My Winter Project: Planting Alpine Strawberry Seeds

Ah, it's been a long summer and fall.  A lot of my plans fell through.  First we had weird weather, with too much rain that drowned my potatoes.  The remaining plant was pounded by a hailstorm later.

I also had some problems with the community garden - finding someone who could do the plumbing.  I also had emergency gallbladder surgery in June, so that further threw plans out of whack.  It's back on track for next year, though.  I am working on applications for grants and funds like the Pepsi Refresh project.

I was sitting in my bed working online, and I decided that I needed more plant life in my room.  I have an Earthbox I need to test out, so I rummaged through the seeds that I need to review.  I came across some Mignonette Alpine strawberry seeds from Renee's Garden, and I knew this was the project for me.  I recently wrote a blog post for About.com about wild strawberries, and I've never tried growing strawberries from seeds (I always just buy the plants).

Alpine strawberries are often found wild in Europe.  They are conical and smaller than the strawberry we are used to in supermarkets.  It's supposed to have a smashing flavor, so I can't wait to finally try them.

It sounds like I'll have to be patient with these seeds - it can take 3-4 weeks to germinate.  Whew!  I'll probably start some other seeds too, but that is yet to be determined.

Here's a video about seeding alpine strawberries.  It's part of a whole series about growing alpine strawberries.

What's your winter gardening project?