There is something special about the taste of strawberries picked straight off of the vine. Cathy Isom tells us about a celebration day to have us grabbing our baskets. You won’t want to miss celebrating this sweet and tasty holiday. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
National Pick Strawberries Day
From: Cute Calendar
Pick Strawberries Day
P
ick Strawberries Day is celebrated on May 20, 2016. The day invites you to go outside in the garden or on the field to pick fresh strawberries. Strawberries are popular and rewarding plants to grow in the domestic environment, be it for consumption or exhibition purposes, almost anywhere in the world.
The strawberry fruit is widely appreciated for its characteristic aroma, bright red color, juicy texture, and sweetness. It is consumed in large quantities, either fresh or in prepared foods such as preserves, fruit juice, pies, ice creams, milkshakes, and chocolates.
This fruit is very low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. It is also a good source of folate and potassium, and a very good source of dietary fiber, and manganese. Just one serving of about eight strawberries provides more vitamin C than an orange. The strawberry is among the top 20 fruits in antioxidant capacity.
From: Gardner’s Network
Growing Strawberries
Strawberries are the first fruit of spring. Everyone looks forward to growing and eating sweet and delicious berries and the wide variety of uses. If you have kids, get them to help with the planting and weeding. They will definitely take part in the picking and eating. If you are not watchful, they just might pick and eat the entire 
crop, right there in your garden! Oh, watch out for those big “kids” too, because everybody loves fresh strawberries.
Strawberry plants are an easy to grow perennial. They are one of the most common fruits in the home garden for both their ease of growth and popularity at the table…if they get that far. There are recipes and uses galore from fruits to jams and jellies, drinks, baking recipes and more. Not only do they taste good, they are good for you, packed with lots of vitamins and minerals. In addition, they have had medicinal uses over the years.
Did you Know? Michael Kent produced and displayed the first cultivated strawberry in 1806. Prior to that, strawberries were grown and picked in the wild.