Strawberry Varieties
There are literally thousands of strawberry varieties out there, but only four have the distinction of being good enough to be called a ‘Heeman’ strawberry! We have tested many varieties, but over the years we have narrowed it down to four main varieties which are 🍓 Wendy, 🍓 Jewel, 🍓 Malwina and 🍓 Albion.
Wendy
The newest June bearing variety to be grown on the farm, Wendy is a fantastic new addition. A Canadian strawberry, born and bred, it was developed by the Kentville Research Station in Nova Scotia.
Wendy is our earliest strawberry variety, with beautiful wedge-shaped to conical fruit. Comparable to Jewel, this new addition is becoming a berry fan favourite. When Wendy’s in season you know you’re in for a treat!
The texture is firm with bright red coloured flesh. The size, colour and flavour make Wendy excellent for baking, jamming or saucing. As an added bonus Wendy holds its size over the season so the fruit size doesn’t decrease as much as past varieties as the season progresses.
Jewel
The crown ‘jewel’ of Heeman’s June strawberry line up has to be this fan favourite. Jewel is a mid season variety that is known for its fantastic flavour, beautiful large sized fruit and exception picking length.
Jewel is currently the oldest variety we grow at Heeman’s, being introduced to us back in 1985 from Cornell University. If we were forced to grown only one variety of June strawberries, it would be Jewel!
Jewel is great for making jam, baking with or eating all by themselves. It sets the standard at Heeman’s in a lot of categories like flavour, length of picking and size.
Malwina
The newest June bearing variety to be grown on the farm, Malwina is a super later variety that usually starts around the time Jewel, or other late variety ends. Malwina is a large, very juicy and dark strawberry with an excellent flavour.
One neat fact about this late berry is that it’s from Europe! Bred by Peter Stoppel in Germany, it’s adapted great to growing here in Canada and produces later than any other variety we have.
This addition has been great as it fills in that time between when other June-bearing berries finish and before our everbearing strawberries begin. It’s hard to state how late this variety is, as Jewel is beginning to fruit, Malwina is just flowering still! We grew Malwina in test blocks for a few years before committing to growing more acreage that began fruiting for summer 2018. If you come in mid-July and get some Malwina, we’re sure you’ll agree, it’s a great new addition to our lineup!
Albion (Everbearing)
The berry behind a strawberry revolution on the farm! Gone are the days when strawberry season was only in June and into July… now strawberries are grown from late May all the way into October!
Albion is a day-neutral or everbearing strawberry which means it has no awareness of day length so it just fruits and fruits until it gets too cold in the fall. While there have been other varieties like it, none have ever been so sweet and delicious.
These unique berries are grown different than traditional strawberries. Albion are planted into a raised soil with a biodegradable white plastic wrapping to warm the soil and control moisture. Unlike regular strawberries, Albion is planted and fruited in the same year but are only picked for one or two years.
Albion has great flavour, amazing shelf life and it’s size is consistent from the first pick to the last which means the quality, size and flavour is consistent throughout the year! Many people who’ve enjoyed this new variety say it’s the best one they’ve ever tasted. Now with a resume like that how can you not make a trip out to get some for yourself?
Let’s Grow Together
Watch How We Plant an Everbearing Field
Our everbearing berries are called Albion. They're pretty unique strawberry plants because they set fruit only 4 months after planting (versus taking a full year llike the June crop need), and will continue into the early Fall. Take a look at this video to see how we plant them!
