Save the Pineberries

Are you troubled by this photo of strawberry-like fruit?

It may look odd since the strawberry we know is red with white seeds but vice versa? It is called Pineberry and is a hybrid of Fragaria chiloensis(native of South America)and Fragaria virginiana (native of North America).

The genetic composition of Pineberry is same as regular strawberry but with a slight pineapple flavor and the fruit becomes white and seeds turn deep red as it ripens.

Save the Pineberries!

The reason you've never seen Pineberry is because it was nearly extinct until 2003, then a group of Dutch farmers got together to save it. They obtained the original source material from France but it was so weak yielding 1-2 berries per plant. In order to solve this problem, they spent 6 years taking cuttings and growing hundreds of plants to carefully select the healthy ones to make it available on a commercial basis. And I decided to join them to save the Pineberries.




I went online: http://www.thestrawberrystore.com/ (amazing site for those who are obsessed with growing unique strawberries)
and ordered varieties called "White Carolina" and "White D" and planted them along with my collection of 10+ different kinds of Alpine and Musk Strawberries.

I cannot wait the day I get to see this unusual looking uncommon berry in my garden and taste it.