Checked into Five Aces Breeding, LLC a little more tonight and found some great information on their website.  It seems that Five Aces not only deals in strawberries, but rasberries as well!  Mmmm… I wonder if he is working on a rasberry seed kit for AeroGrow.

Mission Statement from www.fiveacesbreeding.com:

The founder of Five Aces has a singular objective, to produce the world’s best tasting and healthiest varieties of strawberries, raspberries, black raspberries and blackberries.  He believes that consumers deserve a product that is not generic tasting and ordinary like many of the varieties currently available in supermarkets. Keeping in mind the importance of health benefits and taste, he set about capture the essence of what berries should taste like and has found success with several varietals including Caroline, Jaclyn, Josephine, Georgia Red Raspberries, Anne Golden Raspberry and Tristar (co-released strawberry).  Now he is close to releasing the results of a decade and a half effort to domesticate the finest tasting wild strawberries, the moschata hybrids.

Sounds delicious! 

 I arrived home from work today and found that FedEx had delivered the Strawberry Patch Garden Kit!  AeroGrow International came through as promised and the box arrived via Standard Overnight, shipped from College Park, MD.  One side of the box was covered in a Nursery Inspection Certificate from the State of Maryland Department of Agriculture Plant Protection and Weed Management Section that states the plants that I received do not contain any “dangerously injurious plant pests.”

The Nursery Inspection Certificate was made out to:

Five Aces Breeding, LLC
Harry Jan Swartz
16022 Jerald Road
Laurel, MD 20707

(3879) NIC 458
Five Aces Breeding, LLC
Harry Jan Swartz
Research Greenhouse Bldg. 398
Univ. of MD. Section C-4
College Park, MD 20742

Hmmm… I pulled up the first address and it is just a house, so I think it is safe to say that the plants are starting their lives out at the University of Maryland.  I did a little searching and found out from University of Maryland Facilities Mangement that Building 398 is an $18 million dollar research greenhouse complex that was completed in September 2003.  I guess these are Terrapin strawberries!

On another interesting note, FedEx had the shipping charges listed on the label:

Shipping: $23.13
Special: $4.86
Handling: $0.00
Total: $27.99

Wow.  Did AeroGrow really give FedEx $27.99 out of the $39.90 I paid them?  That only leaves $11.91 for the plants, r&d, marketing, etc…   Well, either way, I’m pumped that the new strawberry plants are here and I’m ready to dive into the box.  Let’s check it out.

After reading AeroGrow International’s press release for the new Strawberry Patch kit, I wanted to learn more about the strawberry plants I would be receiving.   AeroGrow mentioned that their Sweet Rubies variety had been developed in England by the Edward Vinson Company.

Edward Vinson Limited is a family owned Company based in Kent whose origins go back 150 years.  They have been in the berry production game for 150+ years and are one of the leading innovators of new methods of fruit production. Traditionally, the business concentrated on growing a wide range of fruit and vegetable crops for sale into the London markets.  Today, EVL has adapted to the pressures caused by the global market and increased their concentration on the strawberry crop, building specialist new enterprises in order to meet increasing customer demand for summer fruits.  Recent developments include major investment into the propagation of strawberry plants and the creation of a major new raspberry enterprise in response to customer demand.

Edward Vinson’s Strawberry Breeding Program was established in 1986 with the intention of producing improved Everbearer varieties for the Northern European market.  Currently the program is being extended, planting some 33,000 seedlings per year with the aim of producing improved varieties for the world to enjoy. A co-operation agreement exists with Five Aces Breeding based in Maryland USA.  Five Aces has a similar wide field of activity and the agreement allows “significant benefits to both parties.”

You can find out more information about Edward Vinson Limited at their website: www.edwardvinson.co.uk