New alpine strawberry plants were put in a bit late in my community garden plot, so we’re getting our first berries from these plants well after most of the everbearing cultivated plants have finished their first flush.
If you’ve never had alpine strawberries, they’re intensely flavoured, not unlike wild strawberries. They have an almost spongy texture and remind me a little of dehydrated strawberries… yet not.
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Red currants I harvested from our bush last weekend. It doesn’t look like much in this big basket, but it amounted to about 1 1/2 pounds of berries once the stems were removed.
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These gooseberries aren’t from my garden, although judging by the chewed up state of its leaves I’d hazard a guess that they have suffered a similar plight.
A week or two back, what was supposed to be a quick trip to the community garden turned into a caterpillar squishing marathon. The gooseberry bush and the unknown bush that I think might be a black currant were teaming with teeny, tiny, very hungry currant worms, the larvae of a sawfly that specifically target currant bushes.
The little worms are pretty near impossible to detect since they are the same colour as the foliage they feast on. We found that the easiest way to find them was to follow damaged leaves — the larvae sat perfectly along the margins, hugging the curve of the leaf where they were eating.
How did we get rid of them you ask? Well, this is the first time any of my currant plants have been infested by this pest so we were caught unawares at the community garden without the usual tools: bucket, water, and soap. My usual response to this sort of situation would be to pick the worms off by hand and drop them into a bucket of soapy water. Many sites suggest spraying in these sorts of situations but I find that sprays don’t help, even the organic and supposedly safe ones. When you spray, you always run the risk of killing beneficial insects. The other problem with sprays is that they really have to get on the larvae directly in order to kill them. It just makes more sense to pluck them off by hand. It’s the same amount of work without the risk of damaging the plant or the ecological balance of your garden.
Unfortunately, we were stuck at the community garden without any supplies and had to make due with our fingers alone, squishing the little worms one at a time. I initially tried squishing them under my shoe but this proved to be time consuming since I had to crouch down low to get to the worms where they were hiding out in the shady and cool lower regions of the plant. I probably squished about hundred or possibly hundreds even (I wasn’t counting) this way. DELIGHTFUL!
Even weirder, when we were done, a bunch of carnivorous insects flew over and ate the wormy residue off the leaves!
Then I went to the liquor store to pick up a bottle of wine carrying my compost pail and covered in dirt, larvae residue lingering underneath my fingernails.
The good news is that we seemed to catch them before any real damage was done. The plants have sustained only minor defoliation and there are loads of berries ripening on the bush. On a positive note, the presence of the currant worm on the possible black currant bush proves that it is definitely some kind of currant.
It turns out that insect infestations can serve a useful purpose!
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Strawberry pots have a bad reputation in the gardening world. They have poor water distribution and tend to dry out quickly. Sometimes they’re ugly. Or the pockets are too small. Or the pockets don’t have a lip, making holding soil in at planting time nearly impossible. The good ones are expensive to buy, if you can find one. I once spent an inordinate amount of money taxiing around the city in search of the right pot for a workshop. Three inferior pots and more money than I care to think about later and I was eventually forced to call a friend and beg to borrow hers. Is it borrowing if you never give it back? And four years have passed?
Despite their faults, I’ll be the first to stand up for strawberry pots. When they’re good, they’re really good. A good strawberry pot is an excellent way to grow food in vertical space. It’s especially useful when all you’ve got in the way of good light is a tiny patch on the balcony. Growing vertically allows you to get as much as you can out of that tiny patch. And they look pretty darn nice too. I like to fill mine with drapey plants that cascade over the sides. The trick to using them is in choosing the right kind of pot, and the right plants for that pot.
So what features qualify a strawberry pot as good?
The pockets on this pot do not have lips but it makes up for it in larger pockets and a larger pot size.
