The Heirloom Orchardist

My Heirloom Rhubarb

Tucked behind my coldframe, next to a haphazard patch of peonies (used for cutting), is my clump of rhubarb.  I don’t know what variety it is, but I don’t care (although the green leaf stems narrow down the possibilities).  This rhubarb came with my property, so it could be generations old.  That’s enough for this orchardist to consider my plant an heirloom.

When I found the rhubarb, it was a small worn-out patch surrounded by tall overgrown saplings.  So, I dug up the old spindly clump, and moved it.  The method I used to transplant my heirloom rhubarb is the same method prescribed by “Dr. Bevan” in the August 4, 1832 issue of The Genesee Farmer:

“appropriate a square yard of soil to each plant - remove a cubic yard of earth -  fill up the pit thus made with well rolled stable manure, treading it closely down - cover the same with a mound of earth, consisting of the soil which has been removed - and place a single offset of rhubarb in the centre of it; the crown of the offset, (which requires to have very little root attached to it,) should be two or three inches below the surface. The business should be performed very early in the year; and if severe weather supervenes, a covering of raw stable manure should be laid over the mound.”

The colonists brought rhubarb to the states, but it seems as though it wasn’t as ubiquitous as other "fruit."  It arrived rather late.  In his famous instructive booklet “The American Gardener” William Cobbett stated as late as 1821:  “This is one of the capital articles of the garden, though I have never seen it in America”.

Rhubarb is easy.  All you need to know, is that it loves to feed. It'll flourish in sun and organics.  Of course it's always been that way, so Dr. Bevan’s 1832 method of planting rhubarb was not new or innovative 170 years ago, and it certainly isn't today:  Dig a large hole...Fill the hole with “well rolled stable manure” (or compost)...Tuck the root in the center of the compost...and watch the rhubarb grow.  Then start planning those heirloom strawberry rhubarb pies.

An Heirloom Strawberry Scam!

We have been told that when new and exciting economic opportunities are presented, the scammers thrive.  This has always been the case, and it was no different in the mid 1800’s, when Hovey’s Strawberry Seedling (See June 12, “An Heirloom Strawberry?”) suddenly created a profitable strawberry industry in the New World.  Recently, I stumbled upon this inconspicuous notice in an August 9, 1851 issue of the New England Farmer:

“Newland’s Strawberry Humbug
A few years since, George Newland, from Palmyra, N.Y., was in this region, and sold plants of what he called a new seedling strawberry, under the pompous name of "Newland's Celebrated Mammoth Alpine Strawberry."  A large number of cultivators purchased plants, gave them a fair trial, and condemned them as worthless.  They were the old wood strawberry, or something very nearly resembling it.  So the whole affair proved to be a great humbug.  This being known, Newland left this region, and has been operating in parts where he and his strawberry were not so well known.
 We see by a late number of the Pennsylvania Farm Journal, the editor has received a present of some vines from Newland's agent, and before waiting to give them a trial he is commending them to the public; thus aiding this impostor in deceiving the farming community.  We think notice should be given of this imposition throughout the country, in order to put a stop to the operations of this great impostor.  Editors should check rather than aid him.”

It seems that in a time when new strawberry varieties were being rapidly introduced, George Newland decided to jump into the frothy excitement, and rip off the Heirloom Orchardist.  He was the nurseryman's version of a snake oil salesman.  I find it interesting that 19 years later (in 1870), when J.M. Merrick, Jr. published his thorough manual entitled “The Strawberry and its Culture” he decided to recognize Newland’s variety, even though it was just a hoax.  In his “Descriptive List of all Known (strawberry) Varieties,” Merrick states:  “Newland’s Mammoth Alpine:  Brought forward some years ago as a great acquisition.  Now unheard of, and probably nothing but the Old Red Alpine.”

