Freezing Strawberries
Strawberries, strawberries, strawberries… Most people ask what we did do get such a great yield. One word, “neglect”. A neighbor gave me a couple of plants 5-7 years ago. I stuck them in a corner of the garden; they did nothing, just sat there looking the same every year. Then 2 years ago my husband was tilling the garden in the fall, I told him don’t worry about the strawberries they aren’t doing a thing. He tilled over the entire patch. The next spring the strawberry patch tripled in size, I couldn’t believe it. We had strawberries but couldn’t fight off the animals. We put a net over them, chipmunks would crawl under, birds pecked and tore up the net, and raccoons would actually move these big stones and lift the net to get to them. It was a losing battle. We didn’t fertilize the strawberries either. Now when my husband tills close to the strawberries and a little piece breaks off and ends up somewhere else… another start of a strawberry patch. As I said before, the cat took care of the animals and this year is a record year for us in strawberries. I transplanted starts of strawberries last fall and put them around my roses. I read somewhere that they are good companion plants, low growing, shallow root system, it will keep the rose roots cool and allow the roses to soak up the sun and have room to breathe. I’ll see if it helps the roses and they already produced strawberries this year. So, our strawberries are organic, pesticide free, free range (he he) and neglected.
I have decided to freeze some to use throughout the year. I washed and stemmed the strawberries, left them whole and put them in a freezer bag. I will use them for smoothies, drinks, homemade frozen yogurt/ice cream/sherbet, pies, cobblers and crisps.
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Thank you for sharing- your wonderful strawberries AND the story behind them. When I use them over the winter I will think of you;)