Strawberries Recipes Planting Growing Harvesting Preserving

Strawberries From Farm to Fork

Welcome to my page all about strawberries! Here you will find information taking you from the farm all the way to your fork. This will include tried and true recipes, planting, and harvesting tips for all things strawberries.

Quick Links to Strawberry Topics on this Page:

Favorite Strawberry Recipes
Guide for Measuring Strawberries
Starting a New Strawberry Patch
Getting the Soil Ready for a New Strawberry Patch
Maintenance for a Strawberry Patch
Harvesting Strawberries from your Backyard Strawberry Patch
Preserving and Keeping Strawberries Fresh

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The best part of raising your own farm-fresh strawberries is the sweet taste of sun-ripened berries. You can’t buy that in the grocery store! Speaking of taste, let’s get right to our favorite freshly picked strawberry recipes.

Favorite Strawberry Recipes

Before I get into the recipes it’s important to know how many strawberries you will need for any given recipe. The graphic below helps for anyone that might be confused with converting quarts and pints to cups and decided just how many berries you need to pick. The answer to that last question is more because more is better.

Guide for measuring strawberries:

Now that we have that settled, on to my strawberry recipe favs…

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Starting a New Strawberry Patch

Have you ever taken a trip to a local strawberry patch flourishing with juicy red berries and thought, I could totally do this at home? Just me? Well, we did, and our first attempt wasn’t quite so successful. You win some, you lose some, I guess. This summer we attempted to try it again. And I thought I would tell you some things that didn’t work the first time around and what we learned along the way.

I requested that the farmer of the house help me create a small patch of strawberries for our family to enjoy. Well, “small” was misinterpreted; we ended up with a large patch. This first time around we had a very pretty patch with lots of green and some strawberries, but not many, and they were not sweet and didn’t taste very good. The culprit was not enough sunlight.

This was very discouraging and I was about to call it, but instead one Saturday in March, inspired by the beautiful weather, we enlisted our free farm helpers to move the patch. Again, before we began I requested a small patch, and again it got even bigger! Barton motto in effect again: more is better.

Getting the Soil Ready for the New Strawberry Patch

Our new patch location was just field grass, so it first had to be tilled up. If you don’t have a tiller you can rent one fairly inexpensively at Home Depot. When you start from grass you will probably be battling it wanting to come back for a while. We transplanted the strawberry plants in rows, but honestly, they will travel all over the place once they take off. We transplanted extra strawberry plants here just in case all the plants didn’t make the transfer.

We put cow manure for fertilizer around all the plants and then mulched over the rows up to the plants. The neighbors must have sniffed us out, they were observing us over the fence.

Maintenance for a Strawberry Patch

The grass will keep trying to come up, so basically, we were out there every couple of days and weeding stray grass and weeds that were attempting to choke the plants out. Also, strawberries need a lot of water to craft their juicy sweetness, so watering often is a must.

We added a soaker hose to make watering a little easier and more efficient, and also some fencing around the patch to keep the critters out. We were hoping to keep it open for ease of picking, weeding and watering, but the deer were stopping for a snack, tromping over the plants, and getting tangled in the soaker hoses.

Harvesting Strawberries from your backyard patch

Many newly planted strawberry plants will not bear fruit the first year, but we got more than a few pickings of strawberries our first year. This was more than expected from transplants, and we are hoping this next year is an abundantly fruitful one.

With a well-maintained patch, you will have several pickings throughout the growing season on the order of 1-2 quarts of fruit per strawberry plant. Strawberries won’t ripen off the vine, so be sure to pick them when they are a bright red color, and leave the ones with white tops or tips on the plant to ripen further.

Preserving and Keeping Strawberries Fresh

Strawberries taste best freshly picked, but will also keep if refrigerated. They will taste sweeter if you let them come to room temperature before eating. If you have too many berries to consume before they will go bad, make some jam! Or if you don’t have time for jam, strawberries freeze well. You can enjoy freezer fresh strawberries all year long in smoothies, muffins, added to oatmeal, strawberry sauce, or strawberry-rhubarb pie.

Hopefully, I’ve inspired you to start your very own backyard strawberry patch, or maybe you’re satisfied with just reading about mine today. Either way, I’ll leave you with this silly dirt mustache photo.

Blog Posts about Hobby Farming

Check out the blog for more information about what’s new at Barton Craft & Barn including the following post about our hobby farming experiences.

Failure to Thrive

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There are affiliate links in this post. I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. The garden is associated with so many life lessons, I’ll share one here about failing to thrive. Working in the garden, which I will admit was not always my favorite task, has become a…

What is Hobby Farming?

