What other fruit symbolises the British summer as perfectly as the strawberry? This luscious, fragrant fruit, which is a member of the rose family, heralds all that's good about the British summer, so I make no apology for highlighting its attributes once more. Who can fail to celebrate its arrival? Besides providing chefs and cooks with a versatile ingredient that's now being used extensively in savoury dishes as well as puddings, strawberries signify so much.
The juicy strawberries we eat today are the result of several centuries of crossbreeding the original wild forest strawberry (Fragaria vesca), which has occurred naturally throughout the British Isles since the Ice Age. It's name comes from the Latin fraga, because of the fragrance of the fruits, and vesca, which means little.
Not much is known about them, unfortunately, as there are no records documenting the gathering of these wild strawberries and this fruit has never been a staple of agriculture. These wild strawberries can still be enjoyed today - some strawberry farmers actually cultivate them especially for chefs who either use them as garnish or because of their depth of flavour. They are popular with jam makers too, despite being no bigger than a small fingernail. Gardeners can obtain wild strawberry plants from producers in Kent by going to the www.englishplants.co.uk website.
When I planted my first wild strawberry ten years ago, I had no idea that by leaving it to do its own thing it would eventually scatter its seeds all over the garden. Now I have a plentiful crop hiding alongside and under my rose bushes which can be used to enhance my summer dishes.
No one can be certain how they acquired the common name strawberries though it's thought it came about due to the practice of children threading them on straws while harvesting them.
I rather like the fact that when the Doctrine of Signatures was developed during the Middle Ages, strawberries were considered good for heart disease as the shape and colour of the fruit resembled the human heart. Intellectuals of the time believed that the creator gave clues about the values imbued in plants through their shape and colour, which is why walnuts were seen to aid the brain and phallic-shaped fruits and vegetables were considered aphrodisiacs. I say this because today's scientists have identified a host of antioxidant chemicals in strawberries that are believed to help protect against heart disease. They also contain exceptionally high levels of zinc thanks to the fact we eat the seeds growing on the skin of the strawberry, which is something we don't normally do when enjoying other fruits. Seeds always provide a health-giving bonus.
Strawberries are considered an anti-cancer fruit too as they are high in four anti-cancer nutrients not found in vitamin pills. They are also rich in vitamin C. In other words, they are good for us, particularly when eaten while still warm from the sun that helped ripen them.
Oxfordshire has a wealth of Pick Your Owns where a variety of strawberries are now ripening and ready to pick.
The strawberries sold in supermarkets are usually the Elsanta variety, which account for at least 80 per cent of their sales, as they travel well, and look good for longer than some varieties.
If like me, you enjoy a variety of tastes, and feel the ubiquity of Elsanta deprives the strawberry season of diversity, you need to visit a Pick Your Own where the Honeoye strawberries usually ripen first. Honeoye are a delightful strawberry and even more flavoursome for being the first.
Eros is a mid-season strawberry which is considered very similar to Elsanta. Their regular, conical-shaped berries have a well balanced flavour. You should discover Bolero mid-summer. Don't be put off by its orange-red skin colour, this firm fruit has a very superior flavour - it's particularly fragrant too.
Pegasus, which are one of my favourites, have a superb, bright glossy skin and a juicy sweetness I find particularly attractive. You will find these ripening mid to late summer.
The main Oxfordshire Pick Your Owns operating this year include Rectory Farm, Pound Lane, Stanton St John, which has won the Pick-Year-Own of the Year Award. It's here that you will find a good selection of strawberries throughout the summer, along with the most luscious redcurrants and a wealth of other fruits and vegetables.
Millets Farm, Kingston Road, Frilford, near Abingdon, has a great variety of strawberries, too, including some grown above ground on tables to make picking easier. Their strawberry season extends right into autumn. And if you don't have time to pick your own, they have an ample supply of ready-picked strawberries.
Peach Croft Farm, White's Lane, Radley, will be offering an excellent crop, too, which can be purchased ready picked if you wish. You can even enjoy them served with double cream in the small restaurant alongside Wells Stores, where the award-winning cheesemonger, Gill Draycott, sells the farm produce.
Q Gardens, Milton Hill, near Steventon, also has a great selection of freshly picked strawberries, if you don't want to wander the fields and pick your own. You will also discover a wide selection of freshly-harvested fruits and vegetables in their farm shop.
Last, but by no means least, there's Medley Manor Farm, run by the enterprising Gee family who suffered so badly in the floods last year. Miraculously, they have managed to survive the waters which lay on their fields for almost two weeks when the Thames broke her banks. Much was lost. However, their hard work during the winter months and their ambitious re-planting programme has paid off. The strawberries are flourishing and all other fruits are almost ready to pick.
Let's raise our glasses to British strawberries and the farmers who grow them.
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