Getting started

2nd Stage Seedlings

In larger pot and now flowering

A few years ago I moved from Newtown to Wollongong.  One of the main motivations was to be near my grandchildren the other was to start an organic garden.  Of course, as you gardeners out there know, nothing is as simple as it sounds.  For one, the soil was a heavy clay.  To solve this I put in raised beds made of an old round water tank cut into three.  I swapped this with a man who took away fencing on my property.  I think he got the better deal.  The tanks had very sharp edges so I had to pay someone to round off all the edges to make them safe.  Suffice to say I now have a number of raised beds.  The only bed I didn't have in a raised device was a straw bale bed right up the back.  I filled this with dirt and after one season of growing weird stuff and good stuff like cucumbers I decided it would be my strawberry patch.

This patch has been going for a few years now.  I got the original plants from Diggers.

The sweetest strawberry I have tasted so far in my life is the Hokowase.  This is an everbearer which puts out runners.  It is wonderful because you can pick it when it just starts to turn red before the skinks, birds and other creatures sample it's delicousness before you can get to it.  I don't mind sharing and will often pick a fruit with a chunk out of it and cut this section off and eat it anyway.  The reason I talk about the Hokowase is because I am now going on a different strawberry adventure.  I haven't abandoned it I am just deviating onto a different path.

The path I am taking is the Fraise des Bois or Alpine Strawberry.  I have heard it is sweeter than the Hokowase but this wont be known until I get my first fruit.

I love this adventure because I am growing all these plants from seed.  It is quite a challenge as germination is often difficult.  So far I have been successful with Yates' alpine strawberry which doesn't seem to have an intriguing name as others I have germinated.   My first Yates strawberries have been germinated, repotted to a larger pot and repotted on to an even larger receptacle.  My first flowers have appeared but as yet no fruit.  I have planted these in an acid environment as this is recommended by those much wiser than me.  I use a gardenia and azalea potting mix.  So far this is working a treat.

The other Alpines I am experimenting with are Ali Baba (second stage potting), White Soul still in germination tray and Baron Solemacher which has proven a dismal failure so far.  I have been buying this seed on Ebay.  Will let you know of my progress with these.