Strawberries, anyone?


Along the banks of the River Tay, Scotland's strawberry fields are gearing up for an early crop.


This area has always been famed for its soft fruit, but the season now is vastly expanded by the use of polytunnels and horticultural fleece. In my childhood strawberries didn't appear until the end of June. My father always used to visit the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh around the 23rd of June (he was a grain merchant, and this was - and is - the main social gathering of the farming world). He would return with a couple of punnets of precious early strawberries, at least a week before our northern berries in Moray were ripe.

Below, the tunnel doors are closed to increase the heat. I think the plants in these tunnels are growing in raised beds, to make picking easier. Meantime my own plants at the allotment are sitting thinking about putting forth a few new leaves. We'll be having traditionally-timed strawberries in June.

Comments

  1. I love strawberries! That's an interesting new way to grow them, though.

    New here - hello!

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  2. Strawberries! What a delicious thought--but still only a thought yet where we live, if they are even grown here.

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  3. I like strawberries too. I've seen similar tunnels, or greenhouse-type structures, on farmland here in the U.S. as well.

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  4. Many things are grown like that in my area. Strawberries are one of my favorite things to eat.

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  5. I love strawberries and was in fact eating some today. : )
    Some of the biggest strawberries I have seen were in Scotland back in the 70's. Some of the best tasting ones too.

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  6. I always think of them as a June treat too! We have them from Florida and California all winter but they don't taste as wonderful as the home-grown ones! I can hardly wait.

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  7. Ah, the wonders of modern farming. Here in the middle of Colorado, where we can get snow 10 months of the year, we can get fresh berries, pineapples, and other assorted delicious things year-round. It wasn't like that when I grew up!

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  8. Strawberries...yum!!! We get our strawberries around June here in Quebec as well :o)

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  9. Love Scottish strawberries! with a spot of cream. YUM

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  10. I see our sweet corn farmer has his seed planted, but our strawberries won't be up for another month. That is a good idea to greenhouse them to keep them warm.

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  11. Hi Linda
    As the allotment STILL isn't up and running yet, we shall have to rely on the three wall baskets to provide again. Which brings me to my grandson Josh, who came over at the weekend and asked very hopefully 'are there any strawbrries grandad?', to which I visualized the slight greeness showing through the crispy brown as they are now and said 'not quite, in a couple of weeks maybe!'
    Thanks for the post, very interesting, and nice to see things from a different angle.

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  12. Strawberry field forever ... :)

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  13. Great pictures. Thanks for visiting my blog and yes I very am happy, because the snow is almost gone here where I live. Greeting Nordis

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  14. Kiernan, hello, welcome to my blog.

    Clair, I'm surprised that you don't have strawberries yet. Something to look forward to in the organic box.

    Linda and Farmchick, the polytunnels probably came to us from the US. A cultural export.

    Happyone - what a coincidence about your strawberries. Huge, ripe strawberries are such a treat. The memory has obviously stayed with you.

    RedPat, our winter strawberries come from Spain, but we dont' bother with them as like your ones from the south they don't taste as good as the local one.

    Al, that's amazing to think of that variety of fruit at your elevation.

    Karine, sounds as if you're looking forward to June as well.

    Lisa, you're right, just a spot of cream brings out the taste perfectly.

    Larry, I'll look forward to seeing how your Iowa corn is doing.

    Gary, that's so funny about your grandson. You'll have to live up to your promise now!

    Babzy, there's a song title in most things, isn't there?

    Nordis, hoping it won't be long before your strawberries are underway. Norwegian strawberries are delicious.

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  15. Hi Linda, thanks for visiting my blog, and it's amazing that almost the same photo was on our blogs .... ahhhhh Scottish strawberries - making my mouth water!
    Off for a wander through your blog - loving it!

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  16. Linda, how funny to see your post. A few hours ago I was on a train going down the Willamette Valley in Oregon, and I went past a ginormous berry-growing concern, with massive greenhouses as far as the eye could see. I was missing the familiar polytunnels of the berry farms in Scotland - and here they are! Thanks. Lots to look forwards to, yum!

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  17. That adjacent field looks delightfully green. Spring green! How nice that you are anticipating strawberries. Our strawberry season is about to end. It runs from December through April. Looking forward to picking blueberries in May.

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  18. Wow, that's quite the strawberry field. We used to pick our own here and there when I was growing up, but I've never seen an operation as large as this one. Happy strawberry growing!

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  19. Homeschool on the Croft - welcome! I enjoyed reading about your very different life. Still to get to your part of Scotland - one day...

    Christine, glad to have given you a glimpse of what's going on here just now.

    Breezy Point Mom, it's quite a mental shift for me to think of strawberries at their peak in the winter months.

    Vickie, pick your own is very popular here too. In fact since my raspberry canes aren't doing well we may have to resort to that if we want any jam this year.

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