By CINDY STOCKETT
For The Beachcomber

Anyone who has lived on Vashon Island for any length of time knows that the island used to be home to many commercial strawberry fields. In the early 1920s, Japanese farmers grew a type of berry called Marshall strawberries. Most notably, B.D. Mukai had a prospering farm of 60 acres on Vashon that sold Marshall strawberries.

These strawberries were known for their amazing flavor, beautiful red coloring throughout the berry and exceptional size. Marshalls would put to shame the commercial strawberries that are grown today. The modern-day berries ship well, have a long shelf life and a nice cardboard taste. In contrast, the Marshall strawberry had a short harvest time (literally a few days) and didn’t ship well because of their softness. But oh, the flavor made it all worth it.

B.D. Mukai figured out a cold packing process so these delicate berries could be shipped as far away as Chicago and even to London. In later years, the strawberry maggot and the strawberry root weevil infected the berry crop. This proved to be devastating to the Marshalls. In addition, commercial strawberry farmers developed varieties that proved to suit the needs of shipping and durability. It wasn’t long before Marshalls were no longer grown and basically forgotten.

As a member of the Friends of Mukai, a group that is hoping to restore the once-famous Mukai Japanese strolling garden, it seemed like a natural fit that if the restoration comes to pass, it would be a nice bit of history to have a plot of Marshall strawberries growing on the Mukai farm.

With that idea in mind, I began researching the Marshall strawberries. I assumed it would just be a matter of searching on the internet for a grower and ordering some plants. It didn’t take long to discover that Marshall strawberries are no longer available, no longer grown — gone.

I did find one source, a woman in Indiana that was selling a single Marshall strawberry plant (in a decorative pot) for $65!  Hmm, time to look elsewhere. Another internet entry mentioned that Marshalls were being grown on a small plot on Bainbridge Island by a group called the Friends of Farmers. They had acquired the plants from an elderly Japanese farmer who had grown these in years past for commercial use. They were willing to sell me a few plants. So shovel in the trunk, I made the trip to Bainbridge this spring with a friend and we dug up and transported seven tiny plants back to Vashon. They are now growing in three areas of my garden, in case one succumbs to disease.

The tale isn’t over. After more searching, I discovered that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Clonal Germplasm Repository in Corvallis, Ore., is the keeper and last stop for endangered varieties of fruits and vegetables. I promptly contacted them and discovered they do not ship or share starts with private folks. After explaining that I would be the caretaker of these Marshalls until they can be placed in their rightful plot on the Mukai farm, they agreed to ship me a few plants when the strawberry plants send out runners. Needless to say, I’m still waiting for them to arrive in the mail.

One more chapter to the story. A month ago, I learned that Helen Brocard, a longtime Vashon resident, had acquired three Marshall strawberry plants from the Germplasm Repository about six years ago. She hoped to grow some since she remembers her family growing Marshalls when she was a child growing up on Vashon. She told me that when the plants arrived from Corvallis, two promptly died, but the one that survived multiplied and sent out many runners. She now had a nice plot of Marshalls. In recent months, Helen had decided to move to Seattle to be closer to her daughter. She graciously agreed to allow us to dig up some of her plants and take care of them until they can indeed return to the Mukai farm.

I’m sure this isn’t the end of the story; it is just another chapter. With a bit of luck and a lot of perseverance by the Friends of Mukai, the Mukai farm and historic Japanese garden will one day be restored and have an established field of Marshall strawberries. Perhaps we will all be able to grow this aromatic, sweet-flavored, beautiful berry in our own gardens and remember a bit of Vashon history with every bite.

— Cindy Stockett is a retired teacher and member of the Friends of Mukai.