There is a theory about strawberry plants that if you don’t let them bear fruit the first year, they will put down better roots, become better established plants and produce better/larger fruit the following year. I get the principal of it, but pinching off blossoms and berries in the first year is hard to do. It’s like sacrificing the first born, hoping the 2nd born will be better for it. I’m a first born, so I’ll leave it at that…
I lopped off those blossoms and berries and got zero yield this year. No strawberries for jam or to freeze for my morning yogurt or to go with my evening ice cream? Clearly unacceptable! So we went to Highland Orchards (again) and picked twelve pounds of berries that are so sweet they taste like cotton candy.
Trimmed, washed and frozen on cookie sheets – I dumped them into Ziploc bags and now – thank goodness I can have fruit with my ice cream at night (so I can at least pretend that it’s healthy!).
And I’ll wait until next year to see if the 2nd born turns out better for sacrificing the first year’s growth. The jury is still out on that.
No Rhyme or Reason Farm 