Gardener News 16 Mount Bethel Road #123 Warren, NJ 07059
TAKE ONE
FIRST-CLASS MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID HILLSBOROUGH, NJ PERMIT NO. 4444
Gardener News Serving the Agricultural, Gardening and Landscaping Communities
June, 2015
GARDENERNEWS.COM
TAKE ONE No. 146
Better Tasting Strawberry Developed at Rutgers
Peter Nitzsche/NJAES/Photo
The Rutgers Scarlet strawberry was developed to produce a more flavorful fruit with a better balance between sweetness and acidity. By Andrea Alexander Contributing Writer The Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station has cracked the code to growing a better-tasting strawberry in New Jersey. For years, many New Jersey farmers have been
growing strawberry plants bred for conditions in California. The plants produced fruit that could withstand being shipped across the country but were not well suited for cold Northeast winters. Another drawback was their taste. “In developing something that will ship
well, sometimes you have a little loss of flavor,’’ said Bill Hlubik, professor and agricultural agent for Rutgers Cooperative Extension. “Our goal was to develop a sweet and juicy Jersey strawberry with exceptional flavor that would encourage more people to search it out and buy local,’’ Hlubik said.
He was part of a team of researchers that included a Rutgers food scientist, plant biologist and agricultural agents who worked together to develop and release the new “Rutgers Scarlet” strawberry. At the request of the state’s farmers, the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment
Station (NJAES) embarked on a nearly 10-year project to develop a strawberry plant that would thrive in New Jersey’s seasonal swings between hot and cold and would also achieve a better balance between sweetness and acidity. The Rutgers Scarlet strawberry (Cont. on Page 20)