The other is a strawberry named Dickens, and was so named for two reasons: because the fruit “yields like the dickens,” according to berry breeder Courtney Weber.
Another reason? Weber names strawberry varieties after his favorite authors.
Weber, associate professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences based at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva, first noticed the plant for its “hardiness in surviving cold winters,” making it perfect for New York.
“With New York-grown berries, because we don’t have to ship so far, we can handle a softer fruit. And people notice the softer, sweeter, juicier fruit,” Weber said. “Customers can get supermarket strawberries any day of the week; the reason people make the effort to come to the farm stand or farmers market and buy the local product is because it tastes so much better. Maintaining that flavor is paramount to what we do in our breeding program.”
Cornell says its berry breeding program is the oldest in the United States, and the only one in the northeast.