Strawberry Cherry Berry - Fragaria ananassa

The Cherry Berry strawberry is a variety of dark red fruits that turn purple as they ripen. It is fragrant, intensely sweet, and develops rich flavours of a mix of strawberry, blackberry, and cherry. A non-repeat variety that produces fruits in June and July. It is hardy and can withstand temperatures below -10°C (14°F). It is best planted in autumn for a more abundant harvest the following spring.

Strawberries can be consumed in plain, with sugar or cream, or sliced thinly and dried before being added to muesli or yoghurt. If you have a plentiful harvest, consider making jams, sauces, pies, ice cream, or sorbets. You can also freeze strawberries.

There are three categories of strawberry varieties:

- Wild or repeating strawberries, producing small fruits from June to October

- Non-repeating varieties with large fruits, flowering only once a year in spring, producing very large fruits around June

- Repeating varieties with large fruits, flowering twice a year or continuously, producing large fruits from June to October

Indeed, the wild strawberry or woodland strawberry, present in Roman times and the medieval period, was crossed in the 18th century with a species brought from Chile, resulting in different varieties with large fruits through successive selections.

The strawberry is a hardy perennial belonging to the Rosaceae family. This variety has a stocky habit, with evergreen, ovate, and dentate trifoliate leaves. It produces small white flowers with a golden centre that transform into large red fruits. Botanically speaking, strawberries are considered pseudocarps, with achenes (seeds) appearing on the skin's surface.

For harvesting, pick the fruits as they ripen, every 2 or 3 days, ideally in the morning. Strawberries are delicate, so choose them with their calyx by pinching the stem 1 to 2 cm (0 to 1in) above it. The texture of the fruit is a good indicator of ripeness. It should be firm and yield slightly to pressure. Strawberries are rich in vitamins and minerals. They can cause urticating reactions in some individuals as they stimulate the release of histamine in the body.