I picked a handful of strawberries last night before the deer, rabbits and birds got any more of them. It would be wrong to say I’m actively growing strawberries. I sort of planted them and ignored them.

But the fall nursery catalogs are here, and I’m thinking of putting in a large permanent raised bed and planting about 100 plants, so I can freeze the strawberries whole. That way I can toss a few in smoothies. Or just grab a handful of summer, even in winter.

For strawberry lovers (and future strawberry growers), the Kingfield Farmers’ Market has partnered with Natura Farms (which is out very near me in Scandia) to bring you the best in just-picked berries. This Sunday, June 24, you can sample several local varieties — All raised without pesticides on land managed by the same farmer for over 25 years.

According to the Kingfield neighborhood newsletter, it doesn’t get any sweeter than this:

Earliglo - Earliest, small, very intense flavor

Itasca - also early, a new U of M variety

Mesabi - A U of M variety, tends to be smaller than many unless really babied, but a number of wine makers swear by it.

Jewel - Patented Cornell University, it winters marginally and for that reason sometimes not grown, but the flavor is superb.

Also possibly available:

Cabot - A Nova Scotia variety, one planted primarily for size bragging rights, though the flavor is not bad when fully ripe.

Winona - Another U of M variety, is one of our latest, with reasonably good size and flavor.

Have you grown any of these varieties? Which do you think tastes best? More importantly, what is your favorite way to eat these sweet treats? (Note: For those of you into strawberry shortcake, check out last week’s Counter Intelligence podcast.)

Recently, I got home from work and found four packages of plants waiting for me on my doorstep. Since I still maintain a childlike delight in getting mail, having four packages to unwrap (and knowing none of them was pajamas from Great Aunt Shirley) in one day was utter joy.

But even better was that every box held surprises. I purchased the contents of the boxes back in January, when ordering plants is a defiant act of faith that spring would, indeed, arrive. Now months later, I’d completely forgotten what I’d ordered.

I ripped open the cardboard containers and discovered….packing peanuts? That didn’t seem very green. At least it didn’t until I read that these were 30% recycled and I could send them back in the box they were shipped in, and get a credit from the nursery on my next order. I carefully shook the peanuts from each plant and tried to make sense of what had been sent to me.

There was the guacamole hosta and the plum pudding heuchere(coral bells) for the shade. There was sedum and several kinds of asters, which I sort of remembered ordering so the bees would have more late-season nectar sources. Then there was sweet woodruff, of which I had no memory of ordering at all (am I the only one who does this? Or am I just the only one who orders plants and then forgets about them until they arrive?)

Also included in the packages were cranberries (the real ones, not the viburnum kind called highbush cranberry) and a pecan that is supposed to be hardy in zone 4.

Now comes the digging/planting/fencing part. I don’t mind doing that, certainly, but it’s a little more like putting together all the toys you got and finding batteries after the big day.