My favourite strawberry pot (the infamous “borrowed pot”). Note the ceramic glaze, and large pockets with big lips that are staggered around the circumference of the pot. This version, planted up several years ago is holding the classic herbal mix with the largest plant, rosemary, in the top. Now, if only the pot were not white. I hate white!
What plants work best in strawberry pots?
Well, strawberries for one. I grow a strawberry-filled strawberry pot every year. The roots are small and fit easily into just about any sized pot. If you’re interested in trying something new, look for varieties with colourful flowers (pink is common) or variegated leaves.
Herbs are another good option. Stick to drought tolerant herbs such as thyme, oregano, or marjoram if you’re growing in a smaller pot. Big pots can support a wide assortment of herbs. I grow a different mix every year, starting with cool season plants early in the spring and then switching them out for tougher, heat-loving plants that can take a bit of neglect once the summer kicks in. One of my favourite pots stick to one type of herb with a different variety in each pocket. I grew a mint mix last year that was stunning once the plants started to trail and produce flowers. It was nice to have so many different varieties of mint on hand to pinch off for tea.
Lettuce and other assorted greens will grow well if you start your pot early in the spring while the temperatures are cool. Create visual interest by growing varieties with different shapes, colours, and textures in each pocket. The pot show at the top of this page is filled with strawberries with a dark, frilly ‘Red Oak Leaf’ lettuce in the top.
I’ve included a printable list that will help you get started in choosing the right plant for your conditions as well as herbal mixes that will grow well together.
The Famous Watering Trick, Modified
As mentioned above, strawberry pots are known for having water distribution problems. One trick many gardeners have turned to is to insert a piece of PVC pipe with tiny holes drilled throughout, down into the centre of the pot at planting time. When you pour water into the pipe, the water flows down and trickles through the holes, allowing water to reach all nooks and crannies in the pot.
It’s a good idea, but it does not come without problems:
To avoid these problems, I’ve been utilizing my own modified version that has served me well for several years:
Can you believe these flowers belong to a black currant bush?
It recently occurred to me that I have a red currant bush and a gooseberry bush, but do not have a black currant bush. This despite the fact that I like the idea of gooseberries and red currants more than I like to eat them. Black currant on the other hand is divine.
Anyways, I actually do sort of have a black currant bush growing in my community garden plot right now. I say sort-of only because I’m not entirely sure it’s a black currant. A seedling that looks like a black currant came up as a volunteer a few years back so I stuck it in a corner and let it grow, waiting to find out what it is and hoping that it is indeed a black currant. I have absolutely no idea where the plant came from. Two years in and it is now taller than my gooseberry bush and continues to look like a black currant with the possible exception of the leaves that seem a bit too big, but it’s hard to say because some varieties do have slightly bigger leaves. Also, while at the garden centre, I noticed jostaberry, which is not unlike a black currant bush but with larger leaves. So perhaps it is a jostaberry. But who can know? Until it flowers and produces fruit, I remain in the dark. That could take another few years yet, but I like a good mystery and am willing to wait it out despite a lack of space.
Meanwhile, I have been longing for a real and true black currant and had decided I was just going to suck it up and get one. And then I almost didn’t, again. Because the bushes at the store were $14.99 each and not particularly big. And because I am cheap and figured I should just wait until the fall when they are on sale, which is how I got the gooseberry bush. However, while browsing the selection I found this one, called ‘Crandall’, with beautifully ornamental yellow and orange flowers. That sealed the deal.
You’ll note that ‘Crandall’ is not a regular black currant (Ribes nigrum), but is another species, Ribes odoratum. Apparently the berries have a spicy or clove flavor, and I can tell you that the flowers certainly do. Unfortunately, I did not choose well for my small community garden plot and managed to find the largest bush going (4ft at maturity). Some people say you need two bushes to produce fruit but other more reliable sources say you don’t. I guess I’ll find out soon enough.
And there you have it. I am now the proud, albeit tentative owner of a black currant bush. Jam to come in another 12 to 24 months.
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