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What is hobby farming? The pros and cons of having a hobby farm. And what is in the mystery box? bartoncraftbarn.com

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We had some new beginnings on the farm this weekend…the ducklings are here! Is there anything cuter than baby ducks? These sweet ducklings arrived yesterday, all the way from California! We love them already! The kids are still working on names, but they have already claimed a favorite. They are determined to bond with them…

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I put together a list of my top garden tools to help the newbie get the needed gardening essentials. If you are getting started gardening, or want to be more prepared this season, check out the printable in myfree resource libraryfor my favorite garden tools to get your gardening on. Hope you enjoy!

Strawberries Recipes Planting Growing Harvesting Preserving - (2024)

FAQs

How do you preserve strawberry harvest? ›

Freezing, drying, and making jams and jellies are some of the best ways to preserve strawberries. Select firm, fully ripe, red berries, preferably with a slightly tart flavor. Wash and sort berries according to the method described under “Washing Strawberries” above, and remove the caps.

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What month is best to plant strawberries? ›

Strawberry plants can be planted in an unheated greenhouse or poly tunnel in the fall to fruit the following spring. They can be planted in March to harvest a few months later. If grown in a heated greenhouse, strawberries can be planted out as early as December, with pickable fruit ready from late March onwards.

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How many times can you harvest strawberries? ›

Everbearing Strawberry plants generally produce two harvests each year—one in June, and another in early fall. While these plants send out runners, they should be pinched off and removed in order to encourage the main plant to grow larger and produce more fruit.

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What are the best practices for strawberries? ›

In-ground gardens, raised beds, and containers are all excellent growing areas. Give strawberries room for runners by planting them 18 inches apart. Strawberries can be grown in a variety of ways, but make sure they get 8 or more hours of sun and are planted in slightly acidic soil with a pH of 5.5 to 6.8.

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How do you preserve strawberries long term? ›

Place the strawberries inside resealable freezer bags, and press out all the air. Freeze the strawberries in a flat, single layer. Once frozen, you can move the bag where you need to in your freezer. This method can be used for whole or cut strawberries.

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What is the best way to keep strawberries fresh the longest? ›

The Bottom Line

To get the most life out of your berries, I suggest you: Keep them whole, keep them dry, keep them spaced out (if possible), keep them in the fridge, and keep them covered/in high humidity. That's the best you can do.

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What not to do when growing strawberries? ›

Do not over irrigate. Strawberries normally require about 1 inch of water every week during the growing season. Time successive waterings such that the soil is always moist but never wet.

Do strawberries bear fruit the first year you plant them? ›

Strawberries can produce fruit in the first year (though not at their fullest potential). That being said, to create a long standing and reliable perennial crop you may have to sacrifice some of that first season's harvest. Right after planting, pinch off any flower buds that appear in the first few weeks.

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Do strawberries grow better in sun or shade? ›

Strawberries require sun to produce fruit. Ten or more hours of sunlight each day is ideal,but they need a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight each day.

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How many strawberry plants do I need for a family of 4? ›

With proper care strawberry beds will produce good crops for three to five years, beginning one year after planting. An initial planting of 100 plants should provide enough fruit for a family of four, with surplus for freezing or making preserves.

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How many strawberries will one plant yield? ›

The number of strawberries produced by a single plant can vary based on several factors, including the variety of strawberry, growing conditions, care given to the plant, and the duration of the growing season. On average, a healthy strawberry plant can produce anywhere from around 150 to 400 strawberries per season.

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What do you do with strawberry plants after harvest? ›

The process of renovation involves mowing the plants to encourage them to re-grow new buds and leaves, pulling weeds, narrowing the rows, fertilizing and watering. Note: Renovation only applies to mature, fruit-producing strawberry patches. Plants that were planted this year do not require this step.

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What is the latest you can plant strawberries? ›

The varieties of grow your own strawberry plants which we offer are renowned for their excellent growth properties, and can be planted between the months of June and September.

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Do strawberries come back every year? ›

Since strawberries are perennials, the potential to keep them from year to year is there. The reality of growing strawberries, however, is they are very susceptible to a host of diseases that can accumulate within the strawberry plant or within the soil over time.

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How long does it take for a strawberry plant to produce fruit? ›

On average, it takes 60 to 90 days for a plant to mature from a seed to a delicious berry. The duration of the developing phase depends on the growing conditions you create. Pay attention to the temperature, light, watering, and fertilizing.

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Will strawberries survive winter in raised beds? ›

Because of colder temperatures, strawberry plants growing in raised beds require more protection that ground level sites. Place 6 to 8 inches of straw or chopped cornstalks on strawberry pyramids or other raised beds in fall.