Searching for sweet strawberry surprises in the spring is a garden adventure I love to share with Kyra. From her wheelchair seat high above the ground, she examines the berry patch, kicking her feet at every bright spot she sees. Sometimes it’s a ripe strawberry. Sometimes a bug. Sometimes a dead leaf. It’s a new adventure every day. Kyra’s job during berry-hunting is holding the produce bowl while I pick. This is no small feat, with her arms in constant motion, her fingers reaching for the warm, bright berries I toss into the bowl, and a cat constantly repositioning himself on her lap.
Berried Treasure
It’s great fun to hunt for these sweet tasty treasures. But, after discovering the nutritional benefits of the strawberry, you might enjoy your hunt even more. According to webmd.com, strawberries are “… among the top 20 fruits in antioxidant capacity and are a good source of manganese and potassium. Just one serving — about eight strawberries — provides more vitamin C than an orange.”
That tiny berry packs a punch! You might find that strawberries grown at home, or those you find at your local farmers’ market, aren’t as large and perfectly-formed as those you find in a Styrofoam box covered in cellophane in your grocer’s produce aisle. Even though the home-grown variety may be paltry in size, the taste makes up for it. And, unlike the raspberry, whose seeds cause tube trouble, strawberries adapt easily to feeding tubes.
Since the strawberry is a member of the rose family, Shakespeare might well have said, “A strawberry by any other name would taste as sweet.”
We have successfully grown a mix of June-bearing and ever-bearing strawberries along the sides of our house, under shrubs, in hanging pots, in raised beds, and in Kyra’s window-box garden (so you know they withstand a fair amount of “yanking”). Strawberry plants, once fruiting is complete, make an attractive ground cover that fills a space quickly, choke out weeds and withstand frigid Iowa winters.
For best production, the strawberry bed should be allowed to “rest” the first year of planting, and ploughed under and replanted after the fourth year. (However, procrastinators should not be discouraged. We maintained a highly productive strawberry bed for 7 years before beginning our rotation process.)
Sweet Strawberry Snacks
Everyone in your family will enjoy these blended berry snacks. Be sure to strain through a fine-mesh strainer before feeding through a feeding tube! Makes 4-5 half-cup servings, about 350 calories each.
- 1 cup coconut milk. Choose the preferred creamy-milky-type beverage your family enjoys, such as whole milk, almond milk, soy milk, or tofu.
- 2 heaping cups chopped fruit. You can use strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, chopped apples (unpeeled), rhubarb, peaches, whatever is in season. I recommend avoiding raspberries, as their seeds tend to pass through the food strainer, but clog Kyra’s feeding tube.
- 1 cup chopped nuts. I use mostly walnuts, because they are readily available on our acreage and my father-in-law’s farm. You may choose other nuts available to you. Be careful with peanuts, which are legumes (like lentils and navy beans) and not true nuts, and are more often associated with food sensitivities.
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Cinnamon brings out the sweetness of fruit. Besides, it provides essential nutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin K, manganese, and fiber.
- 2 Tablespoons honey (optional) If you need a sweetener for your smoothie, use honey (unless you’re feeding a baby under a year old). Locally-produced honey is said to boost your immune system and help fight allergies.
Add one ingredient at a time, and blend well. Depending on the moisture content and density of the fruit, you may need to add a Tablespoon or two of coconut milk (or other liquid) to the mix. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer before feeding through a feeding tube.
Peace and many sweet strawberry surprises to you,
Sara & Kyra
