Strawberries, an old variety
kleipieper
Posts: 563
Many years ago when I was about 4 or 5 years old, we got strawberry plants from an aunt who had a farm.
Among those plants was one rather different one, with very dark fruits with the seeds very deeply embedded in the fruit.
I later learned that this was what we call a "frambozenaardbei", which translates more or less as raspberry-strawberry.
It is an old variety which is officially called Mieze Schindler.
It was developed by a German man called Otto Schindler in 1925 and named after his wife. 
They taste much stronger than ordinary strawberries.
I think it has even been scientifically proven that they contain more of the components which give for instance alpine strawberries their taste.
I love them and have just been eating the latest ripe ones.
Unfortunately they're almost over for another year.
A few years ago someone tried to market them as the new super food. 
I think even Waitrose tried selling the fruits, but they are very soft and don't keep very well.
Here is a link with a picture.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strasberry
If you ever come across a plant, they're definitely worth growing.
And they produce loads of runners, so after even one year you can have a nice crop.
Mine are all descendants of that one plant which I got over 50 years ago.
Posts
Mmm - they look delicious. So many old varieties only survive in private gardens now. And I believe that it's now actually illegal to sell seeds from old varieties and that they have to be swapped, not sold?
If you live in Derbyshire, as I do.
Looks like Suttons are selling them:
http://www.suttons.co.uk/Gardening/Fruit/Soft+Fruit/Strawberry+Framberry+and+Pineberry+Collection_233275.htm
They look good to me kleipieper - do they grow at the height and spread of a regular strawberry?
@ Steve 309 Gosh, those plants look expensive to me!
I know you get three plants for that money and three different varieties, but about 4 quid for one plant seems very expensive to me!
@ paulk2 Yes, they are the same size as regular strawberries. They look a bit more sturdy though, with slightly thicker stalks to the leaves.
The fruits are a bit smaller than the large fruits of modern varieties like Elsanta, but quite a bit bigger than for instance alpine strawberries.