While snuggled up in front of the fire watching my favourite DVD at the moment, The Victorian Kitchen, I came across something that caught my eye. They mentioned that Joseph Paxton, one time head gardener at Chatsworth, designer and engineer of the Crystal Palace at the The Great Exhibition 1851 and all-round great guy, had invented something called Paxton’s Strawberry Crinoline.
I was intrigued and went straight to the Internet to look it up. Was shocked and dismayed to find, nothing, not a sausage about Paxo’s Crinoline. What? Really? So I’ve made it my mission to furnish the Web with data.
Here, in all its glory is a reproduction of Paxton’s Strawberry Crinoline. Sorry about the quality of photos as I had to take a shot of my TV screen! But you can clearly see what it does. It’s a kind of wire frame (hence the crinoline name) that sits underneath your Strawberry plant and lifts the berries off the ground. Thus keeping them free from dirt and away from the slugs - a bit like straw but better looking.
So there you have it. What a great idea. I’m surprised no-one is selling this - or are they and I haven’t seen it?
My existing Strawberry bed is three years old. While it still has some life left in it, I’m plotting a new Strawberry bed already. I’ll probably leave the plants I already have in the ground for one more year, while at the same time starting a new one in a different part of the garden. That way there will be some overlap and I shouldn’t be left with my Strawberry baskets empty.
The Strawberry plants I’ve already got are pretty good (no idea what variety they are as a friend gave them to me). I’m using them as stock to create my new bed. I have five new plants at the moment. I’ll probably aim for around six or eight.
I started them off by letting a few Strawberry runners root in the soil. Once they had put down small roots I gently pulled them up and, while still attached to the mother plant, planted them up in terracotta pots, as you see above. When they have taken strong root I will snip them off from the plant and over winter them in my cold frame. Then in early Spring I’ll plant them out in their new bed.
Anyone recommend a specific variety of Strawberry. I’ve heard that Marshmello is quite good.
After the disappointment of the last few days I thought I would cheer myself up with a sweet little summer treat - yep, hold the front page, the Strawberries are ready!
There’s nothing quite like that first taste of juicy, sweet, slightly warm but oh so ripe Strawberry. And there’s only one way to enjoy it - stuff it in your mouth and eat it as quickly as possible. As demonstrated by my lovely assistant.
Now, if only I could get away with eating like that…hmmm.
