Monday, July 14, 2008

Scrumptious Summer Strawberries

One of my favorite things to do in the summer is to go strawberry picking with my kids. Here's a few photos of a recent trip we took with our homeschool group:




Don't those look delish! And they were! They were so moist and didn't have any tartness to them whatsoever.



We live in Virginia, but did you know that California provides 88% of the nation's strawberries?! And the harvest is particularly bountiful this year, lucky for us.

There are over 35,000 acres of fields across California and nearly 6 million crates of fresh, scrumptious strawberries will be picked just this week and delivered to grocery stores nationwide.

Here are some fun strawberry facts to share with your kids:
  • If you lined up all of the strawberries grown in California in one straight line, they would wrap around the entire Earth 15 times.
  • Guessing game! There are about 200 seeds on the outside of each strawberry.
  • California harvests over a billion pounds of strawberries annually.
  • One acre of land (about the size of one football field) grows about 50,000 pounds of strawberries - that's the same weight as 4 elephants!

And for us moms:
  • Strawberries contain powerful antioxidants and rank second among the top ten fruits in antioxidant capacity: one serving of strawberries contains more Vitamin C than an orange.
  • Strawberries may help reduce the risk of heart disease, fight some types of cancer and lower blood pressure. Not bad for a little red berry!
  • Don't forget! The antioxidants in strawberries also aid in memory performance and may help prevent Alzheimer's disease by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation, two key factors that can cause age-related diminished brain function.



Now that you know that strawberries are both delicious AND good for you, head on over to the California Strawberry Commission and find hundreds of ways to serve them with all of the delicious recipes on the site. Check out this recipe for Chocolate Mousse with Strawberry Cream. *drool*

And for the kids, visit California Strawberry Kids, where there are tons of activities, games, facts and interactive fun!

Happy eating!
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