I found a most delightful surprise while clearing a garden. No, not a kitten.

[Siwsan]

It's a part of the veg garden, on the other side of the garden shed, that I rarely use so it was getting overgrown. I've been toiling for the past 4 days to get it cleared.

Today, in the corner, I saw this most unexpected little gem. This is Michigan! I've never seen a strawberry plant with a berry in September.

[Raven123]

1. Maybe the warm summers?

[Karadeniz]

2. A sign that the universe loves you.....

[cachukis]

3. Are you sure it's a strawberry?

[Cirsium]

4. Not a strawberry

That is the fruit of Potentilla indica, an Asian plant that is showing up in gardens. The fruit is not toxic, but it isn't tasty.

[Siwsan]

5. Wow! The leaves and vines sure look like strawberries.

I have lots of wild strawberries growing around the property.

This particular plant must be a bird poop contribution. It was growing amongst a bunch of Night Shade. I'll put a marker by it.

[Sanity Claws]

18. The seeds look like wrong color to be a strawberry

[Jean Genie]

6. Afraid not!

Agreed - not a strawberry. However, there was a kid in my neighborhood who enjoyed eating them. Didn't do him any harm.

[Siwsan]

8. I'm pretty pleased to have a whole new species in the garden

I love learning new things.

[spooky3]

12. I have several deck planter boxes with strawberries

That normally don’t produce fruit at this time of year, but are doing it this year. I covered the plants with netting I. The spring because critters were stealing everything. I’m not sure if that had any influence.

[crud]

7. We had a volunteer cantaloupe plant

spring up from our compost pile this year, and we have been enjoying cantaloupe all summer...We will be planting some next year on purpose!

[LoisB]

9. That is a beautiful strawberry. Perfect.

[appleannie1]

10. I recently moved to a different state and found some of those under the front bushes in front of the porch.

They are the size of wild strawberries but are dry and tasteless. I pulled them out and next year plan to plant something colorful and pretty there.

[tsSleepyTimeDwnSout]

11. Weeds ❤️

thx for this thread. wild foods is a lifelong passion for me. if i may add 2¢ :

wherever we live, there are edible wild plants around us. likely lots of them. many are delicious and nutritious! many are .... not. 😏

when i was young, i had the same experience as Siwsan. i found one of them in my yard. i grew up on wild strawberry pickin, so . . . i ate it. quite disappointing. har.

now i'm old, and a weed eater (you betcha), and i know that's the first thing you _never_ do!! - is pop a plant in your mouth until you're absolutely sure it's what you think it is.

so kudos to Siwsan for tellin her friends first, and thx to the poster who gave us the taxonomic name. Hail fellow hortie! that's exactly the tool you use to make a definite ID of a plant. so far i've found every plant i've looked for on wikipedia, and the reliability factor (to me) has seemed pretty consistently high.

if anybody gets curious about the wonderful world of edible "weeds", realize from the start that wild plants, just like domesticated plants, contain all kinds of compounds. some people __ really__ can't tolerate onions, or garlic, or wheat, or peanuts - while the rest of us love those foods! Same with wild foods.

So, reading is the key. if a plant catches your eye it might be cause its a cool plant for some reason (edible or medicinal, or utilitarian, or ornamental, e.g.) . make a game of id' ing it. you might like what you find!

and read about other people's reactions to eating it. any potential reactions will be noted by somebody or other.

Siwsan, i __love__ your cats, especially Arthur. 🥰

[Cirsium]

24. Edible wild foods

Many of our native plants in North America are in trouble. Too many times I have seen people foraging in nature preserves for wild edibles, breaking the rules when they do that and often doing a lot of damage in the process. Some of the most sought after species are in serious decline - Ramps (Allium tricoccum), Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), Golden seal (Hydrastis canadensis) are examples.

I encourage people to learn about native plants and to propagate them and grow them themselves rather than "harvesting" from the declining wild stands. There are reputable and ethical suppliers of seeds and plants in every part of the country. Buy local species locally. Learn what is native in your area. The willy-nilly intermixing of species from different areas is having a deleterious effect on ecosystems all over the world.

[tsSleepyTimeDwnSout]

26. agreed

i'll second all of that. and it's more opportunity to learn. salude, cirsium.

[tsSleepyTimeDwnSout]

27. hi cirsium

i'd be interested to know what your discipline is and where you are. i'm diggin your posts.

"the willy-nilly mixing . . ". i' m in western north carolina, and the invasives numbers are amazing. South Mountains State Park has had an ongoing, extensive eradication program goin on for years.

probably not news to you. great readin your posts.
🌲

[tsSleepyTimeDwnSout]

13. appleannie 🍎

typin is real hard for me and takes forever. i started working on it long before your post appeared. took a looong time. har! but i wanted to pipe up on a subject i love. didnt want you to think i was replyin negatively to you. yeah, they taste pretty crappy. 🙂

[Siwsan]

16. I always appreciate getting helpful information.

This is a plant I never even knew existed. Now I'm a touch smarter.

I never ate it.

[Bumbles]

14. We have a small patch of frais de bois, strawberries of the woods.

They are thriving in a little patch of sunshine in our mostly wooded property. The squirrels never found them this year, so we were able to have a much-appreciated small taste of these exquisite berries.

[tsSleepyTimeDwnSout]

15. Bumbles Frais

aren't they ?!? when i was 5 yrs old my ma used t take us kids out with buckets, and we'd find blankets of plants. a perfectly ripe one was like candy. what a memory.

[Clouds Passing]

17. 😋 Did it taste good?

[Siwsan]

19. I didn't eat it

I'm going through a loss of appetite phase so I set it aside for later, maybe to try and trigger my comatose appetite. Now it will be for never.

Instead I'm making something with garlic. That sometimes does the trick.

[Clouds Passing]

21. Maybe a bit of strawberry will stimulate your appetite. Although garlic is wonderful

[LPBBEAR]

20. Central Washington here.

Our Strawberry patch is still producing about a bowl every couple days. Its looking tired though and I expect they will cease soon.

[tsSleepyTimeDwnSout]

22. Central Washington

that's one of the crops you folks are famous for, iirc?

[LPBBEAR]

25. Not in Central Washington

or Eastern Washington. Too dry. They grow in Western Washington really well though.

[applegrove]

23. Nothing better than a strwberry fresh from the garden.