English Strawberries

UK Strawberries available now are hot house grown.
In a couple of weeks outdoor strawbs will be available. Much tastier. ???

Yes, wait for the " proper " strawberries grown in the fields locally. You can't beat them for taste. Those and the Scottish raspberries.

Can't recommend any sold in shops but we have a glut of them in the garden this year.

Getting a bit sick of them now.

I think it's the variety that makes the difference, for example a Conference pear will have a completely different taste/flavour to another variety, as will a Granny Smith apple to a Coxs Orange Pippin.

We had some lovely strawberries at lunch time. They were grown in Fife and the variety is Sonata. Sweet, juicy and delicious with jelly and cream. I'm not a strawberry lover, so they will probably be the only ones I'll eat this year.

The big, red strawberries are often from Spain and in my opinion are not as tasty as the more ‘orange’ strawberry varieties from all over the U.K.

And I agree, Scottish raspberries are lush!

The Scottish strawberries I bought today are a variety I haven't seen before - AVA-blush, grown in Angus. When I was up there a week or so ago, a vast acreage of land between Dundee and Perth was under plastic. The Scottish rasps I also bought taste just like the ones we picked (and ate) in my granny's garden 70 years ago, bringing back memories of the many summer holidays we spent in Fife.

There is nothing like the taste of a home grown strawberry, warmed by the sun and given a quick rinse under the tap in the garden.

Right, we're all round to yours, Merlot.

Strawberries grown under glass or plastic are often hard and almost always tasteless, wherever they come from. Elsanta is a very popular variety now. I used to grow one called ‘Cambridge’ and they were delicious, but the birds always got more than I did and they were outgrowing their patch, so I gave them up. And yes, Scottish raspberries are the best!

Somehow the strawberries today are never as good as the ones my father would bring home when we were children, or maybe that's just my memory playing false tricks. I try to buy strawberries that haven't come too far, say Kent the next county to us. I'd buy Surrey ones if I could find them. I'm sure home grown ones taste superior. I remember buying some super looking huge strawberries a few years ago imported from America, that tasted of nothing. Wouldn't buy imported ones now I hasten to add, if they're not in season forget it!

My advice is never to buy "Elsanta" strawberries - they are a favourite of the supermarkets because they "keep" well, but (to me) they are tasteless. I think that it's worth paying a little extra for other British strawberry varieties. I only buy British strawberries: I think they're the best quality and the tastiest. (And I'm trying to reduce the "airmiles" of our food. )

You should be able to get outdoor UK strawberries now. I grow my own and have been eating them every day for the last three weeks (and giving some away) - the flavour just gets better and better!

I have just today picked our first 8 ripe strawberries from the garden. The slugs h@ve already had @ few but am looking forward to having them with a dollop of ice cream later. Here comes summer !

Try Tesco’s Eve strawberries they —-are— were really tasty!

Whoops, that strike through didn’t work! Apologies.

I found a patch of alpine strawberries in my garden this year. I have no idea where they came from but they are ripening nicely and I am looking forward to tasting them!

I buy from a place up the road ( and pick them) they are always good, but don’t know the variety (I must ask.)
Does anyone know how to make a good strawberry crumble?
The crumble bit is easy, but it’s how to do the strawberries!

Wonky strawberries from Aldi. £1 per punnet. Scottish grown, Sonata variety. Just had some with afternoon tea - delicious.

DH is just picking ours for in a minute with ice cream and cream?.

Raspberries are beginning to ripen.

Red currants coming on very well as are the gooseberries.

We've been eating the strawberries from our allotment for over a week now, and we're up North. From picking to the table in 5 minutes. They are divine.

DH tells me we have three or four different varieties and he can't remember the name of any of them.

All the other berries are coming on nicely - it's a good job I love them so much!

Davida1968 I have to agree with 're Elsanta, look good, taste of nothing!

G

I know my grandfather who was a gardener on a large estate pre war 1 used to say that Sovereign was the best for flavour, but I’m sure other good new varieties are just as good,

Lemongrove you can just sprinkle a bit of sugar on the strawberries then bung the crumble mix on top. I usually mix strawberries with other fruit for a crumble, mostly peaches or rhubarb. My son-in-law, whose mum is a very good cook, said 'My mum is going to have to up her game now I've had your strawberry crumble!'

Elsanta was popular because it kept and traveled well - never mind the (lack of) flavour. I no longer buy strawberries out of season, I just buy local ones. Aldi's ones were mushy even though they had a four-day sell-bye date on them.