Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are easy to grow and are good for pollinators – and they taste delicious too!
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The British berry season has now begun, with a succession of delicious fruits appearing in supermarkets over the coming months.
But strawberries, blueberries and raspberries taste best of all when you grow your own – when picked and eaten immediately, the flavour is superb.
Growing your own reduces packaging and your carbon footprint, and could save you money. And strawberry, blueberry and raspberry plants all produce nectar-rich flowers that can help support struggling pollinator populations.
Strawberries are easy to grow, and are particularly suited to containers or hanging baskets – just give them a sunny, sheltered spot and keep them well watered.
Strawberry plants should produce a decent crop every summer for several years – so they are a cost-effective way to enjoy this delicious fruit. Choose a mixture of early, mid and late-fruiting varieties for a continuous crop all summer. Good varieties include Honeoye (early), Elsanta (mid) and Florence (late). You can also buy 'everbearing' varieties that crop all summer, and may do better in colder regions – try Malling Opal.
In late summer, strawberry plants produce runners – baby plants that grow out from the parent plant on long, thin stems. For free, tasty fruits next summer, pin these into pots of compost, without cutting the stems. Once the runner has formed roots, you can detach it from the parent plant.
Strawberries are at their best served simply with fresh cream – or try topping scones, shortbread or meringue nests with whipped cream and sliced strawberries.
Another berry that's easy to grow at home is the blueberry. Supermarket blueberries often come from far-flung places such as Chile – which is surprising, as the plants are actually quite well-suited to the British climate, and aren't that hard to grow.
The main requirement of blueberries is acidic soil. There are some places in the UK where this type of soil occurs naturally – the presence of rhododendrons and heathers is often a good sign – but it's more common to have non-acidic soil in your garden.
You can buy an acid test kit to check whether your soil is suitable for blueberries. But if it's not, don't worry – blueberries grow equally well in tubs of ericaceous compost. Just be sure to keep them well watered.
Blueberries produce fruit between July and September. Good varieties include Earliblue, Bluecrop, and Chandler.
The plants themselves don't need much space, and as well as producing their delicious fruit, they have sweetly-scented bell-shaped blossoms in the spring and leaves that turn an attractive red colour in the autumn.
Keeping the pots by the back door is a good idea – the berries are less likely to be pinched by birds, and you can pop out first thing in the morning to gather a handful of blueberries for breakfast! They're perfect with pancakes and maple syrup.
The health benefits of blueberries are well known – they're frequently described as a 'superfood'. They contain anthocyanidins, the compounds that give them their deep purple colour. These compounds are good for heart health and can reduce cholesterol. The powerful antioxidants in blueberries can also boost the immune system.
Raspberries are cheap and easy to grow – and once you've planted them, they continue to produce fruit for many years.
Raspberries grow from canes, and can fruit in either summer or autumn. If you grow both varieties, you could be eating raspberries from June until October!
Early summer varieties include Glen Moy. Valentina and Glen Ample are mid-summer raspberries, while Autumn Bliss is a popular autumn-fruiting variety. If you don't have much space, some compact varieties are suitable for container growing – try Summer Lovers Patio Red, or autumn-fruiting All Gold.
Plant raspberry canes 45cm apart in weed-free soil where they'll get plenty of sun. Water well.
Summer varieties need to be tied onto sturdy supports or bamboo canes. After fruiting, cut down the old stems (the ones that have just produced fruit) to ground level, to allow new canes to grow for next year's crop.
Autumn varieties don't need supporting. All canes should be cut down to ground level in February – new fruiting stems will emerge in spring.
Raspberries have a lower sugar content than many other fruits, so are a good dessert choice if you are trying to watch your sugar or calorie intake. They're also a good source of vitamin C.
Serve raspberries with cream or ice cream – crumbling some meringue nests over the top adds a little extra sweetness if you need it. Raspberries are an essential ingredient in the classic English dessert, summer pudding, made with juice-soaked bread and mixed summer berries and served with cream. And – especially if you grow your own and find you have a glut – they make great jam.
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Little Green Space May 2023
A quick guide to growing your own
