Thread: Strawberries!

On 01/07/2011 10:40 PM, Ranée at Arabian Knits wrote:
> I went to a U-Pick place near our town with the children today and
> picked 24 pounds of unsprayed strawberries (she doesn't spray with
> pesticides, herbicides or use commercial fertilizer, she used compost,
> but she isn't certified organic - even though that's how she grows her
> berries) for $24 (not counting the numerous berries eaten in the field
> with the permission of the owner). We decided to have strawberry
> shortcake for dinner.

That sounds like a pretty good deal. Out local strawberries are in full
swing and they are delicious. The earlier berries were not so great
because we had been having too much rain and they were bloated and
bland, but this week they are great.

I have a surplus of strawberry jam left over from last year, so I won't
bother making any this year.

Dave Smith <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 01/07/2011 10:40 PM, Ranée at Arabian Knits wrote:
>> I went to a U-Pick place near our town with the children today and
>> picked 24 pounds of unsprayed strawberries (she doesn't spray with
>> pesticides, herbicides or use commercial fertilizer, she used compost,
>> but she isn't certified organic - even though that's how she grows her
>> berries) for $24 (not counting the numerous berries eaten in the field
>> with the permission of the owner). We decided to have strawberry
>> shortcake for dinner.
>
> That sounds like a pretty good deal. Out local strawberries are in full
> swing and they are delicious. The earlier berries were not so great
> because we had been having too much rain and they were bloated and bland,
> but this week they are great.
>
> I have a surplus of strawberry jam left over from last year, so I won't
> bother making any this year.

I made five small jars of freezer jam today. From four pounds of
strawberries that I got from my garden.

--
Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)

"Nad R" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:ium4nu$93h$[email protected]..
> Dave Smith <[email protected]> wrote:
>> On 01/07/2011 10:40 PM, Ranée at Arabian Knits wrote:
>>> I went to a U-Pick place near our town with the children today and
>>> picked 24 pounds of unsprayed strawberries (she doesn't spray with
>>> pesticides, herbicides or use commercial fertilizer, she used compost,
>>> but she isn't certified organic - even though that's how she grows her
>>> berries) for $24 (not counting the numerous berries eaten in the field
>>> with the permission of the owner). We decided to have strawberry
>>> shortcake for dinner.
>>
>> That sounds like a pretty good deal. Out local strawberries are in full
>> swing and they are delicious. The earlier berries were not so great
>> because we had been having too much rain and they were bloated and bland,
>> but this week they are great.
>>
>> I have a surplus of strawberry jam left over from last year, so I won't
>> bother making any this year.
>
> I made five small jars of freezer jam today. From four pounds of
> strawberries that I got from my garden.
>
> --
> Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)

Bland. That's the word. The last strawberries I bought were beautiful but
humdrum. How I would love to find some that were delicious; heck. I'd even
be happy with 'pretty good'. Polly

On Fri, 1 Jul 2011 23:16:25 -0500, "Polly Esther"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Bland. That's the word. The last strawberries I bought were beautiful but
> humdrum. How I would love to find some that were delicious; heck. I'd even
> be happy with 'pretty good'. Polly

The strawberries are very good here. No complaints.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

sf <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Fri, 1 Jul 2011 23:16:25 -0500, "Polly Esther"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> Bland. That's the word. The last strawberries I bought were beautiful but
>> humdrum. How I would love to find some that were delicious; heck. I'd even
>> be happy with 'pretty good'. Polly
>
> The strawberries are very good here. No complaints.

Same here!

--
Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)

In article <arabianknits-08B1EB.19404401072011@news.eternal-
september.org>, [email protected] says...
>
> I went to a U-Pick place near our town with the children today and
> picked 24 pounds of unsprayed strawberries (she doesn't spray with
> pesticides, herbicides or use commercial fertilizer, she used compost,
> but she isn't certified organic - even though that's how she grows her
> berries) for $24 (not counting the numerous berries eaten in the field
> with the permission of the owner). We decided to have strawberry
> shortcake for dinner.
>
> I'll be up jamming tonight and doing some more tomorrow. I plan to
> make twice what I made last year, because I had to be somewhat stingy
> with it to get us through to ripe strawberries again. That means, too,
> that Mariam will have nice strawberry jam in with her yogurt tomorrow
> from all the skimmings we'll have in the fridge from the foam.

When we used to grow them and have huge gluts, one of the solutions was
to wash and hull the fruits then just mash them up to a pulp with a potato
masher (and some sugar) and freeze it in pots. Kids love it poured over
icecream or yoghurt, or some combination of icecream and fresh sliced
banana, pineapple, pear etc.

Janet

"Polly Esther" <[email protected]> wrote:
-snip-
>
>Bland. That's the word. The last strawberries I bought were beautiful but
>humdrum. How I would love to find some that were delicious; heck. I'd even
>be happy with 'pretty good'. Polly

You *have* to pick them. They haven't invented a strawberry that
has flavor *and* can take the abuse of being tossed in a box and sat
on a shelf for several hours.[days?]

