Known for flowers, Mother’s Day and the National Day of Prayer, May is also…National Strawberry Month!
The strawberry, red, heart-shaped and delicious, has been around for centuries. A smaller version of this berry can be traced to A.D. 900 when Anglo-Saxons called it “hay berry” because it ripened at the same time the hay was mown.
By the 14th century it was common for royals to cultivate the strawberry plant for its flower which was more useful as an ornament than the berries as a fruit. By the 16th century the demand for strawberries in England grew, and it became a common garden plant, ornament and table delicacy.
Strawberries were here when the settlers landed. Native American Indians called them “heart-seed berries” and used them pounded into their cornmeal bread. Colonists developed their own version of strawberry shortcake.
The development of the modern strawberry began in the 1600s when the Virginia strawberry reached Europe. By the 1800s t...