Marshall Strawberry
Boston Young Contemporaries
Boston University
Boston, MA

Marshall Strawberry Plant & Mixed Media
size variable, 2007

The Marshall strawberry,once deemed by James Beard, father of American gastronomy, as the most delicious strawberry ever grown, is now on Slow Food's top 10 most endangered foods list.

The Marshall was discovered in Boston in 1883, then grown widely in Washington, Oregon and California until the 1960s, when it was phased out due to its modest production, delicacy, and therefore incompatibility with modern industrialized agricultural practices. The remaining plants exist as a single clone at the USDA's Germplasm Repository in Corvallis, Oregon, and in my kitchen garden.

In an attempt to revive a taste from our past, I requested and received runners from scientists in Corvallis, and have been working to increase their numbers. The strawberries harvested thus far, are the fruits of my dreams.

UPDATE: see Marshall Strawberry website