A farmer's market or roadside stand will get you 1/2 way there. . .
But back-breaking picking is the only true path to flavorful
strawberries.

IMHO, of course.

Jim

Dave Smith wrote:
> On 01/07/2011 10:40 PM, Ranée at Arabian Knits wrote:
>> I went to a U-Pick place near our town with the children today and
>> picked 24 pounds of unsprayed strawberries (she doesn't spray with
>> pesticides, herbicides or use commercial fertilizer, she used compost,
>> but she isn't certified organic - even though that's how she grows her
>> berries) for $24 (not counting the numerous berries eaten in the field
>> with the permission of the owner). We decided to have strawberry
>> shortcake for dinner.
>
> That sounds like a pretty good deal. Out local strawberries are in full
> swing and they are delicious. The earlier berries were not so great
> because we had been having too much rain and they were bloated and
> bland, but this week they are great.
>
> I have a surplus of strawberry jam left over from last year, so I won't
> bother making any this year.

Hmmm. Maybe I'll have to get some more strawberries (here in the
Boston area). The ones I had earlier were, as you say, bland.
Very disappointing. I know there is a correlation between rain
and flavor, but was not sure this was the explanation this year.
That would be MUCH better than the farm having switched varieties.

--
Jean B.

Polly Esther wrote:
>
> "Nad R" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:ium4nu$93h$[email protected]..
>> Dave Smith <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> On 01/07/2011 10:40 PM, Ranée at Arabian Knits wrote:
>>>> I went to a U-Pick place near our town with the children today and
>>>> picked 24 pounds of unsprayed strawberries (she doesn't spray with
>>>> pesticides, herbicides or use commercial fertilizer, she used compost,
>>>> but she isn't certified organic - even though that's how she grows her
>>>> berries) for $24 (not counting the numerous berries eaten in the field
>>>> with the permission of the owner). We decided to have strawberry
>>>> shortcake for dinner.
>>>
>>> That sounds like a pretty good deal. Out local strawberries are in full
>>> swing and they are delicious. The earlier berries were not so great
>>> because we had been having too much rain and they were bloated and
>>> bland,
>>> but this week they are great.
>>>
>>> I have a surplus of strawberry jam left over from last year, so I won't
>>> bother making any this year.
>>
>> I made five small jars of freezer jam today. From four pounds of
>> strawberries that I got from my garden.
>>
>> --
>> Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)
>
> Bland. That's the word. The last strawberries I bought were beautiful
> but humdrum. How I would love to find some that were delicious; heck.
> I'd even be happy with 'pretty good'. Polly

Almost the only possibility of that is waiting until local
strawberry season. Other than that, the commercially grown
organic ones seem to be somewhat better than other available in
stores. I have pretty much given up buying strawberries when it
is not the season for them here.

--
Jean B.

On 02/07/2011 12:16 AM, Polly Esther wrote:
>
>
> Bland. That's the word. The last strawberries I bought were beautiful
> but humdrum. How I would love to find some that were delicious; heck.
> I'd even be happy with 'pretty good'. Polly

The way I figure it is that there is a certain amount of flavour in a
strawberry regardless of the size. When there is lots of sun the develop
sweetness and flavour, but if they get too much rain they just grow
really big and don't develop any more taste. I once made jam with big
bloated berries picked one day following several days of rain. They were
big and nice looking, so less time to pick and prepare, but the jam was
disappointing.

I bought some wonderful strawberries from Aldi last week. They were
just lovely -- sweet, juicy, fragrant, and flavorful. They were
only ninety-nine cents a pint.

Tara

On Sat, 02 Jul 2011 13:30:46 -0400, Dave Smith
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On 02/07/2011 12:16 AM, Polly Esther wrote:
>>
>>
>> Bland. That's the word. The last strawberries I bought were beautiful
>> but humdrum. How I would love to find some that were delicious; heck.
>> I'd even be happy with 'pretty good'. Polly
>
>The way I figure it is that there is a certain amount of flavour in a
>strawberry regardless of the size. When there is lots of sun the develop
>sweetness and flavour, but if they get too much rain they just grow
>really big and don't develop any more taste. I once made jam with big
>bloated berries picked one day following several days of rain. They were
>big and nice looking, so less time to pick and prepare, but the jam was
>disappointing.

That has been my theory for a long time. Only so much flavor to go
around.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

Tara <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> I bought some wonderful strawberries from Aldi last week.
> They were just lovely -- sweet, juicy, fragrant, and
> flavorful. They were only ninety-nine cents a pint.
>
> Tara

I bought somw last week from Sunflower Farmers Market that were
wonderful. 88 cents for 16 oz. I bought 3 #'s!! YUM

How much did it cost you to buy those Strawberries? I usually loved
Strawberries both as a fruit and as an beauty ingredient.




--
mike1234