Dr. Gojko Jelenkovic saves seeds from new strawberry cultivars made from crosses in the greenhouse.
The season for strawberries in New Jersey is short but sweet – lasting from late May to mid-June. With the year-round abundance of California and Florida strawberries in supermarkets, New Jersey’s strawberry season goes by almost unnoticed, except by aficionados who seek out home grown varieties. While not quite scarce, the commercial production of Jersey strawberries has decreased to the point where New Jersey agricultural statistics are no longer kept for this crop since production fell below 300 acres in 2007. But it wasn’t always this way. New Jersey was once lush with strawberries.
Strawberries are native to New Jersey. The original native people, the Lenni Lenape had no need to cultivate the plants, as wild strawberries were abundant. A mix of crushed wild strawberries with ground cornmeal was used for a bread that is considered the inspiration for strawberry shortcake. The first colonists in America shipped the larger wild strawberry plants back to Europe as early as 1600. Wild strawberries were small, acid and seedy compared to the hybrid cultivars that came later but were still considered better than European varieties.
According to the book, The Strawberry in North America that was published in 1917, the first strawberries marketed in New York City were wild berries picked from Bergen County in New Jersey. Special splint berry baskets with handles were hung from poles and sold throughout the city. Demand quickly outstripped the supply of wild strawberries as the population of the city expanded. As a result, northern New Jersey was first to feel the stimulus of the increasing demand.
Around 1820, commercial cultivation of strawberries in New Jersey began with farmers around Hackensack shipping berries by wagon and sailing vessel to the city. Strawberries and cream was a prized dessert and this helped to fuel the demand. In the mid-1800’s, the introduction of refrigerated railroad cars turned New York into a strawberry shipping center while commercial production began to spread to the southern states. New Jersey strawberry production, however, continued to flourish. The acreage under strawberry cultivation in New Jersey increased over the next few years but gradually began to shift to the southern part of the state. In the 1860’s, Burlington County had the most strawberry acreage than any other county in the U.S.
Strawberry Breeding in New Jersey
Before 1858, nearly all strawberries on the American market were selections made in Europe from the North American wild strawberry. These were considered large-fruited but small by today’s standards. For the past 200 years, many Americans, including the growers themselves, have tried through repeated crossings to get more productive, more disease-resistant, better-tasting and larger-fruited strawberries.
Strawberry research at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) dates back to 1870 but with respect to fertilization, irrigation, insects and variety trials, strawberry breeding didn’t begin in earnest at Rutgers until around the late 1920’s. The objective was a good commercial strawberry variety which would ripen after the harvest period of the varieties of the day. In the spring of 1930, the first seedlings included “a number of very late ripening ones, which had good quality and shipped well.”
Some of the noteworthy strawberries bred at Rutgers NJAES include ‘Sparkle’ that was introduced in 1942. It continued as a leading late-season cultivar in the U.S. for many decades and is still available today as an heirloom strawberry. Like many old-time cultivars, Sparkle has great flavor and high yields but the size of the berry was considered small compared to newer varieties, hence it was favored by small commercial growers who catered to local tastes. Another important Rutgers variety, ‘Jerseybelle’, was introduced in 1955 and quickly became the leading variety in New Jersey because of its attractive color, high gloss, and large size. In 1963, Jerseybelle constituted 60 percent of the acreage under strawberry cultivation. In 1968, the ‘Raritan’ strawberry was released. It was considered productive with the fine taste of an heirloom strawberry and with small berries. However, the Raritan plants were susceptible to a range of diseases and this strawberry is no longer available.
Breeding strawberries at Rutgers from start to finish
Strawberry breeding from start to finish: Dr. Jelenkovic’s strawberry selections begin in the greenhouse by crossing existing strawberry varieties with desired traits. Pollen is removed by cutting out the male flower parts and crossing with female flower parts of another variety.
