everbearing strawberries?

[Ohioguy]

I grew up on a rather small farm with a ~3 acre strawberry operation. My favorite variety was Red Chief. My Dad said there weren't any decent everbearing varieties, so we only grew Junebearing.

About 10 years ago, I tried a bed of everbearers. I was not told the variety when I bought them, only that the company had "too much" of this specific variety. They didn't amount to much.

I have a small area I'm considering planting to strawberries again, and was wondering if there have been any everbearing varieties worth mentioning that may have come out in the past 10 years?

I like the idea of getting a few berries here and there for a long season. However, my experience has been closer to having healthy looking plants, and a berry once a week - even with 80 plants.

Thanks!

[Ecnerwal]

There's definitely something to be said for that big glut of fruit in June (or July for those of us up north) when nothing else in the garden is doing much yet. Freeze them and you're good, and you know which one you like. Could be your dad was right.

I've been growing alpines (fragaria) for a while, and have just started shifting them to dedicated full-sun full-compost garden beds, having tried them as "edible edging plants" and found that the ones parked in better spots in the garden managed a whole lot more edible fruit than the ones playing at "edging." I think they are "red wonder" - supposedly the yellow ones have less bird problems - I don't know if the birds read that or not, or if moles/voles/mice/snails care so much about color, though, and I have a variety of things competing for what I grow. When I covered the blueberry bed to keep the birds off, the mice were delighted...

They are like a large wild strawberry, nothing like a commercial strawberry for size.

I'll be interested to see what else comes up here. I'm trying to shift more garden production to fruits - I'm actually trying another strawberry that's supposed to be larger and EB, but won't have results worth mentioning for another year or two, so I'll leave that out of this until then.

[Ohioguy]

I really liked the flavor of the wild strawberries that used to grow out in our yard near several of the trees. They didn't yield enough to get more than a small handful, but the taste was wonderful.

So the consensus on everbearing strawberries is that they aren't really worth it?

[songbird]

i have Ozark (i think, i'll know for sure in a bit when the greenhouse guy gets his stock in for the season) and they taste fine to me.

had three crops last season, almost a fourth, this season might be able to do four since it is looking to start earlier.

full sun is important and rich soil that has good moisture content. if you are shaded or using sandy poor soil then the crop will be less.

during the mid summer when it gets really hot i have a cover crop of beans for shade.

this year i'll have about 1500 Honeoye June bearing and 50 (Ozark) everbearing. we'll see how it goes...

songbird

[The Cook]

Can't really answer to ever bearing berries but Early Glows are wonderful. I think we tried some ever bearing and were unimpressed. Early Glows have a great flavor. They will not transport well which is why you do not see them in the grocery stores.

[Rick]

I've had good luck with several everbearing varieties. Flavors do vary of course I like Tri-Star and a few flowerboxes on the deck rails keep us in breakfast berries in spring and fall. I usually try several types of June bearing each year just to see what varieties taste like. I bought some on Ebay two years ago that were loaded with brown rot and pretty much horked up a lot of things so I'd definitely not suggest that!

[Jim Elbrecht]

not everyone thinks the same. My dad grows an everbearing strawberry. No idea on the name, but he's been tending the same patch for 12 years or so.

The strawberries are a little smaller than the average store-boughts. But the flavor will knock your socks off. They don't keep more than a day or two after picking. But the flavor. . . .

I'll see him this weekend. I'll ask if he knows what variety he has. [this is in upstate NY]

Jim