Friday, June 14, 2013

Sign of the season

They look like strawberries ... on steroids. But if you grew up eating wild strawberries or even the ones sold commercially 50 years ago, they are a curiosity, Frankenberries. 

The berries pictured here are supposed to be "organic" -- I sure hope that is not a lie. Ones that are not "organic" have been grown using the pesticide methyl bromide which we were supposed to ban by 2005 because it contributes to ozone depletion, not to mention poisoning the people who work in the fields. Or perhaps they are using methyl iodide -- that one is a "highly toxic chemical." These days, farmers either can't get these or know that the days of the use of fumigants on their crops are numbered. More here.

Meanwhile, we're gorging on these at this season. It's just that we don't think of them as "strawberries." Rather, they seem to be a slightly sweet, fiber-filled, root vegetable, very tasty roughage to go with cereal.

1 comment:

Hattie said...

We get wonderful organic berries year round in Hilo, Hawaii. Hydroponically grown, but that is the only way it can be done organically here without resorting to pesticides.