Wimbledon approaches, and with it the season of strawberries! We’ve planted ours out and have begun to enjoy the first of the crop. We’re hoping the real flush will coincide with another Andy Murray victory in a few weeks!
Because we’re so used to buying fruit and veg from the supermarket, it’s easy to forget they’re as much part of the food chain as any other plant or animal in nature. Just as foxes and snakes compete with each other for rabbits to prey on, different animals fight for strawberries. For us strawberry growers, that competition comes in the form of slugs! People have found new ways to fight these rivals – using salt, raised beds, and pesticides (pest killers).
Strawberries pollinate in a similar way to other plants and trees, with the help of the wind or an insect. Once the petals drop away, the fertilised flower swells into fruit. Around early June they begin to ripen into red strawberries. Each fruit is studded with seeds. After fruit has passed through an animal’s body the seeds return to the earth and start to grow.
An excellent, fruit-packed dessert – perfect for eating during tennis – is Eton Mess. Follow this very simple recipe of crushed-up meringues, strawberries and cream – though at Storm, we also like to throw in ice cream, mint and raspberries to make it extra refreshing!
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