Learning how to grow strawberries is easy and rewarding. It’s the fruit that signals “summer has arrived.” Bright, red, beautiful, and sweet as sugar, strawberries are a staple to our diet starting in late May/early June on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. If you’re wondering about the role bees, play in the life of the strawberry, wonder no more. The best berries are thanks to bees. When honeybees are available to pollinate berry crops, farmers realize as much as one thousand pounds more fruit per acre. You’ll find organic strawberries and seeds in many of our Bee Inspired goods.
Now that strawberry season is upon us, it’s the perfect time to plant your crop.
Because strawberries grow so close to the ground and don’t have a “thick skin,” they are often plagued by fungal diseases and pests. In conventional farming, the farmer uses potent pesticides to yield predictable results. When organic strawberry farming, crop rotation may be the answer to avoiding pesticides. Or growing strawberries in container gardens may be the way to go.
We avoid conventionally grown strawberries in every event, and we hope you will too. Strawberries are one of the ubiquitous “dirty dozen” fruits, covered in pesticide residue that is not easily removed by washing them.
Anyone can grow strawberries!
Strawberries don’t require a lot of time or space. Perfect for busy lives and small yards. There are many creative ways to grow strawberries, even if you don’t have a lot of lands. My favorite strawberries come from my friend Joyce Wallace’s garden! I know that she only uses her fingers to remove the occasional grub. If you don’t have a gem of a friend like Joyce, you might consider growing your strawberries.
The Natural Way to Stop Strawberry Pests
Keeping strawberries off of the ground is the key to avoiding the need for pesticides. Otherwise, the fruits will rest on the soil, allowing insects and other pests to nibble on the berries. Once strawberries grow, learn how to control common pests organically.
Strawberries can quickly grow in pots and baskets—an easy way to keep ground-dwelling insects from having easy access to your crop. Growing them in baskets or tiered garden containers is the way to go. There are all sorts of interesting growing systems designed for strawberry growing.
How to Grow strawberries organically:
You can grow your strawberries vertically in many different ways-pots, and hanging baskets aren’t the only options! You can grow strawberries in rain gutters that can easily be mounted on a windowsill or deck rail. Another option would be a Vertical Stair Planter from Menards that will fit into your property’s narrow (but sunny) section.
Mounting an old shipping palette onto a garage or outbuilding wall is a smart option for creating a walled garden filled with berries. Find plans for a DIY Palette Planter that you can make on a weekend afternoon. If you’d like any more ideas, check out these vertical gardening ideas from Country Living.
Up for trying any of these strawberry-growing tips? Please share them with us on Instagram!
Happy planting!
