A Berry by Any Other Name

I’m still processing the post-dinner conversation with my kids during which they debated whether feet were officially weird and whether vegans who watch the TV show Glee should be called “vleegans” or “vegleegans.” “Dad,” my daughter calls while flossing her teeth, “did you ever want to change your name?” She’s staring intently in the mirror. “When I was a kid,” I say, “I wanted my name to be Steve Austin, after this guy in a show called The Six Million Dollar Man.” “That’s just weird,” she mutters and then spits. “I want my name to be Rocket La Julio.” She continues flossing, and I catch just the slightest flicker of a smile in the mirror. “Even if you were Rocket La Julio,” I say, “you’d still be a goof.” We both crack up.

While Rocket La Julio is a pretty cool name and no doubt comes with some kind of superhero suit, it’s still just a name. Superheroes’ names are always descriptive of their powers. Wouldn’t it be strange if all heroes were just called “hero?” In the fruit world, that’s what happens with the poor strawberry.

During the spring and summer, we’ll have all sorts of strawberries in our Harvest Flyer and Organic mixed boxes. Different farmers grow different berries based on their soil and weather. They might grow Albions or Seascapes, Camerosas or Chandlers — there are lots of varieties.

Our buyer Rebecca notes that, to her palate, the Albions are a bit fruitier while the Camerosas are a bit more acidic. Strawberries can be divided into shape groupings. Generally, Seascapes are long conic, Diamantes are globose conic or conic, and Camerosas are long wedge. It’s tough to determine exactly which variety a strawberry may be just by its shape, as there can be some variability. To know precisely which berry is in your mix, visit fruitguys.com/mix.

Enjoy & Be Fruitful! chiefbanana@fruitguys.com