On the Homefront: My Strawberry Patch

Two years ago I added a 4-foot square raised bed to the small enclosed courtyard at the front of our house and decided to turn it into a strawberry patch.  I purchased nine strawberry plants, of a variety called Quinault which I had never heard of but decided to try anyway.  I had never had much luck growing strawberries in the past and was not even sure they would grow well in New Mexico, but I decided I had nothing to lose by trying - the pandemic had just started and I wanted to do some experimental gardening just to keep myself occupied.

Fast forward to the present day and to my surprise this small strawberry patch is flourishing!  The plants produced some fruit last year, but only enough for me to harvest a handful almost every day in the summer for a small snack.  However, each plant spread numerous runners which also grew quite well, so much so that I have had to pull excess plants out several times so that they don't overrun their raised bed as well as the surrounding area.  The plants overwinter well and come back vigorously in the spring.

This year my strawberry harvest was so abundant that I was able to gather about two pints of small but sweet berries recently.  I decided to macerate the berries in about two tablespoons of coconut sugar and then serve them as strawberry shortcake using a limoncello loaf cake I found on sale at Walmart.  The combination of sweet strawberries, slightly tart lemon cake, and a generous amount of whipped cream is my idea of the perfect dessert.  And since today is National Strawberry Parfait Day, I think I will layer these ingredients in a glass to make a parfait in celebration - what a great dessert for a summer day!  I am so glad I decided on a whim to start a strawberry patch, and look forward to years of harvesting my own sweet strawberries.

I added a generous topping of whipped cream after taking this photo because I wanted to showcase the berries.