Strawberries

By Ben Baker

Not too long ago, strawberries were either a store-bought item or something people grew in their garden.

Now you-pick farms dot Southwest Georgia. These farms allow you to harvest your strawberries or buy already-picked fruit. You will pay a bit more for baskets out of the coolers because the farm has to cover the labor cost to get the berries in from the field.

CALHOUN PRODUCE

Located at the upper end of Turner County, Calhoun Produce straddles the Crisp and Turner County line. The berry patch is inside Turner County, while other parts of the Georgia Grown farm are a step across the line.

Strawberries are available in spring through early summer. Sometimes, a late cold snap will delay the fruits for a bit. Calhoun’s has even seen a South Georgia freeze threaten the crops. When that happens, they turn on the irrigation. The running water keeps the ice at 32 degrees fahrenheit and protects the plants from extensive damage. The water runs until the temperatures warm and the ice is nearly gone.

Calhoun’s main business is growing beans and peas. Over the years, they have expanded the headquarters to include a small market area and a petting zoo. During the fall, they have a corn maze and activities for school groups.

PAULK VINEYARDS

Before Deana Carter, David Allan Coe sang about strawberry wine in the song “Tennessee Whisky” by Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove. On the far east side of Irwin County, one farm has taken the idea to heart.

Paulk Vineyards produces Satilla Road Sweet strawberry wine from fruit grown at the farm. The farm also operates you-pick strawberry, grape and muscadine fields.

Paulk also makes blueberry, blackberry and muscadine-based wine. Some of their wines are also infused with other fruit flavors. Scuppernongs and muscadines are US native grapes. They both grow in small groups or singly, while imported grapes grow in large bunches. SOME STRAWBERRY FACTS

Strawberries are native to North and South America and Europe. The wild varieties are often small, no bigger than the fingernail on your smallest finger and flavorless. Selective breeding over the centuries lead to today’s varieties that are very sweet and many times the size of their wild cousins.

Fragaria ananassa is the first cross-continent strawberry, accidentally made in France when a plant from Chile was allowed to pollinate a Virginia plant. The English are largely responsible for the varieties that gave rise to today’s commercial plants. Charles Hovey, a nurseryman in Cambridge, MA, in 1834, gets the credit for the first US cross, the Hovey.

The average berry has 200 seeds, on the outside of the fruit. Sometimes the seeds can sprout when still attached to the berry. Every state in the US grows strawberries. Technically, a strawberry is not a berry since the seeds are on the outside.

About 94% of Americans eat strawberries. On average, an American eats 3.4 pounds of the fresh fruit each year and 1.8 pounds of frozen berries.

The current world record is 10.19 ounces and was about the size of the farmer’s hand. Ariel Chahi grew the whopper in Israel. Strawberry Point, Iowa, claims the world’s largest strawberry monument title, but the big one on the Calhoun Produce truck is easier to get to. It is also closer to the ground, making pictures easier.