I did a lot of fragaria vesca last year, and they did very poorly for me. I put them out in feb in zone 5, so they got plenty of cold... and they sprouted almost last, and those that did sprout, were weak and perished soon after. out of an entire packet of probably a thousand seeds... i got probably 20 specks of a sprout, and not one survivor. HOWEVER... I have a pot of established alpines already, and when the fruit gets too ripe and falls off, i just push them down into the soil- they take a while, but there are tons of sprouts in the pot. Maybe the seeds need to be fresh? And PS they were germinating through the course of one season, so i do not think they NEED cold. I am either going to try one more time this year if i can get inexpensive seed, or i will just buy some small starts of the varieties i want- and propagate them from fresh seeds.

I finally finished processing all my strawberries. I started with 12 lbs. strawberries, and ended up with 8 pints of strawberry product, and used about 5 lbs sugar, lol! The first batch of preserves I made was my favorite. The recipe came from the book "Summer in a Jar" by Andrea Chessman. It is out of print but can be found used. This is my all time favorite canning book, because of her emphasis on small batch preserving and low sugar recipes. I really am a devotee of the low sugar recipes, so much more flavor! I made what is called "mixed berry jam" because I had about a cup of red raspberries from my garden. The low sugar recipe called for the inclusion of ground apples for their pectin. It had excellent flavor, and you cannot see or really taste the apple. I used a slightly green golden delicious and it added a kick, not unlike rhubarb. The only down side is the low sugar jams just do not last a long time once opened. So I can them in small jars. Next year I am going to try the straight strawberry recipe, which also calls for apples to add pectin. The second batch I made using Sure Jell "low" sugar pectin. 6 cups strawberries, 4 cups sugar, not that low IMHO. This was my least favorite batch. It has the best color and appearance, and the traditional "store bought" strawberry jam taste. I just do not care for the jams made with commercial pectin, they are too sweet, bland and gummy for my palate. Just my opinion though. These will probably make the best gifts since they are what most people are used to. Lastly I made the "Deluxe Strawberry Preserves" from the Ball Blue Book. These also had a lot of sugar, but no commercial pectin. You leave the berries sit in the sugar syrup overnight. The strawberries dehydrate, and make a thick, intensely flavored syrup. So you have these little itty bitty strawberries floating in very, very sweet syrup. Pretty, although when I put the jars in the BWB, all the strawberries that had been distributed in the syrup rose to the tops of the jars. This sauce would be wicked good on ice cream, cheesecake, waffles, pancakes, blintzes and angelfood cake and other cakes. However, I almost never make or eat such things. I'm going to mix it in with nonfat vanilla yogurt, and maybe try some on oatmeal. I can never find rhubarb here, and I think strawberry rhubarb is one of the best kinds of jam. I'm gonna try to find some to plant for the garden next year. I also made strawberry jam with lavender one year, that was kind of interesting, the lavendar has a spicy flavor. So if I ever end up growing lavendar I might try that. Lastly, maybe add some liqueur. Is it drambuie that is strawberry flavored? Or maybe some cointreau, which makes everything taste good. I might try a long cooking recipe next year, something like a strawberry butter. Freezing is really the best strategy for preserving strawberries that suits my lifestyle, except that I have very little available long term freezer space. I am too much of an impermanent person to maintain a freezer. I wish it was different but sadly it's not, at least for now.

This is a little beetle with a lot of common names. Look up 'sap beetles' and 'picnic beetles' and you'll also find them listed under 'beer bugs'. I first learned about them under the name 'Pleasing Fungus Beetle', as they are considered one of that group, too. Look for them on fallen fruit, overripe strawberries, oozing sap from trees, mushrooms, etc.

I made this last year and it was very good! Originally posted by Suzytwo STRAWBERRY RHUBARB COFFEE CAKE ** FILLING ** 3 cups sliced rhubarb, -- 1 inch pieces 1 quart fresh strawberries, -- diced/mashed 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 cup sugar 1/3 cup cornstarch ** CAKE ** 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda ý teaspoon salt 1 cup butter or margarine, -- cut into pieces 1 ý cups milk (buttermilk is even better) 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ** TOPPING ** ü cup butter or margarine þ cup all-purpose flour þ cup sugar Preheat oven to 350. In a large saucepan, combine rhubarb, strawberries and lemon juice. Cover and cook over medium heat about 5 minutes. Combine sugar and cornstarch, stir into saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thickened; remove from heat and set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (I used my hands, pressing the butter into the flour. Use cool butter) Beat milk, eggs, and vanilla; stir into crumb mixture. Spread half the batter evenly into a greased 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Carefully spread filling on top. Drop remaining batter by tablespoonfuls over filling. For topping: melt butter in microwave over low heat, stir in flour and sugar until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over batter. Lay foil on lower rack to catch any juicy fruit spillovers. Place coffee cake on middle rack, bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Cool in pan. Cut into squares. Posted 6/10/08 by Susytwo Linda