North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Betty Mayfield <bmayfield@columbia-center.org>]

To the list,

Glad to see the enthusiasm for strawberries .I always think of Isaac 
Walton's quote, "As Dr. Boteler said of strawberries, 'Doubtless God could 
have made  a better berry, but doubtless God never did.'"(1655)

Most of the replies have come from the East or Midwest, so I will jump to 
the Pacific. As you said, varieties tend to be local.

The best I ever ate was as a child in Alaska from plants passed around in 
village gardens. From the folklore and what I read in George Darrow's book 
on strawberries, I believe they were crosses of wild and cultivated 
varieties made at the Sitka experiment station between 1905 and 1923 . It 
said the best selections were widely distributed.

In the Pacific Northwest, the Marshall is legendary, but I have never 
tasted it, as it apparently has lost its vigor to disease. Writers who 
remembered the Marshall praised the Siletz as its equal, and I have eaten 
and loved the Siletz with its aromatic "strawberry" flavor. Commercial 
processors did not like it however, because its core came out when it was 
picked.

Today I give top marks to the Shuksan for flavor and aroma. Plants are 
available from several sources, including Raintree in Morton, Wash. It is 
tops for fresh eating and for frozen strawberry jam. It is not found in 
stores or even farmers' markets, but is grown in some U-Pick fields.

Betty Mayfield
Oregon

At 12:07 AM 2/17/03 -0800, you wrote:
> Gang:
>
> Ok now on to a fruit that is delicious to eat, easy to grow, and offers so 
> much for so little...Strawberries...
>
> I am always curious as to the obsession Nafexers seem to have with 
> "antique' apples and their apathy toward some of the truly ambrosiatic 
> (uhh, I think I just invented a word here) strawberries developed in the 
> first part of the 20th century.   Just like with the apple the 
> strawberries of today have more disease resistance than many of their 
> forbearers but many lack the quintessential combination of flavor, aroma, 
> and sugars that make for a truly exquisite palatary (hmmm, there goes 
> another TFB creation also)  delight.  Today most strawberries are grown 
> for their resistance to herbicides, uniformity of size throughout the 
> growing season, shipping durability, and storage 
> characteristics.    Flavor is a factor that is often considered as an 
> afterthought, and sadly today few truly know what a high flavor strawberry 
> tastes like..
>
> I grow 9 varieties of strawberries here, but for flavor nothing touches 
> Fairfax an old 1923 cross and 1993 release from the U.S. Department of 
> Agriculture.  I simply have not known a better tasting strawberry.  It is 
> a bit tricky to grow, but I have found good success growing it in dappled 
> shade, in rotting wood chips sweetened up with wood ash...they certainly 
> are scrumptious little things...I am in the midwest outside of Chicago (in 
> zone 4b (can you say burr)...
>
> I am curious what your favorite strawberry is, and naturally what region 
> you grow it in (strawberries are very, very local...)  I guess I am simply 
> stating I would be remiss to find out I missed a truly outstanding variety 
> simply out of ignorance.
>
> All the best,
>
> the fluffy bunny
>
>
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