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Alpine Mignonette Strawberries:    Enjoy these sweet petite, succulent strawberries all season long!

Although a strawberry by name, these petite, tender, succulent and sweet strawberries bear little resemblance to the large and tasteless varieties that you typically see in grocery stores throughout the United States. These little berries are packed with sweet strawberry flavor with mild overtones of almond and vanilla. A French delicacy, Alpine Strawberries are very easy to grow, extremely hardy and can be sown from seed in late spring or planted from transplants at anytime during the gardening season.

You can order either Alpine Strawberry 'Mignonette' or Alpine Strawberry 'Vesca' at our online store. As with all of our hardy plants, our Alpine Strawberry plants are grown pesticide-free using only sustainable, organic methods.

The Alpine Mignonette Strawberry is an improved cultivar of the heirloom Renee de Valee, producing small, sweet berries all season long. Alpine Strawberries steadily produce dainty red, sweet berries with an almond undertone. The plant, like the berry, is smaller in stature than the standard strawberry and the yields are also much less, but don’t let that deter you from planting this tasty strawberry. Despite the fragile appearance of the berries and the plant, Alpine Strawberries are amazingly tough and resilient.

The Alpine Strawberry plant is an attractive perennial addition to any garden. Alpine Mignonette forms a soft, airy runner-less mound of light green foliage that works perfect in container plantings, as a front of border perennial, in a hanging basket, planted in a strawberry pot or placed in a herb garden. The Alpine Strawberry will produce fruit the first summer it is planted. In addition to the delicate flowers and tasty fruit, Alpine Strawberry plants also offer brilliant fall foliage in shades of red, gold, orange and burnt umber.

Where to Plant Alpine Strawberries:

Plant Fraises des bois Alpine Strawberries in full sun or partial shade. Alpine Strawberries thrive in well-drained soil that is rich in organic matter. You can amend your soil with aged compost and a good organic fertilizer, such as Down to Earth All Purpose Fertilizer at the time of planting. Proper drainage for Alpine Strawberries is essential, so mound the soil to form raised beds, or amend soil if necessary to create good drainage. Avoid planting Strawberries where Potatoes, Tomatoes, Eggplants, or Peppers have been grown before. Soils in which these plants have grown may harbor the wilt-causing Verticillium fungus, which can affect your plants. Plant Alpine Mignonette Strawberries 8”-12” apart in the ground. Allow 1cu ft of soil per plant in containers, less soil in Strawberry jars.

Planting Alpine Strawberries in the Ground:
Dig a wide, shallow hole large enough to accommodate the roots comfortably. Then spread the roots evenly inside the hole and cover them with soil, setting the crown (the point where stem and roots meet) at soil level. Firm the soil with your hands and water thoroughly.

Planting Alpine Strawberry Plants in a Strawberry Jar:
Place the soil mix in a plastic tub and slowly add water and stir with your hand until the mix is moist but not soggy. Then fill the pot with mix to the rims of the first three pockets. Push one plant through each pocket, pulling gently on the roots from the inside until the crown (the point where stem and roots meet) is level with the soil mix in the pocket. Firm the plants in place and add soil mix up to the rims of the second set of three pockets. Plant those pockets as you did the first set. Then add more soil mix, stopping 1–2in below the top of the container. Next plant 2-3 strawberry plants in the top of the container. Finally, water thoroughly, starting from the top and proceeding to each of the pockets. Water when the soil mix is dry to the touch. Fertilize with a liquid kelp based organic fertilizer such as Maxi-crop every 2–3 weeks until the end of August. In cold-winter climates, move the jar inside in fall and keep at 30–40°F. Check plants for moisture every week and water just enough to keep plants from drying out completely. Set the jar back outside the following spring.

Watering and Fertilizing Alpine Strawberry Plants:
Strawberries require 1–2in of water a week. To prevent disease, avoid watering in the evening. Heat and drought bring flowering and fruiting to a halt and may kill plants outright. Mulching with 2in of an organic material helps the soil retain moisture and stay cool, prevents weed seed germination, and keeps the fruits off the soil.

Don’t fertilize at planting time. Later, when Alpine Mignonette Strawberry plants begin to form berries, fertilize with a liquid organic kelp based fertilizer.  In subsequent years, fertilize in early spring with an organic fertilizer and once again in late June.

Harvesting Alpine Strawberry Plants:
Check Alpine Strawberry plants frequently for ripe berries and collect them in a bowl or basket as you pick them. Keeping ripe fruit picked will encourage production throughout the summer season. Clean the fragile berries by floating them in ice water and gently rolling them around. Dirt will sink to the bottom of the bowl.

Winter Protection of Alpine Strawberries:
Alpine Strawberries overwinter well even where winters are cold and snowy. If the Alpine Strawberry plants are planted in the ground treat them as you would any other hardy perennial. If strawberry plants are planted in a pot, place the pot in a barn or shed where the plants can go dormant, but the pot is protected from cracking due to freeze / thaw winter conditions.

You can enjoy Alpine Strawberries straight off of the strawberry plant or drop a few in your morning bowl of cereal. At the farm we mix them in our world's best bran muffin batter or use them in place of raspberries in a wonderful Almond Torte.