This is exciting, our Marshall’s giant strawberry plants actually have strawberries on them! A favourite of amateur and experienced gardeners alike, strawberries are easy and highly rewarding to grow, and none more so than the Strawberry Giant ‘Senga Gigana’, an astonishingly large variety producing giant, egg-sized fruits reaching up to 5cm in diameter. This resilient strawberry thrives well in a patio pot, making it the perfect fruit plant to grow where space is limited.
In spring, it has typical white strawberry plant flowers which are replaced later in the season by a heavy crop of enormous, glossy fruits. Ripe for picking between June and August, I think that we’ll be cooking them into a jam to be enjoyed long after the season is over.
This hardy variety also has a strong resistance to disease, and can be protected from pests with a simple, homemade garlic spray, making it a fantastically low maintenance addition to the garden, patio or window planter. It’s a great fruit for children to plant, as they’re super rewarding for very little effort.
UK berry sales now equate to a fifth of total fruit consumption in the UK, overtaking apples and bananas. Strawberries, by far the most popular berry, are expected to account for more than half of all sales this year, reaching £564 million. According to the industry body British Summer Fruits the strawberry season was only six weeks long 25 years ago, but industry investment has extended this by up to nine months.
We added lots of different fruit and vegetable plants to our garden this Spring and now that we’ve ticked over into the summer months it’s wonderful to be able to spend more time outdoors. I think it’s important to have the right kit when gardening, I know it encourages me to get out there and get stuck in. That’s why I really like this gardener apron from Engelbert Strauss, I like the way I can just throw it over whatever I’m wearing and get to potting, weeding and digging without worrying that my clothes will be ruined. I also love their ladies cargo trousers and these overalls for when we’re working on our DIY projects.
