Strawberries Sold By Shops

[mrs quoad]

M&S seem to be surprisingly inconsistent at sourcing good strawberries.

They're improving at strawberry differentiation, though.

Two years ago, you'd find Elsanta and Driscoll Jubilee on the same shelves, mixed around a bit, with exactly the same price tag. Clearly just coming in as separate crateloads, similarly stocked and sold.

Last year, they upped the price or downed the quantities, put them in packs with black labels on (instead of their usual strawberry-beige) and sold them as branded JUICY BRITISH DRISCOLL strawberries too.

I'd add with this latest lot - they're sneaky bastards. They smelt great through the packaging, and only revealed themselves to be watery flavourless piss on a proper bite.

 

[dessiato]

I'm growing some from seed this year, they are a variety of alpine strawberries so I expect a lot of flavour but very small fruit.

 

[bi0boy]

and sold them as branded JUICY BRITISH DRISCOLL strawberries too.

I tried these only once last year, and they tasted like sour water

I've tried the Elsanta/Sonata from them a few times with variable results. Despite the fact M&S claim superior growing methods including leaving the fruit on the plant for longer, I generally find Elsanta from Tesco or Asda actually taste better.

FWIW a properly grown Elsanta will taste better than a mediocrely grown poncey variety.

 

[mrs quoad]

Quite possibly. I don't think I've had more than one or two Elsantas in the last few years that I'd willingly eat again, though. Whereas I've had basket upon basket of excellent Driscolls.

Dessiato: we've got some of those! Well, wild strawberries, at least. Found a chap selling 3 for £2 at the start of the season, so I got 9

 

[dessiato]

Quite possibly. I don't think I've had more than one or two Elsantas in the last few years that I'd willingly eat again, though. Whereas I've had basket upon basket of excellent Driscolls.

Dessiato: we've got some of those! Well, wild strawberries, at least. Found a chap selling 3 for £2 at the start of the season, so I got 9

Mine are growing well but not got flowers yet. I think Portugal might be a bit hot for them, but they are coming along.

 

[ericjarvis]

I spent much of the strawberry seasons in my late teens picking the blighters. Forty years on what strawberrys mean to me is still sore knees and hands, and a hatred of strawberry farmers.

They do indeed taste incomparably better when eaten as they are picked from the plant. Though twice as good as that if you have to eat them straight from the plant without anyone seeing what you are doing. However it simply isn't worth the pain.

 

[crustychick]

I have never paid much attention to the varities before... i shall be on the lookout since I eat strawberries almost every day! (except this morning as there weren't any )

 

[crustychick]

okay, I decided to experiment this morning and I was bowled over by the sheer choice in M&S. there were so many varieties to pick from in the 1/2 price section, never mind the "special" or "UK" based ones... anyway I plumped for the Spanish Candonga and I have to say I'm bitterly disappointed. watery, slightly bitter (or just not very sweet) and mostly tasteless. Not recommended. I hope to add more types over the coming days...

edit - infact, these were so disgusting I'm not even finishing them and they're going in the bin. AVOID.

 

[miss minnie]

I was tempted by a punnet of M&S half-price strawbs a week ago and they were dreadful. Big, red and luscious looking on the outside, hard and white on the inside. That's it for supermarket strawbs for me from now on. Roll on farmer's market glut.

As a kid my job was to pick the strawberries from our three patches each morning. I was given a large stock pot and usually filled it. We were then given a bowl of strawberries and milk with a few cornflakes on top for breakfast.

 

[mrs quoad]

okay, I decided to experiment this morning and I was bowled over by the sheer choice in M&S. there were so many varieties to pick from in the 1/2 price section, never mind the "special" or "UK" based ones... anyway I plumped for the Spanish Candonga and I have to say I'm bitterly disappointed. watery, slightly bitter (or just not very sweet) and mostly tasteless. Not recommended. I hope to add more types over the coming days...

edit - infact, these were so disgusting I'm not even finishing them and they're going in the bin. AVOID.

I hate to say it, CC, but the whole reason this thread was bumped was to warn against EXACTLY THAT species of strawberry:

Got some giant 'Candonga' strawberries from M&S for lunch.

£2.29.

Half-price. Apparently.

No chuffing wonder, they taste like the diluted piss of someone who came within 4 feet of a strawberry several weeks ago.

 

[mrs quoad]

I was tempted by a punnet of M&S half-price strawbs a week ago and they were dreadful. Big, red and luscious looking on the outside, hard and white on the inside. That's it for supermarket strawbs for me from now on. Roll on farmer's market glut.

My suspicion is that these were... Candonga!

The latter bane of this thread.

 

[Miss Caphat]

they sell Driscoll's here in the states too, and I buy that brand if I'm buying strawbs, but...(I say this as someone who grew up down the street from a pick-your-own strawberry field), there's something suspicious about them. They taste very good, but also very different from a fresh-picked, healthy strawberry. In terms of natural strawberries, the smaller medium-red ones are generally sweetest. the bigger and darker ones are more bitter. the opposite seems to be true when you buy Driscoll's which makes me wonder what they do to them.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Strawberries grown for the shops are not bred for flavour but for looks and standing up to packing and transport as well as a long as possible shelf life. Grow your own! It's not the least bit hard and can be done in a small space. Use a bog-standard strawberry pot

or improvise with flowerpots one inside the other

You can grow them in the ground too but I find it easier to grow in a large container. I have one of these.

