14 Things You Didn T Know About Strawberry

Strawberries have become one of the leading produce in the United States and are grown on over fifty-five thousand acres of land (extension.psu.edu/.../horticulture/fruits/strawberry-production). Some interesting facts about strawberries are that, in Belgium they have a museum called Le Musee de la Fraise which means The Strawberry Museum and is solely about strawberries. Did you know that they are a member of the rose family? Also, they are the only fruit whose seeds are on the outside, with an average of 200 seeds; Americans eat about three and a half pounds of fresh strawberries each per year (Martineau, Chantal. “14 Things You Didn’t Know About Strawberries”. May.20.2013. http://www.foodrepublic.com/2013/05/20/14-things-you-didnt-know-about-strawberries/).

The history of the strawberry goes all the way back to the thirteenth century. The word strawberry come from old English streawberige (Filippone, Trowbridge Peggy. The Spruce, Strawberry History. 3/29/2015). It wasn’t until the Renaissance period in Europe when strawberries cultivated, they would grow them in their gardens. The Romans and Greeks used strawberries for medical purposes as they believed they possess healing power. They would also serve them to newlyweds for breakfast as they also believed that they were an aphrodisiac. Native to North America, because they grew naturally in the wild the early Americans did not attempt to till the ground and mass produce them. They were first growing on the east coast but pioneers who traveled west introduced the strawberry. Commercialization began in the nineteenth century. California was much more advanced in cultivation technologies and in no time, became the largest growing industry; with Florida and Oregon being the second and third. The advancement of refrigerated railroad cars made the shipping of strawberries much easier and production spread southward. Per the California Strawberry Commission, California is the nation's leading