strawberry

Growing Strawberries in Hanging Containers / Grow Bags

May 4, 2012 by Stephanie 16 Comments

Even if space is a problem, you can certainly find a corner of your world to hang a strawberry planter. The sun-warmed, sweet berries are far superior to the store bought ones that ripen in plastic domes. Once established you have plenty more plants year after year.

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It’s around this time each year that I start salivating for sweet, fresh berries as I see my hanging strawberry planter growing in and the flowers forming. Establishing a fruit-bearing crop in a growing bag is not difficult, but there are a few key steps that will certainly help.

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Filed Under: Gardening, Growing Food, Projects Tagged With: strawberry, weekend project, You Can Grow That!

Blueberry & Blackberry Infused Vodka + New Year’s Eve Cocktail Recipes

December 28, 2011 by Stephanie 15 Comments

If you are having a New Year’s Eve bash this year, infused vodkas make a festive basis for some fabulous cocktails. Or perhaps you are lucky enough to be attending a soiree held by someone else? A fruity infused vodka makes a perfect hostess gift and is much more original than wine. Start them now and they’ll be perfectly flavour-infused by the big night.

Berry Infused Vodka Recipe

Ingredients:

3 cups of berries such as blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, strawberry
1 lemon
1 whole vanilla bean
1L (750ml) of inexpensive vodka

Directions:

Using a vegetable peeler, peel off 3-4 strips of lemon rind. Use the back of a paring knife to remove as much pith (white stuff) as you can. Pith = bitter. Add rind to a large mason jar.
Add berries to jar and mash lightly. Spilt vanilla bean in half an add it as well.
Pour the entire bottle of vodka over the mixture, seal with a lid and shake. Leave in a cool, dark place for 3 days.
After 3 days, strain the infused vodka through a fine strainer or medium cheesecloth into a bottle. Repeat straining in a finer cheesecloth for a clearer liquid (optional).

New Year’s Eve Cocktails

Blueberry Nights

1 oz blueberry infused vodka
1/2 oz brandy
1/2 oz ginger syrup
3 oz soda

Blackberry Royale

6 oz champagne
1/2 oz blackberry infused vodka
1/2 oz simple syrup
garnish with floating cranberries

Strawberry Refresher

fresh mint leaves, muddled at bottom of glass with…
…the juice of 1/2 a lime
top with 2 oz strawberry infused vodka
3 oz ginger beer
3 oz soda

Midori Melon Ball Drop adapted from this recipe.

1 1/2 oz Midori melon liqueur
1 1/2 oz raspberry infused vodka
1/2 oz elderflower liqueur
juice of 1/2 lemon
sugar for rimming
melon ball for garnish

Happy New Year!

Filed Under: Projects, Recipes Tagged With: blackberry, blueberry, cocktail, infused vodka, new years eve, raspberry, strawberry

A Berry Good Harvest Monday

July 19, 2010 by Stephanie 11 Comments

This July I have been harvesting all sorts of things. I wish I had the time to post weekly like so many of the others that list at Daphne’s Dandelions but at least I’m getting something posted! In the beginning of July I pulled up my garlic from the community garden plot and it looked great despite the rust. I think there was definitely an effect on the size but there are still some fair sized heads there and it should last us for a few months at least.

Also in the beginning of July I harvested the rest of the peas and composted the vines. It’s good because I needed the room. But I did plant a bunch more Mammoth Melting Sugar snow peas at the community garden for fall.

I harvested some kale from the garden plot as well this month as it is doing fantabulous. I have many bunches of green onions ready to eat and I harvested a head of raddichio this evening. I also had some rainbow chard from my home vegetable beds tonight and expect that I will be eating that nightly for a week or so.

All month now I have been snacking on blueberries. I have 5 bushes located in the front potager / perennial garden and 4 of the 5 shrubs are new as of last year so really I’m only eating berries off of one. But so far it has produced more ripe berries than I can pick and eat fresh so it’s just right and I still have plenty to ripen still. I eat them in salad and of course on pound cake and whipped cream. mmmmm.

My yellow alpine strawberries are producing berries but I think that perhaps I put too many (5) plants in the small planter on my patio as they are small and turn brown and hard quickly. the leaves are yellowing a but to despite my regular watering, full sun, and fertilizing. I’d happily accept any advice on improving these plants as this is my first year growing them.

Here are 2 of the ripe ones with a red thrown in for comparison. They have a unique strawberry favour that I can only describe as strong strawberry with a hint of banana. They also have the texture of a cooked banana – some what starchy and mushy – but the texture is not off-putting, it’s more “melt in your mouth”.

Finally – lettuce lettuce lettuce! I have been eating Super Gourmet Salad blend since March from seeds I planted in January. The heads are just now starting to bolt but I’m hoping I’ll keep them going until at least August.

Filed Under: Growing Food, Harvest Tagged With: alpine strawberry, blueberry, chard, garlic, harvest monday, kale, onions, peas, strawberry

Strawberry Jam Two Ways Part 1: Organic Strawberry Jam

July 13, 2010 by Stephanie 4 Comments

Oh, the strawberries this year. While the cool wet weather this May and June kept many of the strawberries watery and bland, somewhere in California an organic grower got it right : the berries, just at the peak of ripeness, were deep red with a rich sweetness that reminded me of strawberry molasses. Given that my berries, as lovely as they were, were affected by the raincoast weather, I picked up a steal on 27 pints of those organic berries from Cali.