Today, there’s little chance that you and I will be scammed into growing a worthless strawberry variety.  But as I’ve stated before, I think we’ll do well by sticking with 20th century introductions.  Here’s a couple more that I recommend:

Surecrop: If your grandparents (or parents) grew strawberries, it’s likely they grew Surecrop.  It was developed by the USDA, and released in 1956.  Among strawberry enthusiasts Surecrop is considered a reliable heirloom.  For over 50 years, growers have been saying you’ll be guaranteed a "Surecrop" if you grow this high yielding, June-bearing berry.  It’s self pollinating, a great canner, and freezes well too.  Surecrop has a resistance to red stele and verticillium wilt, leaf spot, and leaf scorch.

Honeoye: Another June-bearer, Honeoye was developed by the USDA in New York, and released in 1979.  It quickly became a favorite, due to its pronounced sweet aroma and bright, glossy red color.  It’s a beautiful berry.  Plants are extremely winter hardy.   A good freezer.  This is a another great strawberry that you’re likely to have grown-up with.  Honeoye is not susceptible to grey mold and mildew, but it can get some root and crown diseases, if not grown in light sandy soil.

Incidentally, MasterGardening.com has a beautiful Strawberry Barrel Planter available at 13% off the list price.  You can munch on strawberries, while riding over the falls.

An Heirloom Strawberry?

Are there any heirloom strawberries?  Sure, you may find old varieties being grown at historic garden institutions throughout the country.  But they may be hard to obtain through the retail market.

The more pressing question is whether a contemporary Heirloom Orchardist would really want to grow an old strawberry variety.  The old ones are of questionable quality by today’s standards.  Although it’s generally agreed that the strawberry is one of the most important New-World small fruits, the nice, plump, fragrant and juicy berries that signal summer to all of us, haven’t been around for very long

In the beginning, a strawberry was either the tiny, poorly bearing (but tasty) meadow strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) from North America, or the large tasteless berry (Fragaria chiloensis) from the pacific coast of South America.  These two species crossed (either deliberately, or by chance), and the offspring provided the parentage to the cultivated berry we know today.  But it wasn’t until the famous 19th century plant breeder, Charles Hovey, developed a couple distinctive varieties in the 1830’s.  One of these, "The Hovey" (or “Hovey’s Seedling” ), stuck.  And it ushered in the start of the strawberry industry.

But, "The Hovey" had its limitations.  Here’s a passage I’ve found in my tattered issue of the New England Farmer and Boston Rambler, dated June 7, 1851:

“Hovey’s Seedling is the largest of all strawberries, and of good quality, selling high in market.  It yields very largely under favorable circumstances, but the plants are much less vigorous and hardy than the Early Virginia, and much pains is necessary to have a good set of plants; and if a large crop be obtained the first year after planting, there is usually a deficiency the next year, from exhaustion, or deficiency of plants.  These two plants are cultivated more than all others in New England.  But other new and promising varieties are claiming trial.”

And new varieties have been “claiming trial” ever since.  If you are interested in the novelty of growing old heirloom varieties, by all means reach into your network of heirloom enthusiasts, and have someone send you a runner from one of the old varieties.  But this Heirloom Orchardist just doesn’t put heirloom strawberries into the same category as other heirloom fruit.  They were frustrating to grow, and not as reliably tasty as our contemporary ones.  Try these instead:

Fort Laramie:
This is a cold-hardy, productive, everbearing strawberry.  It was developed by the US Department of Agriculture, and released in 1973.  It is extremely winter hardy.  It even seems to survive in Alaska, but this is not recommended since Alaska’s long days inhibit fruit production.  When it was released, the USDA issued this statement:

"Fruit of Fort Laramie is large in size, bright scarlet-red in color, and firm fleshed in areas with cool nights.  Fruit may become somewhat soft in areas with warm nights or if overripe.  Yield is very high.  Berries are attractive, being round-conic in shape.  Interior color is pink to scarlet.  Flavor is characteristically strawberry, aromatic, sweet and pleasant.  Skin is medium to firm with yellow seed set at the surface level."

Quinault:
Quinault is another everbearing variety, developed by Washington State University. This strawberry can be grown as far north as Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.  It’s so eager to set berries, that it’ll produce them on unrooted runners. This Heirloom Orchardist has found it will even do well in containers. It’s self pollinating, and the fruit can be ready to eat in just 4 to 5 weeks after planting. Large berries.  Even Charles Hovey would have been impressed.