Garden Strawberries

After coming to Germany, Strawberry picking was something new for me. These fruits in India were so costly during my childhood, I almost thought it came from space. LOL! :) Now I know the reason why they can't be cultivated any where in the World.

They are an excellent source of Vitamin C, are juicy & have wonderful color.

Some Trivia I found from Wiki: - Garden strawberries are a common variety of strawberry cultivated worldwide. Like other species of Fragaria (strawberries), it belongs to the family Rosaceae. Technically, it is not a fruit but a false fruit, meaning the fleshy part is derived not from the plant's ovaries (achenes) but from the peg at the bottom of the bowl-shaped hypanthium that holds the ovaries.

Cultivation: -

I usually start to plant the nursery bought plants during mid Spring. They need at least 6 hours of sunlight, direct sunlight is ideal. Watering the plants is a must. Care should be however taken to avoid stagnant water & drought.

Picking: -

I leave them to ripen fully in the plant itself, before picking them. Care should be taken not to squeeze the fruit before pulling them from the plant. Use a pair or scissors or a sharp knife.

Photos of the previous years' Harvest: -

This year's cultivation: -

Strawberry flower & unripe fruit.

Gladiola plants

This weekend, we did a lot of work in the Garden. We'd hired a gardener to cut the hedge, remove the unwanted plants & trees that were growing near the kitchen garden. After he left, we cleaned the 3 patches along with the kitchen garden. It was more than 2 days work. As it's been raining & sunny since the last few days, the lawn seems to be growing at a rate twice it's normal speed. So mowing usually takes lot of time.

Getting back to Gladiola plants, it's been around 3 weeks now, since the first sword shape leaves made their way out from the corms. Below is a photo of one row. We planted around 50 corms in two different patches. Awaiting the first blooms late in Spring or early Summer.

Tomato flowers

It's been a week since the 6 Tomato seedlings started to flower. We cleaned the area around the patch & freed it of unwanted weeds that had started making their home. Then a mesh was placed over the Tomato plants to give them support against strong wind.


It's been raining & quite sunny as well. The plants seems to like their new home now.


I shall post the photos of the first fruit when we get to see in, hopefully in a couple of weeks.