I like produce. I like to grow it. I like to eat it. I like to create recipes with it. I’m also kind of a nerd and like to get to know my produce. I like learning new or fun tidbits of info about the produce I’m growing/eating/baking. If you’re a weirdo like me then buckle up for this new series as I dive into a plethora of produce facts and share them with you. Here we go:
1. Did you know that strawberries aren’t technically berries?! A berry has its seeds on the inside, so botanists consider each seed on a strawberry to be its own separate fruit. Crazy!
2. Americans eat an average of three-and-a-half pounds of fresh strawberries each per year. Apparently I am not the average American because I think I eat that in a month during berry season.
3. Giant strawberries can be as large as apples. Challenge accepted!
4. Strawberries have a higher antioxidant value than carrots, helping prevent cataracts and other degenerative eye problems!
5. 94% of households in the US consume strawberries.
6. If all the strawberries produced in California in one year were laid berry to berry, they would go around the world 15 times.
7. Where did strawberries get their name? Depends on who you ask! Some think that strawberries were named in the nineteenth-century by English children who picked the fruit, strung them on grass straws and sold them as “straws of berries.”
Others think the name was derived from the nineteenth-century practice of placing straw around the growing berry plants to protect the ripening fruit. Another theory is they got their name from the berries that are “strewn” about on the plants, and the name “strewn berry” eventually morphed into “Strawberry.”
8. Native American Indians called strawberries “heart-seed berries” and pounded them into their cornmeal bread. Colonists tastedthat bread and loved it, deciding to create their own version, which became an American favorite that we all know and love: Strawberry Shortcake.
9. Not only are strawberries loaded with antioxidants that can help reduce your risk of cancer or heart disease, but strawberry juice combined with honey will reduce inflammation or sunburn. All you have to do is rub the mixture thoroughly into the skin before rinsing off with warm water and lemon juice.
10. If you’re lookin’ for love, try to find a double strawberry! Legend has it that if you split a double strawberry with someone, the two of you will fall in love. It also should be noted that in ancient Greece, the strawberry was a symbol for Venus, the Goddess of Love.
Had you heard any of those fun facts before? Do you have any of your own to add? Is there a particular produce item you’d like to know more about? I take requests!
Grow on,
~ Mavis
Marybeth says
I planted strawberries last year. I have been picking a handful everyday all week. They went into our steel cut oats this morning. I made hubby a dairy free strawberry milk shake on Memorial Day as a treat. I need to plant more plants because we are really enjoying them.
Emily B. says
Mavis…my guru of all things green, roots and dirt. Over the weekend I read in Southern Living a blurb about a type of strawberry that I’d never heard of. Intrigued I Googled the variety, and bought a pack of 10 bare root plants. Waiting for them to be delivered and exciting to get them in the ground. Are you familiar with Mara des Bois? Small berries, that are supposed to be very sweet and bear fruit from Spring through Fall.
Mavis Butterfield says
Daaaarling, they sound French, and small and no I have not heard of them but they sound fabulous! Let us know what they taste like and if we all need to order some.