How To Turn Store-Bought Strawberries Into The Perfect Garden Starter

Fresh strawberries are a real treat in peak season, but with grocery costs consistently climbing, buying them at the supermarket can be a bank-breaker. Luckily, with a little know-how, you might just be able to grow your own strawberry plants from one produce department purchase. The technique is fairly straightforward ... but like many other endeavors, the devil is in the details. The first step is purchasing the strawberries. Quality matters, so it is a good idea to avoid buying produce from the grocery store at midday when it tends to be the least fresh. You want healthy, ruby-red fruit that looks good enough to eat, but hold off indulging your taste buds for now.

Once the premium strawberries are in hand, you need to extract the tiny seeds on the outside of the fruit (no, planting the tops doesn't work). Known as achenes, get these by lightly mashing the berry and straining away the flesh. Let them dry on a paper towel or coffee filter for a couple of weeks, then place them in your fridge in a plastic bag for about a month. This is called cold-stratifying, an important step that helps the seeds to germinate.

Now the seeds are ready to plant. Start them in small pots or trays they will receive six to eight hours of sunlight each day, misting them with water until they begin to sprout. However, don't expect instant results. You may not see berries the first year, and if you purchase the wrong type of strawberry, they may never bear fruit.

Some companies that produce strawberries are aware of this little hack. To keep people from taking their product and growing it at home, they use hybrid species that won't grow from seed. They have also likely been sprayed with chemicals, which is something to look out for when buying any fresh produce. Those chemicals could inhibit germination, so if you must purchase the strawberries from the supermarket, the organic section is your best bet. Just remember to store your fresh berries correctly, as organic varieties may spoil faster than the alternative.

Even better than purchasing strawberries for your garden at the grocery store is taking a trip to your local farmers market. The vendors there are more apt to be knowledgeable about their specific plants and can give you better advice. Another benefit of buying them at a farmers market is that you have more of an assurance that these more local plants will sprout in your local climate. Consider that many producers who fill supermarkets with fresh strawberries operate in coastal regions like Florida and California. Those varieties might work if that is where you reside, but if your garden is in Ohio or Colorado, the strawberries might not be acclimated to growing in those environments.