Strawberry fields

Of all of the fruits and vegetables in your garden, the one with the most interesting history may well be the strawberry.

In Europe, before Columbus sailed the ocean blue, strawberries were somewhat popular little fruits that grew wild. At the time, they weren't large enough or tasty enough to be worth cultivating. A case of international espionage changed that.

Purloined berries

There are many types of strawberries across the world, but the largest are found in Chile (known by the scientific name Fragaria chiloensis). In the 1700s, Chile was ruled by the Spanish, who knew of these strawberries but kept them for themselves. In 1714 a French spy working for King Louis XIV recognized the potential of these tasty fruits and absconded with some. He managed to keep them alive for months on board a ship at sea by watering them -- with rations intended for the passengers.

When he returned to France, he gave the Chilean strawberries to his friends, including some of the most famous botanists of that time. The plants grew well, but none of the botanists could get them to produce fruit. It was later discovered that the Chilean strawberry plants are either male or female. The ones brought back from Chile were all females.

Years later, Antoine Duchesne (who's considered the father of the modern strawberry) figured out how to fertilize Chilean strawberries with pollen from another strawberry, known as the musky strawberry. In 1764, when he was only 17, Duchesne presented King Louis XV with a plateful of the hybridized strawberries, and a star was born.

Strawberries for the masses

There are basically two types of strawberry, ever-bearing and June-bearing. Ever-bearing strawberries produce a continuous crop of strawberries over the course of the summer, while June-bearing strawberries produce a surge of strawberries in June and very few, if any, after that.

Jim Luby, a breeder at the University of Minnesota who has worked with these fruits for over 20 years, recommends these strawberries:

June-bearing strawberries

The University of Minnesota has produced a number of June-bearing varieties over the years including: Mesabi, a medium to large strawberry with very excellent flavor; Itasca, a medium-sized strawberry with good flavor, and Winona, a large strawberry with good flavor.

Other strawberries Luby suggests for the Twin Cities area and the southern part of the state are: Annapolis, Wendy, Jewel, Honeoye, Cavendish and Sparkle (an heirloom). For the northern half of the state, he suggests Annapolis, Honeoye, Cavendish, Kent, and Glooscap.

There are fewer choices for ever-bearing than for June-bearing strawberries, but that doesn't mean that there aren't some great ones. Among the best bets for Minnesota are Tribute and Tristar, both of which have small- to medium-sized berries and good flavor.

If you're interested in trying an unusual plant and are willing to do some searching to find it, look for alpine strawberries, which are available in June-bearing and ever-bearing varieties. Alpine strawberries are one of the best-flavored strawberries around. And you won't find them in the grocery store. They have very soft fruit, which doesn't ship or store well. They also have small fruit, so they're not as looky as other strawberries. But this strawberry won't disappoint.

Strawberry resources

For more information on different types of strawberries and how to care for them go to:

fruit.cfans.umn.edu/strawbs/characteristics.htm