Strawberries are well suited for planting in the home garden; they are easy to grow, take up a small amount of space and produce fruit quickly. Store-bought strawberries cannot compete with homegrown strawberries harvested at their peak of ripeness and flavor.

On Saturday, April 16, from 10:30 am to 12 noon, veteran Clallam County Master Gardener Jeanette Stehr-Green will provide a primer on growing strawberries at the Master Gardener Demonstration Garden at 2711 Woodcock Road in Sequim. Stehr-Green, a Master Gardener since 2003 and berry enthusiast, will help local gardeners make sense of the general types of strawberries and varieties best suited to our climate. She will describe how to plant strawberries and their seasonal care. Stehr-Green will also talk about growing strawberries in containers and the ornamental garden.

“Growing Strawberries” is part of the Master Gardener Digging Deeper educational series which is free and open to the public and occurs on the first and third Saturdays of most months. “Growing Strawberries” will be held in-person, out of doors at the Master Gardener Demonstration Garden. Attendees will be asked to mask regardless of COVID vaccination status and maintain an appropriate distance from others. Community members should stay home if they are sick. Physical presence at the Demonstration Garden will be considered an attestation that the attendee is symptom-free and has not had a recent known exposure to COVID.

In addition to the scheduled educational presentation, a team of Clallam County Master Gardeners will be available at the Demonstration Garden from 10 am to 1 pm on April 16 to answer all gardening questions. Digging Deeper attendees are encouraged to bring samples of garden problems or pests for diagnosis by Master Gardeners who can recommend control measures.