It is springtime and in my garden there are many delicious, red, sweet, juicy fruits. Yes, it is strawberry season!

The strawberry is a hybrid fruit called Fragaria x ananassa, first bred in France in the 18th century. It is now grown and enjoyed all over the world.

If you, like me, are interested in sustainable living, then strawberries are a fantastic crop to grow. This is because they are perennial, meaning that they continue to grow year after year, so you do not have to harvest the fruit and then later re-plant seeds in order to gain a crop (as would be the case with annual crops such as sweetcorn, cucumbers or tomatoes).

Strawberry plants are small and low to the ground so they do not take up much space. They propagate themselves by spreading out shoots to root in the ground, so they can provide very effective groundcover, suppressing weeds from growing.

They need partial shade to grow well, so they are also great to plant under trees or in gardens where there is not much sun.

Even if you do not grow your own strawberries, you can enjoy eating them! Strawberries are usually used in sweet recipes, such as strawberry jam, strawberry ice cream and strawberry cake.
But did you know you can also use them in savoury dishes? For example, you can serve them as a garnish to roasted meat and vegetables, perhaps with a tangy cheese such as feta to balance the flavour.

A very simple savoury strawberry recipe is to drizzle the strawberries with balsamic vinegar. The sour flavour of the vinegar mixes delightfully with the sweet and tart taste of the strawberries. You can also achieve this flavour mix using other kinds of vinegar, such as apple cider vinegar or umeboshi vinegar. What is your favourite kind of vinegar? Perhaps you would like to try it on strawberries.

You can serve the vinegar-drizzled strawberries by themselves, or with chopped almonds or pistachios, for a wonderful taste of spring.

If you are interested in learning more about sustainable living, please book a class with me.