Everyone loves strawberries. But do you know about all of the different varieties you can grow?

There are three main categories of strawberries - relating to the growing and fruiting seasons.

June Bearing: strawberries that fruit a late spring crop during a 2-3 week period. Rainer Strawberries are an excellent example of June bearing, and they are one of the most common strawberries in the Northwest. They are also most disease resistant of the June bearing group.

Ever-bearing: strawberries that fruit twice a growing season, in spring and again in fall. Quinalt strawberries are excellent performers, growing large fruits (up to 2 inches) and have a fabulous sweet taste! Quinalt are the most disease-free of the ever-bearing strawberries.

Day Neutral: strawberries that grow/fruit throughout the growing season. They are not sensitive to length of day. The Tri-star strawberry, a day neutral strawberry, sets fruit the entire growing season. It produces small to medium sized berries with intense flavor.

All of these categories of strawberries do well in our area. Plant them after the ground frost is gone. Young strawberry plants should be planted toward the end of the day or on an overcast day. Don't cover the root crown, leave it slightly exposed.

For all young strawberry plants, remove the flowers while they are getting established. In particular, with ever-bearing and day neutral strawberries, remove the flowers until the end of June to assure the production of larger fruit.

Many strawberries also do quite well in hanging baskets, and they are very attractive grown this way. They are also wonderful as borders in a perennial garden, draped over rocks in a rock garden or as a permanent member of your vegetable garden. Whatever your choice of strawberry species and location in your garden, put in enough strawberry plants for pies, tarts, jam, shortcake and/or ice cream. You could even plant a few of each of these types and insure you have strawberries all season long. Enjoy!

Go green tip of the week:

“Think globally, act locally.”

I have talked to people who don’t feel that what they do makes a difference in helping our environment. I have found some surprising facts to share with you that will hopefully be convincing enough to get everyone who reads this to “Commit to Action.”

Paper or Plastic?

No, thanks, I am going to start bringing my own!
It has been estimated that it takes 12 million barrels of oil to produce the plastic bags used by Americans each year. Imagine the 15 million trees being cut down to make the paper bags we use! Those reusable green totes being sold by the grocery stores are looking mighty appealing. Check your closets, you may find an old tote bag in there, just waiting to be used.

“Change a light, help change the world.”

I found this on the Environmental Protection Agency’s website (www.energystar.gov).
Simply stated, “ If every American home changed just (1) light bulb, from a standard bulb to a compact fluorescent light bulb, it would save $500 million in energy costs, and reduce greenhouse gasses equivalent to the emissions of 800,000 cars! I see a light at the end of the tunnel… The website is asking for an online commitment from every household. How many bulbs in your home can you change?

Last week I mentioned trees, a billion of them to be exact. That is the campaign sponsored by the United Nations' Environmental Program. On their website, they are asking you to pledge to plant a tree, or as many as you can, to help clean the air and replace the massive amounts of forests that have been lost around the globe in the last decades. (http://www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign ) It is not a hard thing to do. Trees are wonderful. They provide something special to our surroundings. Besides filtering and shading, and breaking the wind, they add value. It has been estimated that mature trees add up to 15% to property values.

Take a moment right now, and commit to action! Look at these three easy things that you can do, and commit to doing them. Be a part of making a difference in our world, for today, and for the future!

Cultivated in parts of Europe since the sixteenth century, burnet was introduced into North America by the settlers. Commonly grown in the herb gardens of the past for its fragrance, its young leaves were added to salads, stews, and sauces.

Burnet is a hardy perennial, height 12 – 18”, with medium dark green serrated leaves in opposite, rounded leaflets along a slender stem. Flowers have pink tufts of stigmas and dangling stamens and no conspicuous petals.

A sunny or partial shade location is optimal, with regular water.

This plant can be attractive in the garden. Its leaves are used in salads and with vegetables. They also make a nice addition to sandwiches. Like borage, burnet leaves are also used to flavor drinks such as tea. When crushed, the leaves have a fragrance similar to cucumber.

Resources used:
The Random House Book of Herbs, Roger Phillips & Nicky Foy           
The New Food Lover's Companion, Second Edition, Sharon Tyler Herbst