By far and away, my favorite crop this year has been the strawberry. On hot, sweaty days the best way to quench your thirst on the farm is to snack on these sweet juicy treats. If you have bought strawberries from us, you’ve probably noticed that this particular variety is quite unique compared to the ones you find at the store. It is incredibly fragrant and its flavor is similar to that of wild strawberries. I apologize if I have forever ruined a store-bought strawberry for you; if you are like me, you’ll never buy one again!

I can’t help but to include a little genetics when talking about strawberries since they are rather unique in that they have varying numbers of chromosomes (unlike us, we always have 2 sets of 23 chromosomes, one set from our mom and another set from our dad). Strawberries can have two or up to ten copies of each chromosome (and any number in between). This makes understanding the genetics of strawberry flavor very tricky for breeders. One of my dear friends from graduate school is trying to do just that: identify genetic patterns or “fingerprints” that are linked to the best strawberry flavor (this makes it much quicker to select for good flavor when breeding). I do not envy her, for her task involves differentiating among up to ten copies of the same gene within each individual.

The Europeans are always way ahead of the US when it comes to identifying the best-flavored strawberries. This is because farmers markets are much more common over there. Rather than breeding for the ability to withstand shipping and long shelf life, they focus on breeding for the best flavor – even if it means the strawberry must be picked and eaten within a day or two.  The better taste is worth the short shelf life. I thought I was keeping up with the latest trend by selecting ‘Mara des Bois’ as my strawberry cultivar – bred in France and known for its wild taste and fragrance. But my strawberry geneticist friend tells me I am behind; all the rage in Europe is a strawberry called ‘Meize Schindler’ and the European genetics labs are trying to unlock the secrets to its tremendous flavor. So, now the search is on for next year; I must get my hands on ‘Meize Schindler’ strawberries (and have yet to find a company that will ship them to me here in the states)!