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Strawberries are my all time favorite fruit,
not only for their flavor, but, also, because they usher it
the best time of the year. I live in the northern part of
the United States where winters can be long and dreary. It
is the end of April as I write this and we have just cleared
away 2 feet of snow, a record for this time of year. It was
a heavy wet snow that brought down power lines and broke the
branches off the blossoming trees. May can have snow too,
but June, ah JUNE! “Then, if ever come perfect days” to
quote Shakespeare. And the climaxing event is the first
strawberries from my little patch.
Strawberry fields
in California
We have store-bought strawberries all year.
They are grown in strawberry fields in California and are so
big that you can’t hold more than three in your hand. They
are hybrids that have been carefully developed for their
disease resistance, for their long growing season, their
ability to withstand the rigors of shipping, and their
ability to make an appealing presentation on the grocer’s
shelf.
Strawberry flavor
It seems that somewhere along the line,
someone forgot about flavor. I am told that there is only a
certain amount of flavor that a berry can have and a huge
berry must have the flavor diluted to be distributed
throughout the berry. That sounds like an excuse to me,
because the ripe berry, the truly fully vine ripened berry
is soft, red and juicy all the way through, and not crisp
and white on the inside like the, (excuse the expression)
‘supermarket’ berry. Again, this is all about growing,
packaging, shipping and presentation. The lush, fully vine
ripened berries wouldn’t last long enough to get out of
town. So we have a compromise. The berries are the best that
can be shipped 3000 miles and still arrive in presentable
condition.
I appreciate the availability of strawberries all year long,
really, I do. But there is absolutely nothing that compares
with the fragrance and taste of a fresh, fully ripened
strawberry just off the vine. It won’t be a huge berry. It
will likely be ¾ of an inch wide and an inch long and
sometimes larger, but it will be dark red with a bright
shiny skin and it will be red – all the way through, It will
be bursting, nay, EXPLODING with such a sweet aroma and
juicy flavor that it will transport a normal, healthy person
to ecstasy.
This conquest will not be without opposition. The robins,
the rabbits, the slugs, and a host of other critters will be
after my prize, too. (I am exceptionally generous, and will
allow the overripe and damaged berries to remain for the
taker.) I had a dog who was a true strawberry connoisseur.
He would delicately pluck a ripe strawberry off the vine
with his teeth. (So much for this ‘man’s best friend’
business!)
Strawberry
varieties
There are literally hundreds of varieties. I
find that there are three general classifications of
strawberries, relating to when they are available to be
harvested. They are the spring, June, and the ever bearing.
Commercial growers select the kind that provides a
continuing harvest, all year long. I prefer the June
variety.
Harvesting
strawberries
Within three weeks or so, the harvest will
be over. During this period, I will revel in the daily
routine of discovering my new cache of rubies. It is quickly
harvested and processed for whatever purpose is intended. A
lot will be eaten fresh for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Some will be given to envious friends and neighbors, and,
hopefully, when the celebration is over, I will have rows of
strawberry jam on my pantry shelves and my taste buds will
be satiated with the elegance of fresh strawberries for
another year.
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