North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

Strawberries are one fruit that doesn't seem to last long enough to become an heirloom.  Of all the interest groups in NAFEX, the strawberry group has never taken hold because no one maintains any old varieties.  Strawberries take more work to maintain than other fruits.  Leave an apple tree for 20 years and there's a good chance it will still be there.  Leave a strawberry for two years and it will usually have been crowded out by weeds or will die from disease.  Even when old varieties have been kept going, they are almost always mislabeled.   So it's up to places like the NCGR at Corvallis, Oregon  to maintain them.  There, the plants are held in pots in a screenhouse.  Flowers and immature fruit are kept removed so no accidental seedlings will arise in a pot.  And the plants are either available as runners or by tissue culture.
Still, strawberries CAN last a long time.  Go to South America and you can find strawberries in places like Peru that have been maintained for many decades, if not centuries by the local people.  The interesting thing about this is that those old selections are often full of virus, but show no effects.  Over the centuries, types have been selected that have amazing tolerance to the diseases, as that was the only way they could last.
Point of all this rambling?  Not much, except to hope that a few explorers here might look for old, forgotten varieties and outstanding wild plants that could be of use to produce types for N. America that have similar ability to last a long time and perhaps to bring in that wonderful wild flavor.
-Lon Rombough
Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at http://www.bunchgrapes.com  Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003. 
For even more grape lessons, go to  http://www.grapeschool.com
For all other things grape,   http://www.vitisearch.com

On Nov 28, 2007, at 7:56 AM, road's end farm wrote:


On Nov 28, 2007, at 7:17 AM, loneroc wrote:

> <x-tad-smaller>Check with the germplasm repository at Cornwallis.  Yesterday I received runners of the 'Fairfax' strawberry that I requested from them via e-mail last spring.  No cost whatsoever and they were Fed-Exed overnight to my door.  Good work USDA!! (I don't have cause to praise them too often.)  I stuck 'em in pots--should be no trouble--roots were already forming.</x-tad-smaller>
>  
> <x-tad-smaller>Steve Herje</x-tad-smaller>
> <x-tad-smaller>Lone Rock, WI USDA Zone 3-4</x-tad-smaller>
>  
> <x-tad-smaller>PS:  Thanks to whoever suggested Fairfax.  It's is one of the parents of Sparkle--my favorite commonly available berry and it's supposed to be even better.  It's supposed to grow well in (part?) shade--which is something I can always use.</x-tad-smaller>
> > <x-tad-smaller>
> > </x-tad-smaller>

Great news!

How many runners did they send you?

Are you considering getting Fairfax back on the market?

Let us know how they do --

--Rivka
Finger Lakes NY; zone 5 mostly_______________________________________________
nafex mailing list 
nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Reproduction of list messages or archives is not allowed.
This includes distribution on other email lists or reproduction on web sites.
Permission to reproduce is NEVER granted, so don't claim you have permission!

**YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO POST!**
Posts from email addresses that are not subscribed are discarded.
No exceptions.  
----
To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to the bottom of this page (also can be used to change other email options):
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex

File attachments are NOT stripped by this list.
TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES!
Please do not send binary files.
Use plain text ONLY in emails!

NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/