When in France last Easter, I bought a few wild strawberry plants (or so I thought) at a market stall and was expecting to see small intense berries growing throughout the summer. In fact, Mara des Bois strawberries are something in between cultivated and wild varieties, theoretically giving you medium-sized fruits from July right through until October. Yes, October! If I’d remembered the name of what I’d bought (I knew it had ‘bois’ in there somewhere), and if I’d done a little research, I wouldn’t be so surprised. But the fact that these berries have just kept on fruiting all through summer until now has astounded me. I’ve enjoyed every bite and have shared these berries with equally delighted neighbours who see what I’ve been up to. Another plus about these berries is that they don’t need full sun either. I just popped them in on the edge of a flower border, under some wild roses. What a find!
Earlier in the year, I realised I had no ordinary wild strawberries, when some of the plants produced real whoppers of berries. But both larger and smaller fruits have had a wonderful taste. Not quite so intense as their wild cousins, but still very sweet, with a slight wild strawberry tang. I’m not sure what took me so long to find out about these late season fruits, but I’ll definitely be growing more next year to elongate my strawberry eating season.
The very friendly people at Pomona Fruits have a special offer on at the moment, so you can order now and plants will be sent out mid March next year. If you have a spare patch of ground (or a window box) and fancy eating strawberries in October, worth ordering now!
Out of my shed 
Such a gorgeous fruit! Thank you for sharing this!!!
Hi Karen, mightily impressed with these berries. Definitely going to squeeze some more plants in around the garden for next year.
Loving these! Will add them to the 2013 list of must haves.
Hi Heather, don’t think you’ll regret it. Love my summer strawberries too, but it’s such a treat to have these so late in the year.
Hi Naomi, I remember when I left school, more than just a few years ago I made 1lb of wild strawberry jam. To this day I don’t think anything has ever come close to that flavour. If you ever have the time or the inclination or the numbers of wild strawberries that are needed give it a go.
May see you at the Dixter Plant Fair, Kathleen is working Saturday so I am popping in some time that day
Hi Philip, would that I had enough wild strawberries to make jam. They normally don’t even make it into a bowl!
Hope to bump into you at the plant fair. V.best Naomi
I’m thinking about those for my garden but not sure I can cope with the inevitable slug attacks. It was bad enough at the allotment this year. I’m considering blitzing the garden with nematodes in spring. Have you tried these before?
Hi Wellywoman-back from your hols? I did get a bit of slug damage on the strawberries, but not too bad considering the wet weather this year. I have used nematodes before, but difficult to say if this improved things. I think I just gave up growing plants that just got badly attacked by slugs and snails (hostas, echinacheas etc.) in particular spots in my garden, and now plant plants that are less attractive to these pests. I’ve found straw around the fruits can stop rotting, but can also be a haven for slugs–could try strawberry mats next, but am also looking into adopting a hedgehog!
I received these really useful comments from a reader called Robert today via email and thought others might like to hear about his growing experiments….
Have just read your blog about Mara des Bois strawberries.Having been growing strawberries for more years then I care to remember, I “discovered” variety Mara des Bois about five years ago.
I have tried different varieties of everbearing strawberries but I have no doubt that Mara des Bois is by far the best.
This year, the first fruits were ready the first week of June and the bed is still producing, albeit in small numbers.
Unlike many everbearing varieties, Mara des Bois is prolific in producing runners.
I have found that runners taken in June/July, grown on in pots and then planted out in September, produce a yield equivalent to or better than a two year old plant.
As such I now replant my strawberry beds every two years.
The only downside to this variety is that it does not like the rain and the fruits rot very easily.
I’ve got 2 Mara des Bois and they are indeed the best strawberry plants I have bought. I got a couple of really big fruits of it and I have let the shoots do their thing. More Mara des Bois plants next year. YAY!
Hi Laila, I quite agree. Have just ordered more for next year!