Kitchen Garden Forum

My bed has reached it's old age so time to go! I would just plant up runners normally but over the years they are mixed up & haven't a clue which are which so prepping a new bed & buying new, which I will pay more attention to other than scoffing them, so they don't invade each others spaces! I want early, mid, late & everlasting & want your recommendations for the variety you like best. Not too seedy, but mask could hide that issue!

For perpetual, try Elan. They are delicious. For early, I like marshmello.

I still grow Symphony - bought the original plants in 2008 and have been using my own runners ever since. I change the soil in the bed adding plenty of compost and FBB, grow them for three seasons and repeat so each season I have 1, 2 and 3 year old plants in the three beds, that spreads the picking a bit. I also pot some runners and force them in the greenhouse then polytunnel.
I thought of trying a new variety and it was a disaster as I reported here viewtopic.php?f=3&t=14346&p=144599&hilit=strawberries#p144599

I really love Mara de Bois. A true starwberry taste, does not make oversized mutants, just proper strawberry sized fruits. It is an everbearing so you get little and often and few/no runners. I will always grow these!! I eat them out of hand or freeze them to make into jams (C Ferber recipe).

I was also gifted some framberries (not a new novelty but a self-polliating hybrid of the Strasberry, Fragaria × ananassa 'Mieze Schindler' , from old GDR) that I planted in a trough - they do love to send out runners, are not everbearing but are very tasty and deep red. Due to their tendency to generate runners, I may leave this in a trough! A keeper.

I also grow Mara des Bois, but up here I grow them in containers in my greenhouse, I get some runners and I am currently rooting some now as I seem to lose the odd plant in the winter. Outside I have Honeye, Elsanta and Cambridge Favourite, varieties that do well up here in NE Scotland, all are cropping really well and all taste nice. I also have red and white Alpine ones grown from seed, pretty sure I got the seeds free with the magazine some years ago, they are pea sized bombs of strawberry flavour, my 5 year old grandsons favourites.
Todays pickings

Thanks All, especially Geoff I had looked at buying that variety!

Looks like I better start clearing the new bed that the raspberries decided to migrate to! That certainly won't be a warm day chore as they are right thugs so I shall be burning some calories & working up a sweat without any help from the weather!

I really like planting Mara des Bois, it's the best I have really. It's big and comfortable to pick. I don't know is it early or middle one, I think something between.

I have ordered the replacements (with loads of dithering & changing my mind) & cleared one old bed. Currently prepping their new bed, but thinking I could have chosen a better spot than one that had raspberries on it previously! Do not trust uTube - the little gits are deeper & harder to get out than they say & don't think a bit of black plastic that will degrade in a blink is going to stop them re-claiming their spot! Any advice about what membrane may help would be helpful! Not up to burying pavers - I've passed my annual cussing limit already! (Well that might have been around March)!