Class Picture

(l to r) Brandywine, Green Zebra, Black Prince (in the back), Riesentraube, Orange Strawberry Oxheart. (Gold Medal Yellow was absent on picture day.)

Aren't they so pretty? Definitely not as prolific as the engineered hybrid plants we usually grow, but I have really enjoyed these heirloom plants. As you can see, we finally got fruit from the Orange Strawberry despite its slow start, but we only got a few. The Green Zebra, Riesentraube and Brandywine did the best.

Green Zebras are probably my overall favs for a few reasons: they produced the most; they and the riesentraubes were the only two who managed not to fall victim to the slug invasion; the flavor was - for me - a perfect balance of sweet and tangy; and of course, they look SOOO COOOOOL!! Sliced on a sandwich they made quite an impression with little strips of their green-yellow zebra skin peeking out between the bread, and I even canned a few and they have such a pleasant melon-green color in the jars.

I'll never do black princes again. They tasted fine, but they are not very visually appealing and they were the most susceptible to slugs. I canned a few of those too and it's a bit of a problem, because they look downright rotten in the jars. Can't give those away as gifts.

Will probably go back to mostly early girl hybrids next year, but may put in some green zebras for fun and variety.