Welcome!! Member of DOFFA Delaware Organic Food and Farming Association Welcome to fraises des bois online. This is what we consider THE definitive site on alpine strawberries. All orders are now taken on our secure site at The Strawberry Store We have to show off this picture taken by David Karp. It is a mix of yellow varieties. Photo Courtesy of © David Karp An index or home page is supposed to be a summary of a website. It is becoming more and more difficult to summarize what we do. First and foremost, I am a collector of Fragaria vesca varieties and has been doing that for nearly 25 years. Second, I am a researcher. I am endlessly curious about this strawberry. About what makes varieties different. Why are these berries not more widely cultivated here in the U.S.? These and many more questions give me ample reason to get up each morning and do it all again. All of this has lead to the seed business. We sell Fragaria vesca seeds world-wide and year-round. Some seeds are purchased from seed houses world-wide. For rare varieties not otherwise available, we isolate plants of that variety and collect seeds from them. We believe that we offer the most comprehensive list of strawberry seeds available anywhere in the world ... and the list is growing - so to speak. We had limited ourselves to non-runnering varieties but in the last couple of years have starting including runnering varieties. We are also starting to offer seeds of other species including hybrid seed varieties. The seed business lead us to the plant business. We now grow about a half dozen non-runnering varieties commercially and sell them by variety name. We sell to the whole continental U.S. and have shipped to Hawaii and Alaska. To our knowledge, there is no one else in the world that we know of growing Fragaria vesca from seed commercially and selling them by variety. In the last year we have started offering runnering varieties and heirloom varieties as well as musk strawberries. Of course the big payoff for being in the seed and plant business is growing the plants and producing the fruit. After all, this is the reason we do all the other things. The fruit is the ultimate reward. It's aroma is distintive and nearly impossible to put into words.. The taste is also difficult to describe. Many expect the fruit to taste tart and sweet at the same time like some garden strawberries are supposed to taste. They are not like the garden strawberries that one recent customer called styrofoam strawberries that are found in the supermarkets. Yes, alpine strawberries are strawberries, but not like anything you've ever tasted. Here is a good spot to note a couple of myths that are propagated in North America. The first myth that our unpublished data has dispelled is that alpines are not very productive. If grown and cared for properly they are very productive. Much of the literature in English makes special note that alpines are ornamentals with little or no commercial value. Again, data and experience has dispelled that myth. Believe it or not, alpine fruit is being imported into the U.S. from Europe. The Europeans know of the commercial value but few if any in North America have been able to get past the misinformation propagated by so-called experts. Another big misconception is that alpines cultivars (varieties) are all the same, just with different names. We have not tested all cultivars but are seeing significant production differences between cultivars and between cultivars that produce the three colors of fruit, red, white and yellow. I'll now get off my high horse and back to who we were. The three aspects of who we are is the tip of the iceberg of what we do. We conduct research, collect seeds and grow plants for sale and for fruit. We are involved with organic production of strawberries (though not yet fully certified) and research involving that aspect of production. And, we are already shipping fruit via the U.S. mail having shipped to New York and California sucessfully, something many didn't think was possible. As mentioned already, we also collect varieties of musk strawberries from around the world. Details are at www.muskstrawberries.com. Talking about change, Mike is now beginning to consult on production aspects of fraises des bois. We have been contacted by numerous parties interested in commercial production. Our data is not yet published but will be an integral part of the knowledge base needed to commercialize this crop. Please contact Mike for details. We invite you to visit this site often and to visit the others mentioned below. As with any enterprise, things change. We hope you will enjoy your visit and learn a little along the way about fraises des bois. Recently several sites have been added to our family of strawberry websites. They are: The Strawberry Store, LLC Gourmet Strawberry Blog Alpine Strawberries (mirror site) fraises des bois (which is the name of our business and is a mirror site of Alpine Strawberries) Wood Strawberries (nothing to view yet!) Musk Strawberries (published and growing site) Gourmet Strawberries Alpine Strawberry Seeds Gourmet Strawberry Seeds (nothing to view yet) Hautbois Strawberries (nothing to view yet!) Hautboy Strawberries (nothing to view yet!) Yellow Strawberries (nothing to view yet!) White Strawberries (nothing to view yet!) Visit Our YouTube Channel at GourmetBerries An added note: Here's an interesting article titled: Red Alert: Wild Strawberries May Reduce Cancer Risk

Other Names for Alpine Strawberries: Al farawlah, Frawlah, Shulayk, Ou zhou cao mei, Ye cao mei, Sen lin cao mei, Jahodník obecný, Havejordbaer, Skovjordbær, kov-Jordbær, Vild jordbær, Bosaardbei, Bosaardbeien, Alpine strawberry, European strawberry, Small-fruited strawberry, Wild strawberry, Woodland strawberry , Wood strawberry, Metsmaasikas, Ahomansikka, Fraise des bois, fraises des bois, Fraisier comestible, Fraisier commun, Fraisier des bois, Walderbeere, Wald-Erdbeere, Erdei szamóca, Fragola comune, Fragola di bosco, Fragola selvatica, Frangola alpina, Wairudo sutoroberii, Markjordbær, Tut farangy, Poziomka pospolita, Moranga, Morango-silvestre, Morango silvestre europeu, Morangueiro-bravo, Fresa de los bosques, Fresa silvestre, Frutilla de los bosques, Månadssmultron, Skogssmultron, Smultron, Satroboery, Çilek fidani, Orman çilegi, Yabani çilek türü, Bai guo shan cao mei, white fruited alpine strawberry, Fraisier à fruits blancs, Huang guo ou zhou cao mei, golden alpine strawberry, Bai guo ou zhou cao mei, white fruited strawberry, Fraisier des bois à fruits blancs, Immerbaer, Monatserdbeere, Everbearing strawberry, Perpetual fruiting strawberry, Fresal de las cuatro estaciones, Kuukausimansikka, Fraisier des quatre saisons, Fraisier remontant, Fragola delle quattro stagioni, Fragola rimontante, Fragola fiorescente, Doordragende kleine bosaardbei, Doordrager, Maandbloeier, Månadssmultron, Yediveren çilek türü