I think the best variety for flavour (sublime) is Mara des Bois. You won't find it in the shops but it's easy enough to buy the plants mail-order (I have yet to see this variety sold in garden centres).

 

[Johnny.L]

Buying them out of season doesn't help either. The best ones I buy are smallish ones from the market in July and August, usually from Holland. They never seem to be sold in supermarkets - probably don't look nice enough.

 

[crustychick]

I hate to say it, CC, but the whole reason this thread was bumped was to warn against EXACTLY THAT species of strawberry:

how did I miss that

 

[mrs quoad]

I'm currently munching on some Eve's Delight (from Tesco, can't recall seeing them before, but've heard them mentioned on GQT). Look like they're on the edge of turning, but having had a bite or 3, I think that's just their appearance - they bite as if they've got a day or two of shelf life left.

Erm. Perfectly agreeable. Nothing astonishing, but a very pleasant all rounder. A bit sweet. A bit sharp. Yeah. Probably worth the extra quid on 2 packs.

There're also some Driscoll variants around this year. M&S've been doing something-or-other Driscolls (not Jubilees). All've been solid - following merrily on the Driscoll Jubilee line. They'll continue to be my strawberry of choice (M&S stack them on the same fugging shelves as El Santa and Sonata. Which is just )

 

[mrs quoad]

I think the best variety for flavour (sublime) is Mara des Bois. You won't find it in the shops but it's easy enough to buy the plants mail-order (I have yet to see this variety sold in garden centres).

I've just ordered 12 plugs from Pomona fruits

 

[Mrs Magpie]

I promise you won't regret it.

 

[mrs quoad]

I promise you won't regret it.

Depends on how Artichoke takes to it

We've already got... erm... 3 new (inferior) plugs from this year, and last year's growbags have seeded wild strawberries and El Santas and Cambridge Favourites all over the place via runners - pretty much half our veg patch is strawberries atm

But, yeah, I really like the sound of the Maras! ty for the pointer

 

[xes]

wild strawbs are the bestest. So little and sweet. *licks lips*

Strawbs grown in the ground need to be moved every 2 or 3 years, as they suck all the goodness out of the ground where they are, they fruit best at year 2, and after that they get less and less fruit on. (according to a gardening prog I saw a few weeks ago)

 

[Idaho]

I've got Cambridge Fair at the alotment. 10 plants have given 10+ large tupperware boxes of berries for the last 3 years. This year will be the last and I will take runners, dig them up and start in a new bed.

My top tip for strawbs - they are carnivores. Give them lots of FBB (fish, blood and bone) in Autumn.

 

[mr steev]

wild strawbs are the bestest. So little and sweet. *licks lips*

Strawbs grown in the ground need to be moved every 2 or 3 years, as they suck all the goodness out of the ground where they are, they fruit best at year 2, and after that they get less and less fruit on. (according to a gardening prog I saw a few weeks ago)

They will sap all the nutrients out if they are in pots, but if they are in the ground you can mulch them with compost or manure to put the nutrients back
The plants do go woody after about 4 years though, and produce less fruit. So it's good to remove the older plants and leave space for the next generation

 

[mrs quoad]

How they arrived (squished in a jiffy bag envelope, too ):

How they're doing 4 days later (after some very emergency planting):

Any chance we'll get a crop this year?

I'm not hopeful, tbh.

 

[mr steev]

Any chance we'll get a crop this year?

I'm not hopeful, tbh.

I think it's quite possible you'll get some berries this year. They can grow quite quickly and even small plants will flower. I doubt you'll get enough to fill a punnet but it's a start. They should throw out some runners so you will have more plants next year

 

[mrs quoad]

I think it's quite possible you'll get some berries this year. They can grow quite quickly and even small plants will flower. I doubt you'll get enough to fill a punnet but it's a start. They should throw out some runners so you will have more plants next year

Cheers!

tbf, we've got about 30 lesser strawberry plants seeded around the garden, so should be able to get by. But I'm proper keen to try these

 

[geminisnake]

You should email a copy of that top photo to the company that sent them asking wtf, and is this their usual standard!!

 

[mrs quoad]

You should email a copy of that top photo to the company that sent them asking wtf, and is this their usual standard!!

This is why I originally took that photo

 

[Geri]

I bought some a while back and they were rock hard with no taste whatsoever. Some were from Tesco and some from a local greengrocer. I'm hoping it's just because they were Spanish, and that local strawberries will be much nicer.

There used to be a place I could go to pick them, in my mum & dad's village, but it shut down a few years ago.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

You should email a copy of that top photo to the company that sent them asking wtf, and is this their usual standard!!

That's actually the best way to pack them

 

[mrs quoad]

That's actually the best way to pack them

Posted in a jiffy bag?

tbf, the roots did look healthy. Which is why I kept 'em. The tops looked fubared, though