10 Fun Facts About Strawberries!
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!
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.
Giant strawberries can be as large as apples. Challenge accepted!
Strawberries have a higher antioxidant value than carrots, helping prevent cataracts and other degenerative eye problems! That’s all the reason I need to serve strawberry shortcake for dinner!! 😉
94% of households in the US consume strawberries.
If all the strawberries produced in California in one year were laid berry to berry, they would go around the world 15 times. Umm, so I would totally pick those up and make a boatload of strawberry jam. Wouldn’t you? Strawberry jam on warm buttered toast = PERFECTION.
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.”
Native American Indians called strawberries “heart-seed berries” and pounded them into their cornmeal bread.
Colonists tasted that bread and loved it, deciding to create their own version, which became an American favorite that we all know and love: Strawberry Shortcake.
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.
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.
So there you have it, 10 fun facts about strawberries!
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
Have more strawberries than you can eat? Freeze them! I show you how to freeze strawberries in this step by step tutorial.
For more fun facts about your fruits and vegetables, pop on over HERE.
Donna says
I had never heard the part about Native American Indians adding strawberries to their cornbread and now I must try it! I love learning the history of food.
Rosemary says
We have wild strawberries that grow in our yard – they are very small. I pick them and give them to our chickens (they love strawberries). I found some strawberries on sale a couple of weeks ago, so I made sugar free jam (and sent some to my sons for Father’s Day). A bowl of strawberries with lots of whipped cream on top – Yum!
Susan says
LOVE strawberries and can easily 10+ pounds in a season (who knows how many in a year). In fact, I’m heading out to do some u-pick this afternoon.
Where I’m at in the Everett, WA area, I have alpine strawberries planted in a shady spot as we don’t have a ton of full sun areas in the yard. Looking forward to these tiny berries in the next week or so!