’t remember what my options of seeds were that day, I do remember that I chose to plant arugula because I use it at least four times a week in salads and was excited to be eating something I planted from scratch.

I planted the arugula seeds that day in editor Kathy Jentz’s community garden plot in the ground and in a raised pot. I planted two longs rows in both spots, sprinkling the seeds up and down, covering them with some soil, watering them with a little bit of water and hoping for the best. 

I checked on the seeds one week later on October 7 and was extremely happy to see that they actually began to sprout. The plant grew faster in the ground than in the pot. I held off on cutting them just yet, so they could grow a bit taller.

The next time I checked them on October 19, I was pleased again at the rate of their growth. Once again, I held off on cutting the plant, but I did nibble on some leaves and it was delicious!

I was finally able to cut leaves from my plants on November 2 because of the rapid rate at which it was growing. I did note that the container plants grew at a slower pace than the ones in planted directly in the soil. I made myself an amazing arugula salad for dinner and bragged about my green thumb to my friends and family.

I came back to cut the plants one week later and the plants in the soil had re-grown to an impressive height! I cut those down and enjoyed another salad and bragging session. However, the container-grown arugula continued to lag slightly behind.

I returned to my plants on November 18 to find that the container plants began to sprout dark purple leaves and tasted a little peppery.

After experiencing some rain and gloomy weather, I checked my plant again on December 14 for the last time and saw that the in-ground plants grew enough to make another nice salad and the container plant had also filled in — though they grew more slowly and showed purple and red leaves. I cut both sets of plants back and said a tearful goodbye. I will definitely plant arugula in the future because of how simple it was to care for and how leaves sprouted and re-grew so quickly.

About the Author 

Joelle Lang, a senior at the University of Maryland, College Park, is a multi-platform journalism student in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. This past autumn, she was also an editorial intern for Washington Gardener Magazine.

All who are involved with You Can Grow That! (YCGT!) believe that plants and gardening enhance our quality of life. We want people to be successful with what they grow and to become more aware of the many gifts that horticulture brings. Find out more at http://www.youcangrowthat.com/.