This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Alexandrea Ciardella. Find her on Instagram at @a6ysma1. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Last year, I took it upon myself to grow strawberries in my garden. However, instead of buying a packet of seeds from the gardening store, I decided to use the seeds found in strawberry produce you buy in grocery stores. This was going to be a challenge; strawberries are difficult enough to grow just from the seed packet. But through trial and error, I was able to learn a lot from this challenge after wondering for so long; can you get seeds from strawberries?
I’ve been fascinated with growing food from store-bought produce for years now. There are thousands of tutorial videos and articles teaching you how to grow a garden from grocery produce. It’s one of those things you never really think is possible until someone shows you that it can be done. Most of us probably assume that our produce has been genetically modified so that their seeds or roots won’t germinate. But through perseverance and patience, it’s possible to ‘recycle’ parts of your produce to make a sustainable garden!
The first thing I learned during my gardening is to have patience. The seeds you get from produce tend to take longer to germinate, as they aren’t intended to be planted. It’s recommended that once you harvest the seeds, plant them about two weeks before spring begins (which is about early March). You should also harvest as many seeds as you can, as a lot of them will likely not grow. It may take a while for them to sprout from the dirt, and even longer after that to begin producing fruit. If you live in a part of the world that gets really cold winters (like me) and want to keep your plants around for a long time, you may need to take up some space in your house to keep them so that they don’t die.
My second lesson is more about the general care of strawberries. Strawberry plants require a lot of sun. Like, a lot of sun. This means it might be difficult to plant them in late winter when the sun might not be out as much. They also need a lot of nutrients while growing- either manure, compost, or plant protein- or else it will take more time for them to sprout. Taking care of my strawberries was like taking care of a pet- so much could go wrong, and I was worried it would!
I don’t have much experience with growing plants. Either I forget about them and they die, or they die even when I think I’m taking good care of them. Growing strawberries was a big task for me as it took a lot of my effort to keep them alive! It’s strange, as there is less pressure since the seeds were technically “free”, but at the same time, strawberries are so high maintenance that there were many times that I thought they had died!
But I was proud when my strawberries began to sprout at the end of the summer; seeing them finally grow after all of my hard work was worth the wait! If you are looking for a side hobby this spring/summer and don’t mind getting your hands dirty, I would recommend trying to grow your food from store-bought produce. If you’re not a fan of strawberries, why not try this with melons or tomatoes, even vegetables like potatoes or garlic work! The options are only limited by the grocery store you go to!
Have you ever wondered: can you get seeds from strawberries? Let us know in the comments below what you think of the article!
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