Fragaria vesca Mignonette - alpine strawberry seeds

The Alpine Strawberry Mignonette is a variety that produces an abundance of 3 to 5 cm, shiny dark red fruits, larger than the typical species, with a regular shape and size and the same famous delicious and aromatic flavour. This 4-season strawberry is perpetual, allowing for multiple successive harvests. It is also very hardy. It is well-suited for cultivation in pots, planters, or hanging baskets. Sow from January to late April for a harvest from spring to late summer.

The strawberry is a perennial plant belonging to the Rosaceae family. Known throughout Europe since ancient times, it naturally grows in all the undergrowth of temperate regions. However, most of the juicy strawberries cultivated in our gardens are hybrids derived from a species native to Chile and brought back by the navigator Amédé François Frézier. There are several species of strawberries, the main ones being: Fragaria vesca or Alpine Strawberry, known for producing particularly fragrant small fruits, Fragaria moschata or Musk Strawberry, Fragaria viridis or Green Strawberry, the Valley Strawberry, which is less interesting due to the acidity of its fruits, and finally Fragaria chiloensis or Chilean Strawberry. These are wild strawberries. The cultivated strawberries with large fruits are almost all derived from the species Fragaria x Ananassa, which comes from Fragaria chiloensis and Fragaria Virginiana, another American species.

The strawberry has a spreading habit that can reach 40 cm in width and height. The evergreen leaves are trifoliate, obovate, well-toothed, and form dark green rosettes. Its flowering is characterised by a multitude of small white, yellow, or pink flowers with a golden centre. Then, depending on the varieties, they produce mostly red fruits, but some recent cultivars offer pink, yellow, or white strawberries. From a botanical point of view, strawberries are considered pseudocarps, with the achenes (seeds) appearing on the surface under the epidermis.

The flavour of the strawberry is very delicate and is characterised by a sweet and fruity aroma, sometimes with a slightly acidic note in the background. There are non-perpetual varieties that flower only once a year in spring and perpetual varieties that flower twice a year, or even continuously from spring to autumn. Strawberries are a (pseudocarp) fruit rich in vitamins B8 and B9, very rich in vitamins C and E, and provitamin A. They are remineralising, hypotensive, and purifying. It should be noted that they can cause a rash for some people, as they stimulate the release of histamine in the body.

Harvesting: pick the fruits as they ripen on the plants. Strawberries are delicate, so pick them with their stem by pinching 1 to 2 cm above the fruit. The texture of the fruit is a good indicator of its ripeness. It should be firm and slightly soft to the touch.

Storage: strawberries are best eaten fresh, simply with cream or as a topping for tarts. They can be stored for about a week in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator. When they have been bruised or scratched, they will not keep as long. If you have a large harvest, remember that strawberries are fragile fruits. For longer preservation, consider using sugar, the best friend of fruits. You can make jams, marmalades, compotes, or syrups. You can also make ice cream or sorbets, but they will not keep as long. You can dry them in the oven after slicing them thinly to around 1 mm, you can then add them to your muesli. Finally, strawberries freeze very well. Small containers for freezing small fruits like strawberries, raspberries, or currants, etc., are now available.

Gardener's tip: strawberry plants are good companions for garlic, beans, lettuce, onions, leeks, thyme, and spinach. However, they do not like the company of cabbage and other brassicas.