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Ripen Your Berry Know-how! |
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The Festival is a celebration of the tasty fruit that wears its seeds on the outside. But do you know some "berry" interesting and fruitful facts? —Basketberries . . . (hmm!) Although there is no real answer to the question of where strawberries got their name, many people believe the myth that the heart-shaped berries were named in the nineteenth-century by English children. They picked the fruit, strung them on grass straws and sold them. "Straws of berries" are now sold as "baskets of berries" but the name strawberry remains. Another theory is the name was derived from the nineteenth-century practice of placing straw around the growing berry plants to protect the ripening fruit. Still others say the appearance of the fruit within the plant inspired the name. Strawberry plants have short roots and a short stem. Leaves grow from the stem in groups of three, so the fruit seems to be strewn among the leaves. The original strewberry therefore became known as the strawberry. —The strawberry belongs to the genus Fragraria in the rose family, along with apples and plums. The name of the scientific classification was derived from the Old Latin word for fragrant. —Botanists do not classify the strawberry as a true berry. True berries, such as blueberries and cranberries have seeds inside. The fleshy part of the strawberry, however has its dry, yellow "seeds" on the outside, each of which is actually considered a separate fruit. —Native Americans called the fragrant fruit "heart-seed berries" and pounded them into their traditional corn-meal bread. Discovering the great taste of the Native Americans bread, colonists decided to create their own version, which became an American favorite that we all know and love ... Strawberry Shortcake. —People in ancient times could only hope to dream of strawberries. It was a good sign. For instance, the wife of a young man who dreamt of the sweet fruit was sure to be a sweetheart and bear him many children, all boys. —A treat to the taste buds for many, the English and French also found strawberries friendly to the eye. They used the beautiful heart-shaped berries to landscape their gardens. In fourteenth-century France, Charles V ordered twelve hundred strawberry plants to be grown in the Royal Gardens of the Louvre. —In the tradition of courtly love, strawberries were used as flirtatious signals, meaning "you intoxicate me with delight" and "you are delicious." In art and literature, a symbol of sensuality and earthly desire, the fruit was regarded as an aphrodisiac of the highest quality. In fact, at wedding breakfasts in provincial France, newlyweds traditionally were served a soup of thinned sour cream, strawberries, borage and powdered sugar. —On the average, there are 200 tiny seeds in every strawberry. *If all the strawberries produced in California this year were laid berry to berry, they'd wrap around the world 15 times. That's enough strawberries to provide every U.S. household with 12 pint baskets. *Respondents to a recent national survey labeled strawberry lovers as "health conscious, fun loving, intelligent and happy." Non-strawberry lovers, on the other hand, were described as "weird, boring, stuffy--picky, fussy eaters who avoid healthy foods." "BERRY" HEALTHY TIPS —If you're expecting a baby, you'll be very interested in some of the new discoveries about folic acid. In fact, eight strawberries have 20% of the folic acid you need every day. —Fresh juice from sieved strawberry pulp has a cooling effect on feverish patients. For a cooling and purifying drink, either pour water on crushed berries or chop the berries roughly and whirl in a blender with a little water. —As part of the five-a-day program suggested by the American Cancer Institute, strawberries can also play a part in helping you to reduce the risk of cancer or heart disease. —Strawberry juice combined with honey will reduce inflammation or sunburn. Rub the mixture thoroughly into the skin before rinsing off with warm water and lemon juice. GROWING CALIFORNIA STRAWBERRIES For those interested in knowing where to go to "pick
your own" strawberries please contact:
—The largest producing state, California harvests 83% of the strawberries grown in the U.S. on approximately 24,500 acres. And with about 5,000 commercial acres, Florida is the second largest producing state. Ideal temperature for strawberry plants should not exceed higher than 78 degrees or lower than 55 degrees. —Every strawberry plant is hand-picked approximately every three days. This is the time in which it takes for strawberries to complete their cycle of turning from green to white to red. There is no storage of fresh strawberries. After picking, they are rushed to coolers where huge fans extract the field heat. Then they are delivered to supermarkets across the country via refrigerated trucks.
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