Strawberries
are the only fruit with seeds on the outside.
The
average strawberry has 200 seeds.
The
ancient Romans believed that strawberries alleviated symptoms of melancholy,
fainting, all inflammations, fevers, throat infections, kidney stones, bad
breath, attacks of gout, and diseases of the blood, liver and spleen.
To
symbolize perfection and righteousness, medieval stone masons carved
strawberry designs on altars and around the tops of pillars in churches and
cathedrals.
In
parts of Bavaria, country folk still practice the annual rite each spring of
tying small baskets of wild strawberries to the horns of their cattle as an
offering to elves. They believe that the elves, who are passionately fond of
strawberries, will help to produce healthy calves and an abundance of milk
in return.
Madame
Tallien, a prominent figure at the court of the Emperor Napoleon, was famous
for bathing in the juice of fresh strawberries. She used 22 pounds per
basin. Needless to say, she did not bathe daily.
The
fruit size of the very early strawberries was very small.
Strawberries
are the first fruit to ripen in the spring.
There
is a museum in Belgium just for strawberries.
Strawberries
are a member of the rose family.
Ninety-four
percent of U.S. households consume strawberries.
Americans
eat 3.4 pounds of fresh strawberries each year plus another 1.8 pounds
frozen per capita.
Over
53 percent of seven to nine-year-olds picked strawberries as their favorite
fruit.