Strawberries, raspberries na blueberries ni rahisi kukua na ni nzuri kwa pollinators <unk> na wao ladha ladha pia! Makala hii ina * viungo vya washirika. Little Green Space inaweza kupata tume ndogo kama wewe bonyeza viungo hivi na kufanya ununuzi. Haitakugharimu chochote, lakini husaidia kuweka tovuti hii ikiendelea! Msimu wa matunda ya Uingereza umeanza, na mfululizo wa matunda mazuri yanaonekana katika maduka makubwa katika miezi ijayo. Lakini jordgubbar, blueberries na raspberries ladha bora ya wote wakati wewe kukuza yako mwenyewe <unk> wakati kuchukuliwa na kuliwa mara moja, ladha ni superb. Kukuza yako mwenyewe hupunguza ufungaji na alama yako ya kaboni, na inaweza kukuokoa pesa. Mimea ya strawberry, blueberry na raspberry hutoa maua yenye nectar ambayo yanaweza kusaidia kusaidia idadi ya pollinators. Strawberries ni rahisi kukua, na ni hasa yanafaa kwa vyombo au kushikilia vikapu <unk> tu kuwapa jua, mahali pa ulinzi na kuweka yao vizuri maji. Mimea ya jordgubbar inapaswa kuzalisha mazao mazuri kila majira ya kiangazi kwa miaka kadhaa <unk> kwa hiyo ni njia ya gharama nafuu ya kufurahia matunda haya mazuri. Chagua mchanganyiko wa aina za matunda ya mapema, ya katikati na ya marehemu kwa ajili ya mazao ya kuendelea wakati wote wa kiangazi. Aina nzuri ni pamoja na Honeoye (hapo awali), Elsanta (kati) na Florence (mwishoni). Unaweza pia kununua aina za 'kila wakati' ambazo hukua majira yote ya kiangazi, na zinaweza kufanya vizuri zaidi katika mikoa baridi <unk> jaribu Malling Opal. Mwishoni mwa kiangazi, mimea ya jordgubbar hutokeza mimea ya watoto ambayo hukua kutoka kwa mmea wa mzazi kwenye shina refu, nyembamba. Kwa sababu ya matunda mazuri ya majira ya joto, weka katika sufuria ya mbolea bila kukata shina. Mara tu mti huo unapokuwa na mizizi, unaweza kuutenganisha na mmea mzazi. Strawberries ni bora yao kutumika tu na cream safi <unk> au kujaribu topping scones, shortbread au meringue viota na cream whipped na sliced strawberries. Mti mwingine unaopatikana kwa urahisi katika maeneo ya mashambani ni blueberry. Supermarket blueberries mara nyingi kuja kutoka maeneo ya mbali kama vile Chile <unk> ambayo ni ya kushangaza, kama mimea ni kweli kabisa vizuri suited kwa hali ya hewa ya Uingereza, na si kwamba vigumu kukua. Mahitaji makuu ya bluu ni udongo wenye asidi. Kuna baadhi ya maeneo katika Uingereza ambapo aina hii ya udongo hutokea asili - uwepo wa rhododendrons na heathers ni mara nyingi ishara nzuri - lakini ni kawaida zaidi kuwa na udongo non-asidi katika bustani yako. Unaweza kununua kit cha kupima asidi ili uone kama udongo wako unafaa kwa ajili ya blueberries. Lakini kama si hivyo, usijali <unk> blueberries kukua sawa vizuri katika mitungi ya mchanganyiko ericaceous. Hakikisha tu kwamba unawapa maji vizuri. Blueberries hutoa matunda kati ya Julai na Septemba. Aina nzuri zinatia ndani Earliblue, Bluecrop, na Chandler. Mimea hiyo haihitaji nafasi nyingi, na pamoja na kuzalisha matunda yake mazuri, ina maua yenye harufu tamu yenye umbo la kengele katika majira ya kuchipua na majani ambayo hubadilika rangi nyekundu katika vuli. Kuweka sufuria karibu na mlango wa nyuma ni wazo zuri <unk> matunda ni chini ya uwezekano wa kuwa pinched na ndege, na unaweza pop nje jambo la kwanza asubuhi kukusanya wachache wa blueberries kwa ajili ya kiamsha kinywa! Wao ni kamilifu na pancakes na syrup maple. Faida za afya za blueberries zinajulikana sana - mara nyingi zinaelezwa kuwa 'chakula bora'. Zina anthocyanidins, misombo inayotoa rangi yao ya zambarau. Viungo hivyo ni vyema kwa afya ya moyo na vinaweza kupunguza kolesteroli. Vitu vyenye nguvu vinavyopatikana katika bluu zaweza pia kuimarisha mfumo wa kinga. Raspberries ni nafuu na rahisi kukuza <unk> na mara moja umepanda yao, wao kuendelea kuzalisha matunda kwa miaka mingi. Raspberries hukua kutoka kwenye miwa, na zinaweza kuzaa matunda wakati wa kiangazi au vuli. Ukilima aina zote mbili, unaweza kula raspberries kuanzia Juni hadi Oktoba! Aina za mapema za majira ya kiangazi zinatia ndani Glen Moy. Valentina na Glen Ample ni raspberries katikati ya majira ya joto, wakati Autumn Bliss ni aina maarufu ya matunda ya vuli. Kama huna nafasi nyingi, baadhi ya aina compact ni yanafaa kwa ajili ya chombo kukua <unk> kujaribu Summer Lovers Patio Red, au vuli-kuzaa All Gold. Mimea ya raspberry inaweza kupandwa kwa urefu wa sentimita 45 kutoka kwa mimea ya kawaida, na kwa hivyo, kwa sababu ya udongo wa udongo, inaweza kupanuka kwa muda mrefu. Maji vizuri. Aina za majira ya kiangazi zinahitaji kushikamana na misingi yenye nguvu au vijiti vya mianzi. Baada ya kuzaa matunda, kata shina la zamani (ambalo limetokeza matunda) hadi chini, ili kuruhusu miiba mipya ikue kwa ajili ya mazao ya mwaka ujao. Aina za vuli hazihitaji kutegemezwa. Vijiti vyote vinapaswa kukatwa hadi kwenye usawa wa ardhi mwezi wa Februari <unk> shina jipya la matunda litatokea wakati wa masika. Raspberries ni matunda yenye sukari nyingi, na kwa hivyo ni bora kwa ajili ya dessert ikiwa unajaribu kuangalia sukari yako. Wao pia ni chanzo kizuri cha vitamini C. Kutumikia raspberries na cream au ice cream <unk> crumbling baadhi ya viota meringue juu ya kuongeza kidogo tamu ziada kama unahitaji. Raspberries ni kiungo muhimu katika dessert ya Kiingereza ya kawaida, pudding ya majira ya joto, iliyotengenezwa na mkate uliotiwa maji na matunda ya majira ya joto iliyochanganywa na kutumika na cream. Na <unk> hasa kama wewe kukuza yako mwenyewe na kupata una glut <unk> wao kufanya jam kubwa. Little Green Space ni mradi usio wa faida unaoshiriki suluhisho la mgogoro wa asili na hali ya hewa, na kutoa msukumo kwa mtindo wa maisha wa kijani kibichi. Kama unaipenda maudhui yetu, tafadhali kusaidia kuweka sisi kwenda na mchango mdogo! Greenhouse ya Mei 2023 - Mwongozo wa haraka wa kukuza yako mwenyewe