Strawberry ‘Mignonette’

A little bit of sunshine and I’m thinking about summer….wandering into the garden barefoot picking whatever fruit has ripened and more than likely eating it there and then.  My boys love to position themselves next to a blueberry bush and methodically pick every ripe berry and pop it in their mouths…. I don’t know who they take after!

So today with sunnier days in mind I am going to sow some alpine strawberry seeds.  Strawberry ‘Mignonette’ is a tasty little strawberry that will fruit well within months of being sown.  It is not just the incredible taste I am growing these for but also the fact that I will start picking them in May and if I’m lucky may still be picking a few in October.

As you can see the seed is pretty small so be careful when you open up the packet. I’m sowing mine onto the surface of a seed tray filled with seed compost.  Try to sow them as evenly as you can (it’s difficult when they are so tiny) and don’t go overboard, you don’t want a tray so full it’s difficult to prick them out.  Remember you can always sow more if you need to.  Once the seed has been sown I prefer to stand the tray in water to soak so it’s less likely the seed will be disturbed.  They then need heat (21°C) so bring them inside onto a bright windowsill and pop the tray into a polythene bag to help retain moisture.

I’ve luckily just inherited a propagator so this will do the job of the plastic bag. Having given it a good clean it is going to take pride of place at the end of our kitchen table and this is where my seeds will live until they’ve germinated.  I’ve read this it will take somewhere between 14-30 days.

When the seedlings are large enough to handle I will pot them on and start to acclimatise them to cooler conditions.  When all risk of frost has passed I will then plant them outside. Plant them about 15cm apart, don’t forget to water them and keep the soil weed free.  I’m planting two rows where I will be growing my espalier apples, they are great used as an edging plant…. close to hand, the perfect snack whilst wandering around your garden!