Kurite:

Please don't waste your time on an idea like growing wild strawberries. If wild strawberries were any good, lots of people would be growing them. But they aren't.

I know you can always find websites encouraging you to try things like this. Pay no attention to this nonsense.

Get some bundled bare root strawberry plants in early spring and put in a real strawberry patch. You will be glad you did.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Well, Kurite, I don't know where you are camping, since you don't say where you live, but in most places across the good old USA wild strawberries are considered weeds. If you think you have found some that are better than berries that have been developed by years of careful work by fruit scientists, have at it. Of course, there is always the possibility that what you are finding are cultivated berries planted years ago. Many things taste better when you just find them.

But, to get at your original question, which I really did not address, why would seeds from a wild strawberry produce plants that are themselves infertile? The objective of wild plants in producing fruit and seeds is to propagate their species. Many strawberry varieties are difficult to start from seeds, but there is no reason for complete absence of berry production if you succeed in germinating them.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Don't compare to store bought.
The wild berries around here aren't bad but they're not better than cultivated varieties.

I'm curious why you'd bother with seeds. They spread by runners don't they? Dig some up, plant them and let them spread.

I live in Illinois but usually camp in Wisconsin. Have you ever tried wild strawberries? They taste nothing like your everyday strawberries. The reason scientists developed the modern day strawberry is simply because wild strawberry harvesting is rather difficult and they only remain good for a week after harvest so they don't ship well.

Edible Landscaping has a couple of propagated wild strawberries you can buy. "Wild strawberries" are a different species than the ones typically cultivated. Nor are all wild strawberries equal. We have Indian strawberries here which are an invasive from asia. They are totally without taste.

What you are thinking of that are relatively tasteless is the typical grocery store strawberries. These strawberries are sold by weight -- so they grow them to be basically a bag of water. Yes, they are pretty weak. (And no, they are not easier to harvest. Strawberry picking is hard, crippling work.)

But grocery store produce is not representative of a typical cultivated home strawberry.

Strawberries vary widely in taste. If you want YOUR wild strawberries, go out and dig up a few and transplant them into your strawberry patch at home. Provided of course they are located somewhere that taking plants is permitted and there is a healthy enough population that is can withstand a little thinning.

BS
Ripe strawberries do not keep no matter what kind they are. Strawberries that are picked unripe and gassed to turn red are what keep and ship well, even if they're the wild varieties.
It's obvious that you're comparing only to what's been picked unripe and sold in a grocery store. Go to a Upick and search around for a fully ripe berry.

"Modern day strawberries" have been around hundreds of years and were crossed and selected by growers.

You being from these parts explains why the wild strawberries aren't bad but I know for a fact they're not better than garden varieties. They're small, seedy and often lack "strawberry flavor" tasting like any other wild berry.

You come to a forum like this to get experienced opinions. You should listen to that experience.
If you want the wild strawberries dig some up. But try growing some garden varieties and you won't waste your time with the wild ones except when you're camping.

For years I lived in a house that had a very large patch of wild strawberries in the pasture. The plants were very low growing and the smell was gorgeous: an intense essence of strawberry.

The berries had good flavor, but were so tiny and close to the ground that they were difficult to harvest. It took dozens of berries to make a mouthful.

To me, that plant would make a brilliant ground cover: tiny, thick coverage, attractive foliage, required no care, and provided a wonderful fragrance.

But for eating, named varieties that are picked fully ripe.

Note: some varieties of strawberries are better than others.

My yard is full of wild strawberries that are about 1/4 in diameter. They have a nice strawberry smell, but they have even less flavor than the things in the grocery. My dog loves strawberries and goes around the yard looking for the little wild red things and eating them. She always mooches food from me and my wife. Ever since seeing the dog eating the wild berries, my wife feels guilty eating strawberries unless she shares hers with the dog.

Planting wild strawberries in your yard for your dog is the only use I can think of for them. Getting some really good everbearing bare root plants, like Ozark Beauty, in the spring is your best best. If you really want to be esoteric, some of the alpines strawberries have a unique flavor. They that might be what some people are calling a wild strawberry that has taste. They don't bear very much, and don't spread by runners. Alpines must be raised from seeds, which are difficult to germinate, or the original plants can be divided and the halves replanted when it gets big enough.

Things always taste better when you're out camping. "Found" wild food is quite a novelty. Even flowing water tastes better, if it is considered safe to drink.

Most of the wild strawberries I have encountered tasted good.
Wild berries require a certain environmental niche that is hard to duplicate in a home garden.

The wild strawberries in my backyard seem to prefer niches where the clay soil is frequently amended by my 4 dogs with copious amounts of poop. The person should have gotten an award who first thought of a buried bucket for an "in-ground pet waste digester".

Larry_Gene must not have heard about "Freegans", if he thinks that "Found wild food is quite a novelty." I prefer food that I've grown myself, but I'm cautious about food that I "find".

There is an interesting thread about "Elderberries", where the poster was considering planting an elderberry bush, because he/she liked the taste of the berries from a plant in the yard. The wild berries actually sounded more like poisonous pokeweed than elderberries.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Freegan Establishment

I've only seen one patch of wild strawberries in my life - there was a small patch at the edge of the woods at one of my cousin's homes when I was a kid. Flavor was good, but as others have indicated, the fruit was small and it took quite a few to make even a mouthful.
What many people see and call 'wild strawberries' are a strawberry look-alike, Duchesnia indica, aka Indian strawberry - leaves resemble Fragaria, but the flowers are yellow, and the little red berries have no appreciable flavor. They grew all over the yard in my childhood home.

