Strawberries Fact -- and Fancy

Years ago strawberries were carved
into cathedral pillars to symbolize perfection.

If you were told to pick out the best tasting berries from a platter, which of these would you choose? (a) strawberries (b) blackberries (c) raspberries (d) none of these.

What if another platter held (e) tomatoes (f) grapes (g) blueberries (h) none of these -- then which ones would you choose?

According to the World Book, a berry is a "fleshy, many-seeded fruit with the seeds embedded inside the flesh of a single, juicy, enlarged ovary." So actually, tomatoes, blueberries, and grapes are your best berries. Tomatoes come from the nightshade family. Blueberries are part of the heath family. Grapes are in a family all their own.

Strawberries aren't even in the berry family at all. Nor are strawberries part of the "straw" family; They were originally known as "Strewberries" because they were found Strewn among the foliage. Strawberries, blackberries and raspberries {as well as apricots, cherries, peaches and plums,} are members of the Rose Family. There are almost 200 "seeds" on the surface of a single fruit.

Maybe they aren't berries, but strawberries do produce more food per acre, per time unit than any other fruit of the fields in the world. If all the strawberries produced in just California and in just this year alone were laid from end to end, they'd wrap around the world 15 times!

Strawberries can be raised in a pot,
on a hill,
on a row,
in a barrel,
in a stack,
on a rocket,
on a shelf,
in a window,
and in a hurry.

They are great in your Cheerios. In fact, Cheerios has come out with a Berry Burst Cheerios package featuring dried STRAWBERRIES. Berries have been featured on packages of Cheerios since 1953, when strawberries were first added to the picture of the bowl of cereal on the box.

Strawberries are also delicious in ice cream,
with cream,
on ice cream,
   on cakes,
      in brulee,
         on tarts,
in pie,
on cookies,
in doughnuts,
   on doughnuts,
     as a sauce,
       as an icing,
           as pudding,
                 as filling,
and in a thousand other variations of these.

Strawberries have more vitamin C than oranges,
more sugar per ounce than a delicious apple.

Furthermore, they are endowed with greater smacking power; 2.5 cups of strawberries are less fattening than 10 small jelly beans.

Is it any wonder the ancient Romans thought that strawberries could cure everything from loose teeth to gastritis?

Today there is some proof they can help control some forms of cancer.

What more could you ask from a little "berry" ready to pick in just a matter of weeks?

To dine sumptuously, Pick out brightly colored, plump berries that still have their green caps attached and preferably uniform in size. If they feel soft, or look shriveled or moldy choose some other berries.

Store them unwashed until ready to use. Lay them on, or wrap them in a paper towel inside a moisture-proof container. Keep them in the fridge for about 2 days to give them a crisp chill.

Lin Stone is an author, writer and photographer living in Mena Arkansas among the gentle mountains known as Ouachita. His articles and essays are syndicated by talewins to be published automatically on other web sites. He writes about adventures and he writes about the peaceable things of this world for Share Your State. In his spare time Lin writes copy for Insurance Roundup Roundup. You can have immediate, and free, reading of many more pieces when you send your little surfer scooting to Lin's home page at http://www.talewins.com/StoneSoup.htm where he keeps stirring up more good things for the soul.

No information contained on this site should be used as a substitute for the advice of an appropriately qualified and licensed professional in that particular field.