[ti:Agriculture Report] [ar:Voice of America] [al:VOA Special English] [by:WWW.51VOA.COM] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:03.48]Agriculture Report. [00:05.50]One of the sweetest gifts of nature is a red, [00:09.50]ripe strawberry. [00:11.21]There are three basic kinds of strawberries: [00:14.94]June bearing,ever bearing and day neutrals. [00:19.76]June bearing are ready in the spring, [00:23.23]so they are also called spring bearing. [00:26.48]But gardeners will not get a crop [00:29.55]during the first spring after planting. [00:32.23]Ever bearers, [00:34.57]when planted after the last winter freeze, [00:38.05]will produce fruit during spring [00:40.88]or early summer. [00:42.53]A second or sometimes third crop [00:46.18]will be ready in late summer. [00:48.82]Day neutrals produce fruit [00:51.87]throughout the summer months. [00:53.75]The University of Illinois Urban Extension says [00:58.85]ever bearers and day neutrals [01:01.59]are especially good for home gardens. [01:04.96]Plant strawberries in the spring [01:08.02]as soon as the soil is dry enough. [01:11.43]Try to plant late in the day [01:14.60]or on a cloudy day. [01:16.80]The soil should cover just the roots [01:20.54]and not the crown on top of the plant. [01:24.52]Runners will appear in a few weeks. [01:28.15]Strawberries grown in containers [01:31.93]need a soil depth [01:34.04]of about twenty-five to thirty centimeters. [01:37.53]Be sure the container has holes in the bottom. [01:41.38]Strawberries grow well in loamy soil [01:46.17]that lets water pass through easily. [01:49.34]Carl Wilson [01:51.43]at the Colorado State University Extension [01:54.92]suggests mixing about three to five percent [01:59.37]organic material into the soil. [02:02.11]Part of caring for strawberries is renovation. [02:07.19]Once the plants have produced fruit, [02:10.74]they become less productive. [02:13.11]Renovation means removing [02:16.26]a lot of the old plants [02:18.23]to let newer ones replace them. [02:20.90]The Agricultural Extension Service [02:24.31]at the University of Tennessee [02:26.32]says growers should do this [02:28.66]every year after harvest. [02:30.83]Renovation also includes adding fertilizer. [02:35.52]Adding nitrogen as a side or top dressing [02:39.91]in late summer will supply nutrients [02:42.89]to the fruit buds for the following spring. [02:46.21]California grows most of the strawberry crop [02:51.63]in the United States. [02:52.85]The fifty-first year [02:55.17]of the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival [02:58.39]is this weekend south of Los Angeles. [03:01.71]The Web site Strawberryfestival.org [03:06.93]says it began as a way [03:09.24]to bring the city of Garden Grove together. [03:12.59]A local public relations man [03:15.60]suggested a celebration of the area's [03:18.65]once plentiful strawberry fields. [03:21.36]It grew into one of the largest [03:24.70]community festivals in the western states, [03:27.74]complete with the world's [03:29.78]largest strawberry shortcake. [03:32.32]The festival has a parade,carnival rides, [03:36.46]games and a karaoke singing contest [03:40.06]called "Strawberry Idol." [03:42.34]And that's the VOA Special English [03:45.97]Agriculture Report, [03:47.42]written by Jerilyn Watson. [03:49.58]For more gardening advice,go to WWW.51VOA.COM. [03:55.58]I'm Faith Lapidus.