Never heard of Freegans. I meant found wild food is novel as compared to food found in a grocery store. The novelty of it enhances ones senses, and all aspects of the find, including flavor, is closely inspected, just like the first time you sample one of your home-grown plants.

The European wild strawberry, Fragaria vesca, is often grown in gardens here but not as a substitute for cultivated strawberries. It is delicious but the fruit are small so it is generally used as a decorative addition to desserts or as a rather special ingredient. They make a good path edging or inhabitant of a wild garden. You can get them as seed or plants and there are named varieties eg Baron Solemacher. I have some bird sown wild strawberries in my garden and they need to be very ripe before they are at their best. If you have found a good flavoured wild strawberry I would certainly try to grow it in your garden but don't expect it to replace the cultivated types.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wild or Alpine strawberries

Check out the link below if you are really interested in this topic. These might not be the exact variety you're after, but unless you dig up the bush, you most likely won't get that variety.

The Strawberry Store, which is the store you'll find linked at the website below, sells mainly Alpine strawberries. They are small, but the flavor is (in my opinion) better than any regular strawberry.

I asked these same questions a while ago and got the same answers. I did some research and planted a few, then I discovered that Alpines are actually really good. I encourage you to give them a shot and see what you think.

Side note: I'm not a spokesperson for The Strawberry Store. Just a satisfied customer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Alpine strawberry info/store

While living in Michigan we ate quite a lot of Wild Strawberries but never tried to transplant them as they are so small, but they are so much better flavor than cultivated varieties. But growing your own is also much better than any store bought berries ever will be. They always seemed to grow on a slope near a wooded area If you just have to have them I would dig them up in the early spring and place them in a well drained area, but then they may fail anyway. Like ramps they could lose their flavor upon cultivation. I believe the reason no one does it is they are so small and we love to have something that will fill us up and not take so long. Never tried the Alpine but from all I have heard they are great also.
Nothing beats a try, so If you want to then try and then let us know how well it goes, etc.
Paul

When I was in college at KU a friend took me to what he claimed to be an old buffalo rub in the countryside to pick wild strawberries. These were very tiny but packed with flavor. Wild strawberries are a companion plant for asparagus as are parsely, petunia, nasturtium, and comfrey as a dynamic accumulator of minerals from the soil (I prefer the Bocking 14 comfrey cultivar which produces sterile seed and spreads only by root division). I have also hear that horse radish ( probably as a decoy plant) and rhubarb make excellent companion plants for asparagus as well. I was searching for wild strawberry seeds when I noticed this discussion. I was amazed that the differing experiences others had with wild strawberries which were so divergent from my own. Jellyman's comment on digging some up to transplant made me wish I could return to Kansas for the ones I first tasted.

Northern wi does have some very good wild berries. But they don't compare to cultivated ones.

Northern wild strawberries have more flavor than cultivated ones but they are quite small.

I don't know much about wild strawberries,but I grow alpine strawberries, that do not have runners. The berries are small like wild ones and very aromatic. They perfectly grow from seeds even on their own, every year I find new ones around my garden, I guess chipmunks and birds spread them. But I started mine indoor, from seeds my mother collected from her berry. It has to be a perfectly overripe berry, and you need to smash it, add a bit of water and let it ferment for couple days. Then wash the seeds and dry them. Before planting you need to do stratification in refrigerator. From about 40 seeds I only had 3-4 germinated. So pick several berries, and be ready for poor germination.

Everyone has an opinion. We can take it or leave it. My opinion is to try it for yourself, no worries! Wild is always smaller and sweeter! Birds planted strawberries. In my flowerbeds....i left them there just for the idea of it.

I don't know where you're getting bad wild strawberries. Here in Nebraska if you can find them they are about 1000% times better than any cultivated variety I have ever tried. If they tasted like the wilds I know they'd be far better. I always figured the reason noone grew wild strawberries is that the fruit is tiny so you'd need a lot to get much return.

I agree with Chris about the taste of wild strawberry and the reason of not cultivating them on a large scale. The output is really small per sq. area. However strawberry leaves are good to make a tee; have lots of health benefits. I grow them in my garden and in pots. I have extra real wild strawberry (not weed, with flowers at the moment) that will be removed next Sat at latest. Place: MD, east to / next to DC. Is anyone interested in taking them?

The strawberries commonly grown in the United States are not a species. They are a hybrid, which declines after a few years. There are two species of strawberries from Europe that I think are a better deal than continuing to buy hybrid strawberries from the nursery. Musk strawberries will spread all over your yard if you have a male and female. They taste great, but are small compared to the hybrids, but big compared to US wild ones. The alpine strawberries are also quite small, but are slightly larger and more dependable than wild strawberries. I have enjoyed wild strawberries, but they are hard to find and a lot of work. The musk and alpine are dependably good tasting and I'm sure more nutritious. You don't have to keep buying them. They are smaller than the hybrids, but I think they are the best deal overall for me at least.

John S
PDX OR