A Strawberry by Any Other Name

Growing an edible garden is, as I've already discussed, a wonderful way to have a cheap, steady supply of fresh amazing produce. Strawberries are among the easiest to grow because they're low maintenance, perennial, and self-propagating. A small berry patch can turn into a large berry patch in only a few growing seasons. I'm on my third season of strawberry growing and wanted to spice things up a bit. At produce markets in Europe, and some farmer's markets in the U.S., you can find a breed of strawberry different from what we're accustomed to here. These tiny strawberries, known scientifically as fragaria vesca, and commonly as woodland, European, or alpine strawberries, are delicate and delightful. I ordered some seeds online for a few different breeds of the woodland strawberry last year and planted them inside, but they took a really long time to develop into viable plants. This spring, I put the pot outside and the plants took off. They're finally fruiting. I've picked nearly a dozen by now and the plant shows no signs of stopping.



Shown below are three common types of strawberries. Left to right are Driscoll's organic, standard homegrown, and woodland homegrown. You can see that the Driscoll's is considerably larger than the two homegrown varieties. You can also see that they're approximately the same color. Also, note the stem and leaves. The woodland strawberries are ripe when they pop right off the stem. Furthermore, the seeds of the woodland strawberries sit on the surface of the berry while the seeds on the other types are recessed.



To enhance comparisons, I have bisected the three strawberries. First, appearance. Note that the Driscoll's goes from barely pink on the outer ring to pure white. It also has some air space and a fibrous, flavorless core. Wasted space and false advertising. The standard homegrown is deep red throughout with the exception of the ring of white. The woodland are off-white. Next, texture. Driscoll's are crunchy. The standard homegrown is quite tender. Woodland berries have a creamy texture. Most important is flavor. Driscoll's lack it. Standard home grown are bursting with rich strawberry flavor. Woodland are a bit tart with a more floral taste and aroma.



The Italians make a lovely tart out of the woodland strawberries, known there as fragolini di bosco (little forest strawberries). This is a mediocre example from a pastry shop on Capri. They have much prettier ones in Naples and Sorrento, but I missed my golden opportunity because I was supposed to save room for pizza.



Yum.