The project of converting my front yard from turf grass with Asian shrubs to all native plants.

Mock Strawberries

Let's talk a minute about wild strawberries. These are not wild strawberries.

Wee weensy strawberry looking things among leaves.

When I was a kid, by the time grown-ups got around to telling me that these are poisonous, I knew that wasn't true. My friends and cousins and I had been eating these for years. They have virtually no flavor. But if you put a bunch of sugar and milk on them, they're fine.

We all thought these were wild strawberries.

I was in my 50s when I learned that actual wild strawberries do have flavor. They have more flavor than store-bought strawberries do. Wild strawberries are native to the US.

These things in the picture are mock strawberries. And they are not native.

I may try to cultivate wild strawberries in this project.

July 01, 2023