Garden now for superior strawberries this silly season

At this time of year Christmas couldn’t feel further away. In fact it feels like forever. And that’s how long strawberries take to grow … forever. I’m not going to glam this up ladies and gents - it’s cold and the soil appears to have frost bite, but if you want those bountiful strawberries come Christmas you need to harden up and head outdoors.

Strawberries grow just about anywhere - your garden bed, old containers, or even in a cut off bit of drain pipe. As long as they can see the sun, and your garden or pot is well drained, you can expect an abundant mass of fruit.

Once you’ve claimed the perfect spot for planting, prepare the soil by digging in a general fertiliser that’s rich in potassium. This will help stimulate plant growth and voluptuous, juicy fruit.

Planting in a pot? Easy! Just ensure you use a top quality potting mix and for an extra boost of goodness apply a liquid fertiliser to the mix.

So let’s get started. Grab some of Awapuni Nurseries’ Traditional Value strawberry seedlings when you’re down at your local supermarket, Warehouse or Bunnings store. Each bundle has around four plants which should produce between 60 -100 strawberries come Christmas.

Before planting raise your garden bed by mounding the soil. This will encourage circulation, drainage and can add depth to shallow soil.

Plant your seedlings around the edges of your garden or pots to encourage the strawberries to hang over the sides and prevent the fruit from touching the ground and rotting.

Dig a hole 10cm deep and place the seedling inside. A deep hole is required to give the roots plenty of room to spread out and grow but be careful not to bury the plant. Pack the soil firmly around each seedling and surround with peastraw or newspaper to help keep away weeds.

Place netting or wire over you plants when they begin to produce fruit. This will block out birds and ensure you get to eat the strawberries yourself.

In spring, add another dose of general fertiliser to your strawberries to encourage sturdier plants that are more disease resistant heading in to the warmer months.

Come Christmas you’ll have more strawberries then you’ll know what to do with. So this year, why not put any extras you have towards a ‘berry’ creamy strawberry crepe?

Add three eggs, ½ a cup of milk, ½ a cup of water, 3 tablespoons of melted butter, ¾ of a cup of plain flour, and ½ a teaspoon of salt to a medium-sized bowl. Mix until smooth.

Add 1 teaspoon of oil or a dusting of canola spray to a non-stick frying pan and heat to 180 degrees. Pour the batter onto the frying pan, using approximately two tablespoons for each crepe. Tilt the frying pan to spread the batter as thinly as possible. Flip the crepe over when the batter sets and the edges appear brown. Cook until the other side appears golden brown. Stack finished crepes on a plate and repeat until you’ve used all of your batter.

Blend 250g of cream cheese with 1 ¼ cups of sugar, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of lemon zest and ½ teaspoon of vanilla essence in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer until smooth. Gently fold in 1 cup of whipped cream.

Fill each crepe with 1/4 of a cup of sliced strawberries and 1/3 of a cup of the cream cheese filling, roll up and top with a dollop of the cream cheese filling and a sliced strawberry. Serve and enjoy.