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Summer in Michigan means warmer weather, long, lazy afternoons, weekend family outings and the sweetest, fresh strawberries you can imagine. Summer and strawberries just go together!
Strawberry season for Michiganders starts in early June in the Lower Peninsula and ends in late July in the UP.
Though strawberries are grown in every county in Michigan, Berrien, Leelanau and Van Buren are Michigan's largest strawberry-producing counties. In 2001, sales of Michigan strawberries were estimated at $5.5 million. Most of these were sold fresh, picked by consumers at "u-pick" operations around the state.
Speaking of Strawberries…
Did you know that …?
- Strawberries are the only fruit with seeds on the outside and that 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 stonemasons 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.
- Strawberries are the first fruit to ripen in the spring.
- Strawberries are a member of the rose family.
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- Ninety-four percent of U.S. households consume strawberries, eating 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.
Looking for a U-pick farm near you?
We found this website, giving U-pick locations, conveniently broken down into groups of counties by region.
http://www.pickyourown.org/MI.htm
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