Celebrate the Strawberry. Billings’ Strawberry Festival is 7/9 Downtown

My mom is an avid gardener. When I was chatting with her on Messenger earlier today, she commented on how well the strawberries are producing in her garden this year. She typically harvests literally pounds of the sweet little berries; more than enough for freezing, canning, jams, on ice cream, or simply eating fresh.

My gardening skills are fair, but when I attempted to start a strawberry bed a few years ago I was pretty disappointed with my results. I only got a handful of strawberries from about a dozen plants. I suspect the birds got the rest, but while researching strawberries for this article, I think I missed some important details (more on that below). If you'd rather spend your time eating strawberries instead of hours in the garden, the Strawberry Festival is probably right up your alley.

Downtown Billings Strawberry Festival is on June 9th.

Now in its 31st year, this fun event is a summertime tradition in Billings. The free-to-attend festival is centered under Skypoint and runs from 9 am to 4 pm on Saturday. It's the largest street festival in Billings and this year's event will feature over 90 vendors, food trucks, live music, and "pallets and pallets of Montana sourced strawberries."  No dogs are allowed, per city ordinance. Find more details on Strawberry Festival HERE.

Tips for growing your own strawberries.

Homegrown strawberries are SO much better than the hard, flavorless varieties you'll typically find on grocery store shelves. Despite my own strawberry patch failure, they're not exactly difficult to grow. Late summer/early fall can be a good time to set strawberry plants for next year. Some varieties produce berries all season, while others are good for one harvest in June. The MSU Extension Office provides some great tips on strawberry gardening HERE.