What are the best places to buy strawberry and raspberry plants? (Price is definitely a big factor for me.)
And what varieties are the best tasting for home use?
I'm hoping to plant this fall.
(I posted this originally on the Edible Fruit forum, but got no responses and thought some of you might know. So then I tried the Mid-Atlantic forum and now here.)
Many thanks!
A bit off-topic: raspberries and strawberries
I really like Nourse Farms. They have excellent customer service, their Garden Watchdog reviews are very positive, and they have a "varieties at a glance" feature that compares varieties of berries to show taste, size texutre, which are best for freezing, eating fresh, etc. www.noursefarms.com
There is also a place called "edible landscaping" down this way in the Shenandoah Valley, but that's a heck of a drive for you.
happy,
When it comes to naming the best tasting varieties for home use, that is fairly subjective and somewhat area dependent. For example, I would like to grow the Delmarval strawberry, but it might freeze out here. Also, I would like to raise the O'Neal blueberry, but the same problem.
The cheapest way is to swap or trade for raspberries and strawberry plants. I got all my raspberries for free (basically) and have given away dozens of strawberry starts. Course raspberries are practically invasive here.
You should consider first whether you want everbearing or not. They produce over the whole summer, but in smaller batches. June bearing produce one large crop. Either taste great and make great jam. Though with the everbearing, I freeze the extras over the whole summer and make jam in the winter.
Thanks!