This Sunday, February 27^th, is National Strawberry Day and having just expanded production of our own greenhouse grown strawberries we wanted to pay homage to this delicious berry. Aside from being absolutely delicious and naturally sweet, these gems are chock-full of health benefits. From protecting your heart to increasing good cholesterol, lowering your blood pressure and guarding against cancer, strawberries run the gamut when it comes to aiding in your health journey. Plus, with more than 600 varieties of this fruit, there’s a lot to love.

Jam packed with vitamins, fiber, and high levels of antioxidants, strawberries are host to a plethora of nutrients. Plus, just one serving provides more vitamin C than an orange! They are also a sodium-free, fat-free, cholesterol-free, low-calorie food.

Aside from all the good-for-you goodness, we wanted to fill you in on some little-known and very interesting strawberry facts:

• The average strawberry has 200 seeds.
• 94% of US households consume strawberries.
• Ancient Romans believed that strawberries had medicinal powers.
• Considered members of the rose family, strawberry bushes give off a sweet fragrance.
• Strawberries also come in other colors such as yellow, white, black, and purple.
• Strawberries are the only fruit that have their seeds on the outside.

Originally from Europe, the strawberry dates back to the Roman Empire and possibly even to the Greeks before that. Jump ahead a while and the first American species of strawberry was cultivated around 1835 and there’s a widely held belief that the strawberry got its name from the common practice of growing the berries under straw to protect them from frost.

While the strawberry’s versatility lends itself to numerous desserts like smoothies, milkshakes, and others; strawberries can also be enjoyed in savory applications as well with bruschetta, steaks and more!

As with all of the produce at Nature Fresh Farms, with the new strawberries you can rest assured that you’re eating some of the most sustainable berries on the planet. We recycle 100% of our nutrient water, grow in coconut husks, and use bumble bees to pollinate our flowers.