Counting (on) strawberries and pineberries

I’ve toyed with gardening for years but lately I find myself obsessed with my garden. I wander the patio, chatting with the seedlings and glorying in every extra centimetre that my plants grow. Extra leaves are cause for jubilation and I drag my poor husband into the garden and demand that he admire every emerging fruit. One of the few good things about having a tiny garden is that I get to know every plant and so I can tell when something has grown. So far, so enthusiastic hobbyist. But recently I find myself looking for quantifiable successes. I was getting ready to hang some of my wall planters filled with strawberry and pineberry plants and I suddenly realised that I had a lot more tiny green berries that I’d originally thought. 74 that I could find to count and I suddenly realised that I’d turned a corner and far from being a hobby that helps me relax, I am suddenly looking for an outlet for my competitive urges. 74 berries starting to ripen! Surely the odds are that some will be decent looking? Perhaps I could find a country show with a fruit class to enter? Maybe I could enter various categories? And next year perhaps I should plan my growing around fruits and vegetables that can be polished…? The sky is the limit. Bring it on berry plants, I’ve got plans for your produce.

74 potential strawberries (or wineberries, who knows) in the making

 

 

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We farm a three acre smallholding in Hampshire, England, having fled London in pursuit of the good life for our little family. We mess about with an assorted menagerie and try to be as self-sufficient as possible in meat and fruit and vegetables whilst enjoying our plot and an outdoors lifestyle with our son. I am the luckiest person that I know.

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