Strawberry fields

Now's the time to prepare your strawberries so you can enjoy a bumper crop of delicious fruit next year

- Bob Flowerdew

DO you love strawberries? Are you growing any yet? Of almost all the crops, strawberries can be the easiest. There are many varieties to spread their season and each can have a different flavour, though all are delicious. Plus there are alpines, woodland and everbearers that start late and continue to ripen fruits until hard frosts return. (I must recommend 'Toscana', as this new introduction has pretty pink flowers that makes it attractive enough to slip into decorative borders and even hanging baskets. It also has one of the longest cropping seasons).