The popularity of organic strawberries grows every year.
Strawberries ripen at different rates in different parts of Finland, so you should keep your eyes open in the area where you live. Adobe Stock/AOP
A large proportion of organic strawberries are sold to consumers directly from the farms. On some farms, all summer picking times are already fully booked, says Pro Luomu in its announcement.
The summer strawberry harvest looks quite promising.
– There are a lot of raw materials, and they look good. We just picked and tasted the first Polka strawberries in the open field, and they had accumulated really good flavor. The taste was a bit like forest strawberry, says the organic strawberry grower Hanna Husu Suomen Luumumarja from Lappeenranta.
Since part of the arable area was still covered with thick undergrowth in the spring, when the other side of the same block was already brushed, there has been a difference of a couple of weeks in the time of flowering, which will also extend the harvest season.
Husu has been growing strawberries organically for the past eight years. Before that, he cultivated ordinary strawberries, so experience has been gained from both sides.
– Sometimes you hear it said that in organic farming the yields and berries would be smaller in organic farming, but in our case it has gone the other way around. After switching to organic, the yields have been bigger and the quality and taste of the strawberries have also been better.
In Husu’s opinion, there is a clear difference in taste between conventionally cultivated and organic strawberries. He believes it can also be seen in the popularity of organic strawberries, which has grown steadily year after year.
– Yes, organic strawberries taste better. Many things affect the taste of strawberries, including the pesticides used.
The starting point is the maintenance of the ecosystem
So what are the differences between conventional and organic strawberry cultivation? According to Husu, the cultivation of these two is as different as night and day.
– The big difference in cultivation is in the logic of cultivation. The main solutions of conventional farming are chemical: seedling treatment with pesticides at the nursery, weeds removed with glyphosate, row spacing cleaned with herbicides, pest spraying 2–4 times before picking, pathogens 2–4 times before picking, removal of debris in late summer with a pesticide and the season is finished tick poison.
Only natural methods are used in organic production. Crop rotation is used in organic farming, and it aims, among other things, to reduce weed and disease pressure from the initial situation.
– Organic seedlings or growing medium are not chemically treated. We fertilize the growing medium with horse compost from the neighbor.
The design of the benches, on the other hand, takes into account, for example, the ventilation of the vegetation. The gravel between the benches is brushed and vacuumed.
– The starting point of organic farming is improving the soil and creating the best possible conditions for the plant. This way the plant remains strong against diseases and pests.
Pests are combated in organic strawberry cultivation, for example, by vacuuming the plants before flowering and predator mites, which eat away strawberry mites and thrips that are harmful to strawberries. Next to the fields, good living conditions are maintained for predatory insects, beneficial insects and other animals, such as hawks.
– For example, we have built a lot of our own machines for farming, when everything can’t be found on the store shelf.
– The starting point for everything is to maintain the ecosystem. Chemical control removes beneficial insects from the field. When you create an empty spot in the field, pests will soon come to eat the plant. When the destruction has already come, predatory insects find the place. Because of that, the use of pesticides becomes a continuum, i.e. if you use them once, you have to use them again. In Luumu, nature is allowed to take care of itself by helping nature to take care of itself.