Brrrrrrrr! On these cold winter days, who's thinking about summer harvests?? Actually, now is a great time to plan ahead for a beautiful and productive edible landscape. This year we will be offering you an excellent selection of bareroot berries and vegetables.

If you've walked around the vegetable section this year, you may have noticed my fondness for strawberries. To be honest, I'm CRAZY about strawberries!! So I bumped up our selection to eleven different strawberry varieties this year. For an early, heavy harvest in Spring, look for varieties like 'Chandler', 'Rainier' and 'Sequoia'. Some ever-bearing varieties, that produce consistently most of the year, will include classics like 'Aromas', 'Quinault', 'Seascape' and 'Selva'. There are also some more recently introduced varieties such as 'Albion' and 'Diamante'. Yum!

If you have an open sunny space, you'll be pleased with a neat selection of caneberries this year. Take your pick from delicious raspberries such as the classics 'Amity', 'Black Cumberland', 'Fallgold' and 'Royalty Purple'. Some sweet and safe choices for the kids (big and little) would be thornless 'Black Satin' and 'Chester' blackberries. If you're looking for BIG & JUICY, try 'Boysenberry' and 'Olallieberry'.

And you really can't go wrong with a couple (or more) of blueberries that are proven to be delicious, productive and quite ornamental in the Bay Area. 'Misty', 'O'Neal' and 'Sharpblue' are early varieties you can count on for a consistent long-lasting harvest. For larger and slightly sweeter fruit, pick 'Bluecrop', 'Blueray', 'Chandler', 'Sunshine Blue' (great in containers) and 'Jubilee'. 'Reveille' is a new early variety we will have that is known to be a strong grower in milder climates, producing large, heavy crops. Blueberries are one of my favorite small (sometimes big) shrubs to include in any landscape to add color, texture and a tasty treat.

Other special bareroot veggies include 'Jersey Knight' and 'Sweet Purple' asparagus. Also, look for 'Crimson Cherry' rhubarb crown divisions. The vibrant red stalks are the perfect complement to your future strawberry harvests.

Ask at our sales counter for more information on these and other varieties, as well as a few planting tips. With a little planning and preparation you and your family can look forward to many delicious dishes throughout the growing season; that is if your harvest even makes it into the kitchen! Have Fun.

– Che