Strawberry Fields Forever
Do you love strawberries? I do! Sometimes I think I could live off strawberries… We love to pick our own… but sadly the pickin’ patch has a short season. Here’s some photos of us at the pickin’ patch. It actually rained on us while there this day… but we still filled our baskets full!
Some of you knew that I lived in California for a few years… we left Cali in 2005 2002. Well - even after living there I never realized that California provides 88% of the nation’s strawberries. Did you? The region is experiencing an incredibly bountiful harvest this year. The California growers will be picking nearly 6 million crates this week! That means ya’ll need to buy up some strawberries and eat, eat, eat! I know that since our local pick crops are not open all season I’ll be buying some at the store! Gotta have my strawberries! You can grab more info about the California Strawberry Commission here (recipes, too!). I also think you’d enjoy Strawberryville - a fun interactive site with games, activities and “kid-friendly” recipes!
There are a lot of ways to eat strawberries. Strawberry shortcake, strawberries dipped in chocolate or whipped cream, dipped in sugar (Mmmm) or just grabbing some as a quick, sweet snack, strawberries. How do you like to eat Strawberries? I perfer mine fresh cut and dipped in sugar, actually… or as a yummy dessert (shortcake, pies, etc).
Here’s some fun facts for you on my favorite fruit, the Strawberry:
- One acre of land grows about 50,000 pounds of strawberries - that’s the same weight as 4 elephants!
- If you lined up all of the strawberries grown in California in one straight line, they would wrap around the entire Earth 15 times
- There are about 200 seeds on the outside of each strawberry.
- Strawberries rank second among the top ten fruits in antioxidant capacity: one serving of strawberries contains more Vitamin C than an orange.
- Strawberries may help reduce the risk of heart disease, fight some types of cancer and lower blood pressure.
- The antioxidants in strawberries also aid in memory performance and may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation, two key factors that can cause age-related diminished brain function.
Do you have a Strawberry tip, fun fact, or recipe to share?? If so, please share!
June 26th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I learned stuff here today Miss Chick, 50K lbs per acre, let me do the math on that, maybe I should be in the strawberry business.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Great post. I love strawberries. I don’t really have any tips except that they are easy to grow where I live (NC piedmont) and it doesn’t take a lot of room or that many plants. As you say it’s a short growing season but it’s nice to be able to pick them in the morning and drop them on my cereal. Mine have already stopped bearing this year because it’s unseasonably hot but I think some of the nearby pick your own spots still have them. I know they have a lot at the farmer’s market near me. However, my blueberries will be ripe soon and I have ripe blackberries so I’m shifting gears. I don’t have a well maintained garden anymore but there’s still plenty I can eat out of my back yard. That makes me happy.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Mmmmm..the only tip I have right now is for myself! I bought some strawberries yesterday and I’m heading to the ‘frig to eat some of them!
Great, yummy post TNChick!
June 26th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Where I live in So. Cal. right now I am surrounded by strawberry fields. It’s wonderful to go to the roadside stands and buy the berries picked fresh that day. I’ll be buying some today to help with the bumper crop :0)
Enjoy those strawberries!
June 26th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
This recipe (from Southern Living Magazine) is absolutely delicious!
Strawberry Buttermilk Sherbet
2 cups fresh strawberries*
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Garnish: fresh mint sprigs
Preparation
1. Process strawberries in a food processor or blender 30 seconds or until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides. Pour strawberry puree through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a large bowl, pressing with back of a spoon. Discard solids. Add buttermilk, sugar, and vanilla to puree; stir until well blended. Cover and chill 1 hour.
2. Pour strawberry mixture into freezer container of a 1 1/2-qt. electric ice-cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. (Instructions and times may vary.) Garnish, if desired.
*1 (16-oz.) package frozen strawberries, thawed, may be substituted.
Yield
Makes about 4 1/2 cups
June 26th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I did not know that Strawberries are higher in Vitamin C than Oranges - how cool. I do like them just fresh picked with a little sugar
Thanks for sharing these fun facts - some of them are news to me.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I wash and pull the stem off…cut them up and sprinkle with sugar.. let them set awhile and get good and sweet… then I dip them out into a bowl and add whipped cream… delicious… (the best ones I ever had were the ones I stole by putting my hand through the hole in the fence at grandma’s garden. She didn’t want us in there until there were a lot to pick.)
I think I need to go to the grocery store!
June 26th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
WOW! Looks delish! Looks like you had fun to:) Thanks for sharing those yummyness!
June 26th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
I can’t say I have a *tip*, per se, but I have great memories of picking strawberries with my family growing up…great tradition to start!
June 27th, 2008 at 1:31 am
yum! love the pics as well.
June 27th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
No facts, no tips, just eat! Love them!
June 27th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
wow, i never knew about the vitamin C thing in strawberries. I love strawberries too! I didn’t realize that california was the largest provider though. pretty nifty.
Now I want some strawberries. LOL
June 27th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I grew up on berry farm.
My parents had and acre and half of strawberries and raspberries.
Ok here tip on growing them for the first year take off the buds and let the energy go to plant and that will make them health.
June 27th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Great post with superb photos. There’s nothing like growing your own or picking your own strawberries. I had some tonight with cream. Mmmmmm.
June 27th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
What a lovely strawberries. Sure you guys had a loads of fun. Wonderful shots! Happy weekend to the whole family!
June 27th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
yummy pictures.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
great shots
June 27th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
I went to the Strawberry Festival @ Oxnard, when I was in Southern California a month ago! And I loved it!
http://chenpn.com/2008/06/10/california-strawberry-festival/
June 27th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
We love strawberries here too! I know you don’t like chocolate, but we love them dipped in chocolate. : )
My mother in law makes a cake like dessert with twinkies and vanilla pudding and cool whip. It has strawberries in between. It is REALLY good. I’ll have to get the recipe for ya.
Now you’ve flung a craving on me and there are no strawberries here.
June 27th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
looks yummy strawberries are big!