Most of our followers know that we grow strawberries in the North of Sweden. Here up North, we have a cold climate and a short and late spring season, starting in the beginning of May.
How we do it? We walk you through the steps we take to wake them up.
After harvesting the Strawberries
We harvest our strawberries up till the end of September, then follows the moment we start to prepare for winter. This is about what the plants will eat during the “sleep season.” Before going to rest in our greenhouse, they get some extra minerals and vitamins, for plants of course, to help them strengthen a bit before they go hibernate in the cold climate. As soon as the first night frost comes, they go inside. We let them be, we let them freeze over completely in the greenhouse. Now it becomes winter and the temperatures go down up till minus 30 Celsius.
The first signs of spring arrive
Now that the days of darkness are almost gone and the hours of light are increasing steadily, it is the beginning of April, and the frosty nights make way for the first above-zero moments in the night. The strawberry plants are still asleep, waiting for better temperatures to wake up. We do some grooming of the dead leaves, they are cut down to little to nothing. No water yet, the ground is still frozen, and watering would only hurt them in this stadium. We again have to wait for the right time and weather.
Finally, the strawberries awake, spring is here…
Yes, it is time, we have to work. The strawberry plants need to go out. The sun is shining, temperatures during the day are on average between +5 and +10 degrees Celsius, and nights are a little colder with temperatures around zero degrees Celsius. We move them out of the greenhouse, outside, and they are put in a sunny spot, standing about one meter above the ground to prevent accidental freezing at night. We wait for a day with temperatures of +10 degrees Celsius or above. When that prediction arrives, we start feeding them with minerals and water from our well. They are outside and slowly waking up, starting to form the first leaves.
What will the season bring?
It is a guess, mostly because of the harsh climate in the North of Sweden. But when we guess, we will say that the first strawberries will be there just after midsommar (midsommardagen 2025 is on 22th of June). We hope we are right, we keep you updated.
