Berry Berry Good

After the first large strawberry was nabbed in the middle of the night, I've put the plants under cage.  Now these few first berries can vine ripen safely.  Based on what I saw today, tomorrow might be a very berry day.

Strawberries Sweet and Ripe

My strawberries are amazing this year.  I have never harvested as many sweet little berries.  So lucky.

Rainbow in My California Garden

When I woke up this morning, the sun was shining and beckoning me out into the garden. Early sunlight seemed to make all of the colors of the garden more intense. I was photographing the plants with colors that seemed enhanced and bold. It seemed I had every color of the rainbow represented and an idea came to me to create by California Garden Rainbow.

Tree Mallower

Chive flower

Lavendar Flower

Sea Lavendar

Lemon (green)

Strawberry leaves

Rhaphiolepis Leaves

Lantana

Oxcalis

Yellow Cauliflower

Strawberry flower

Strawberry

Nandina berries

Ripe Strawberry in My Southern California Garden

 

The strawberry is finally ripe.  Today will be tasting day.  Hope it's sweet and juicy!

I planted quite a few strawberry plants.  As the days warm up, I'm expecting plenty of strawberry production. 

Strawberry Season in California

Subtle:  As the strawberry matures, the blush of red deepens.

Strawberry season has started in California.  Oh, are they delicious.  I purchased some yesterday at the store and enjoyed them as an evening snack.

My own little strawberry patch is hard at work creating strawberries.  You can see hints of red starting to appear at the top of the berry of the second photo.  This currently is my only berry.  And luckily, no critters have discovered it yet!

New Strawberry Patch in the Garden

Meet my overachieving strawberry patch.  This new garden addition is fragaria x ananassa 'Quinault'. The quinault promises to be everbearing (berries in spring and fall) with fruits appearing in four to five weeks.  I've planted about 20 plants.  Anticipating fresh strawberries and cereal for breakfast in just a few months!

Brush away dirt around the crown so when planted the crown sits level with the surrounding soil.

Tease the roots gently before placing in soil.

A flower!

One of the plants has sent out a runner. This will develop into another strawberry producing plant.  Conventional wisdom says to pinch off flowers and runners to encourage strong root growth of the newly planted strawberries.

Clearly, I've selected a group of over achieving plants: runners, blossoms and set fruit!

The Patch! Waiting for a top mulching to help retain the moisture.

Editor's note: It was very difficult but I pinched off the buds and blooms in the garden as well as any knobby set fruit. The one thing I was reluctant to pinch off was the runner. This variety touts its ability to produce fruit on unrooted runners. I thought this made the runner more desirable than a detriment to the plant.