What does one do with 27 pints of strawberries? Well, first I made up the Strawberry Coconut Torte I just posted and served it with champagne and strawberries. I froze a bunch in freezer bags for future berry goodness and made some into Perfect No-Cook Strawberry Ice Cream and Strawberry Rhubarb Compote. And then I made jam two ways: Strawberry Jam and Strawberry Balsamic & Black Pepper Preserves.

Organic Strawberry Jam

I started with a basic recipe for light jam:

6 cups crushed strawberries
4 cups sugar
1 box Certo Light Pectin

Directions:

Hull berries and process in a food processor – pulse only 3 times per batch so it is the consistency of fresh salsa not mush.
In a large stock pot heat strawberries until they start to release juices – add water is you need some.
Combine fruit pectin crystals with 1/4 cup (50 mL) of measured sugar and add pectin mixture into fruit on the stove.
Stir over high heat until mixture comes to a full boil. Add remaining sugar (I know, it’s a lot of sugar but it does really need it to bring out the bright strawberry flavour). Continue to cook and stir over high heat until mixture comes to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Wipe off hot spatters from boiling jam off your arms, the stove, the floor, etc. Prevent burns by keeping a wet cloth near you this is dangerous stuff, folks.
Remove from heat and keep stirring. You can skim off the foam now as well.

At this point I canned 2/3 of my batch as strawberry jam—ladle into warm, sterilized jars filling up to 1/4 inch (0.5 cm) from rim and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes / pint or as required for your altitude. Use the remaining 1/3 of the batch for Strawberry Balsamic & Black Pepper Preserves in Part 2.

Filed Under: Canning, Harvest Tagged With: preserves, strawberry

Strawberry Jam Two Ways Part 2: Strawberry Balsamic & Black Pepper Preserves

July 13, 2010 by Stephanie 13 Comments

Strawberry Balsamic & Black Pepper Preserves

(adapted from this recipe from Canadian Living)

Using the remaining 1/3 of the Organic Strawberry Jam batch and add:

4 more cups crushed strawberries
½ cup cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp coarsely cracked black pepper or to taste

Directions: Bring this mixture to a boil again – a hard boil for 1 minute stirring constantly– and then can just like the strawberry jam. Voila! Strawberry Jam Two Ways.

Filed Under: Canning, Harvest, Recipes Tagged With: preserves, strawberry

Strawberry Coconut Torte

July 13, 2010 by Stephanie 3 Comments

Given all the yummy strawberries available this year I changed up the Original Plum Torte recipe by using large strawberries in place of the plums, adding a handful of unsweetened coconut to the batter, and topping it with some coconut flakes (which I then toasted under the broiler when the torte was finished). A delicious summer treat!

Filed Under: Growing Food, Harvest, Recipes Tagged With: Baking, strawberry

Don’t Call it a Comeback

June 21, 2010 by Stephanie 16 Comments

There was much support, and some skepticism, but in the end I have an an abundance of perfect strawberries from my hanging strawberry planter project. Pow! These are knock-outs.

I’m also harvesting many not-so-perfect ones from the community garden plot. Or should I say perfect to me / only a mother can love / Don’t u call this a regular jam?

However you put it, I have lots of tasty red berries so I’m pretty happy.

For more of what I’m harvesting click here. And check out what others are harvesting on Daphne’s page.

Filed Under: Growing Food, Projects Tagged With: hanging strawberry planter, harvest monday, strawberry

Project Update: Hanging Strawberry Planter

May 17, 2010 by Stephanie 10 Comments

Not a whole lot of work went into my hanging strawberry planter project. I tucked some extra runners into a hanging planter I found at a thrift store and hung it off the garage. I’ve kept it watered for 2 months now and look how well it is doing. It is covered in little green strawberries and a ton of flowers. Not too shabby.

Filed Under: Gardening, Growing Food, Projects Tagged With: hanging strawberry planter, strawberry, Topsy Turvy

Weekend Project: Hanging Strawberry Planter

March 20, 2010 by Stephanie 13 Comments

This project has more recent updates. For all the posts related to this project click here.

For the past 2 years I have been growing tomatoes in those fugly Topsy Turvy planters. Sure they are ugly, but I don’t have a lot of space and I love a lot of tomatoes and they actually do grow great tomatoes. Last year I hung three on the southwest corner of my garage and no one even noticed the crappy green ivy design because of all the cherry and grape toms dangling from below. There were a few factors that made it a success for me and I’ve listed that all here.

This year I decided to try a strawberry planter because let’s face it, who wouldn’t want delicious fresh strawberries growing off their garage? I had a bunch of strawberry runners over at my community garden plot and I found this handy “Flower Tower” at Value Village for few bucks. You can buy Topsy Turvey ones with the same general idea, or I can assume that cutting some holes in a bucket would really yield the same results. I filled the planter with garden soil, tucked in the runners, and voila – a hanging strawberry planter.

For now the biggest challenge has been to water it without the soil running through the holes. But as it compacts a little, it seems to be holding better. I’ve got about 36 plants in there so lets hope for a good harvest. If this works it may be the only way I grow strawberries again! Here are a few hanging container products if you want to start your own: