In New England, the strawberry found plenty of fertile ground to take root. It was the custom of local native tribes in Massachusetts and the surrounding areas to burn areas of plants and forests to make space for corn, which coincidentally created fertile places for the wild strawberry plant to establish itself.
This is the first year that my strawberry plants are showing promise in my garden. The big difference seems to be that I've moved them into containers as opposed to growing them in-ground, and basically each plant is allocated to a container. The plants—there are two—have each produced numerous bright pink flowers, which to the the delight of my toddler are showing signs of becoming berries. Considering that we're almost in August, I doubt we'll actually see anything we can eat, but one can dream. And while it might not be as iconic as an apple pie, some strawberry jam on toast isn't a bad alternative. Although the plants can last 5 to 6 years with careful cultivation, most farmers use them as an annual crop, replanting yearly.
Many people assume the common name "strawberry" stems from the fact the plant is most often mulched with straw during the winter. Although the exact origin of its common name is uncertain, the name strawberry probably is a corruption of "strewn berry". The latter was an early designation for the plant which made reference to the fact that, as a strawberry plant produced runners and spread, its berries were strewn about the ground. Other sources suggest its name stems from the fact that English youth picked wild strawberries and sold them impaled on grass straws to the public.
When it comes to American symbols, the apple pie ranks pretty high on the list.
This fruity pastry is embedded in the identity of Americans—right up there with the Statue of Liberty and baseball. But apples aren't native to North America, and pies themselves arrived with the colonists (and were more like Tupperware than pastries both in flavor and function). So what is more American than apple pie? As unlikely as it seems, strawberry bread may be a strong contender.
On the festival grounds visitors enjoyed carnival rides and strolled long row of booths where they could buy a wide array of strawberry treats, fresh strawberries, other food and merchandise.
A hang glider pulled by an airplane was hired to swoop over the festivities but when the big day came, it was so windy a car had to pull it instead. Hoxie’s friend, Woody Williams, had a helicopter so it was also enlisted to give excited riders an aerial view of the festival grounds.
