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FACTS
GROWING
PICKING
FESTIVAL
RECIPES
OTHER USES
PUZZEL


Main Strawberries

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU SEE THESE? 
 

        If you are like most people, you immediately think of pies or cakes, however, they can be used for so much more. For instance, drinks, hair food and cosmetics.  Well in the few pages that follow I'll share with you not only a few simple recipes for strawberry pie, but other recipes as well.  I'll touch on topics such as Facts, Picking, Growing, Health Benefits, and a Link to Festivals as well as a puzzle for the children.

FACTS

        This is a plant of the rose family grown for its fruit.  The fragrant fruit, red when ripe, is popular for its delicious flavor in fresh, frozen, canned and preserved forms.  The so-called seeds, or achenes, are embedded on the outside of the flesh rather than the inside of the strawberry.  Botanically these are the true fruit, a tiny seed being contained within the dry body of each achene and they are the only fruit with the seeds that grow on the outside of the fruit.  On average, there are 200 seeds in a strawberry.  Strawberries were first called strewberries because of the way they grow, strewn among the leaves of the plant.  As for its roots, seventy percent of a strawberry's roots are located in the top three inches of soil.

History Facts

        According to the Michigan Department of Agriculture, the ancient Romans believed that strawberries alleviated symptoms of melancholy, fainting, all inflammations, fevers, throat infections, kidney stones, bad breath, attacks of gout, and diseases of the blood, liver and spleen.  To symbolize perfection and righteousness, medieval stone masons carved strawberry designs on altars and around the tops of pillars in churches and cathedrals.  Madame Tallinn, a prominent figure at the court of the Emperor Napoleon, was famous for bating in the juice of fresh strawberries.  She used 22 pounds per basin.  Needless to say, she did not bathe daily.

Other Facts

        According to the University of Illinois Department of Agriculture, native forms of strawberries adapt to various climates and are indigenous to every major continent except Africa, Australia and New Zealand.  Ninety-four percent of United States households consume strawberries on average, and according to the United States Department of Agriculture the annual per capita consumption of fresh and frozen strawberries is 4.85 pounds.  Although strawberries are available in many forms - frozen, jams and jellies, and ice cream - nothing compares to the taste of a fresh vine ripened strawberry.