Thursday, May 15, 2014

Live & Learn -- Strawberries

Last month Stew and I started to notice that strawberries in the grocery store were really starting to look and taste better. Strawberries with fat free sugar free Cool Whip or fat free Greek frozen yogurt is basically our go-to healthy dessert, so we were pretty excited. This sparked a conversation about strawberries as we were having breakfast on Easter morning...

According to my mother, you can tell the origin of strawberries based on the color you see when you cut them open. Strawberries that are white on the inside typically come from Southern California/Mexico, and strawberries that are red all the way through come from the Pacific Northwest (usually later in the season).

I thought that was pretty interesting, and immediately made a mental note to write a Live & Learn post to share my newfound knowledge.

However, when I went online to find some more information and possibly a source, I couldn't find anything! I'll have to ask my mom where she came up with that little tidbit.

But in the meantime, I did learn some other interesting facts about strawberries...


Strawberries are the only fruit that wear their seeds on the outside.
The average berry is adorned with some 200 of them.

Strawberries aren’t true berries, like blueberries or even grapes.
Technically, a berry has its seeds on the inside. And, to be extra technical, each seed on a strawberry is considered by botanists to be its own separate fruit.

Strawberries are members of the rose family.
Should you come upon a bush of them growing, you’ll see: they smell as sweet as they taste.

Americans eat an average of three-and-a-half pounds of fresh strawberries each per year.
It’s closer to five pounds if you count frozen ones.

California produces some 80% of the strawberries in the U.S.
They grow about two billion pounds of the heart-shaped fruits per year.


 So there you have it. More than you ever thought you'd want to know about strawberries. 

Live & Learn, my friends! 
 
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11 comments :

  1. Oh how I want some of those to go with my fruit dip! Now you got me all hungry & its too early to be eating just yet...

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  2. This posts makes me wanna go pick some fresh strawberries! When will I have the time?!!! I need to make some!

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  3. Strawberries are a staple in our home :) There was a time when we would eat strawberry shortcakes almost every weekend !! So delicious and I am totally gonna really look at them when I cut them to see the color difference ;) So neat !!

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  4. Mmmm Northwest strawberries are by far the best. Now I need to go check and see when picking starts. The weather has been so nice I bet it will be soon. So how are you adjusting to motherhood? I had a hard time and some baby blues it is a tough emotional time but it gets soooo much better

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  5. I think moms say a lot of things that turn out to be truths but have no scientific backing :). Must be passed down from generation to generation. Which reminds me, I can't wait for strawberry picking season!

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  6. We are strawberry obsessed in our house right now. This made me excited to eat the fruit packed in my lunch today -- strawberries covered with squeezed lime juice and sprinkled with shredded coconut! Yum yum yum...can't wait until they are in-season here!

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  7. I love strawberries and have noticed that our homegrown ones are sweeter than the grocery store. Also the smaller the sweeter and the larger the more watery.

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  8. I looove strawberries! And you're so right... they're looking MUCH better lately! I'm excited b/c next month I'm going to pick my own. We used to do it for father's day with my dad. I think I'm gonna do that and then stop and leave a few in the cemetery for him. :)

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  9. Hmmm another day, another lesson!

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  10. I've really been craving some homemade strawberry shortcake recently!

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  11. I love strawberries and eat them all the time during the summer in smoothies and in yogurt topped with Grape Nuts cereal. Next time I bite into one I'll think about the facts you mentioned. Thanks for sharing.

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