... it just doesn't have the same ring to it as the Beatles' "strawberry fields forever," does it?
I very much enjoyed the strawberry picking experience this morning here in the Zhejiang province, in the southern Hangzhou Bay area. I liked getting the opportunity to go see how strawberries are grown in China. Where I grew up in the US, in Washington State, in the good ole PNW (Pacific Northwest), strawberry season is usually around June/July, depending on the "summer" temperatures that year... because that's when the climate is just warm enough for strawberries to be ripe and sweet, and there's typically less moisture to rot them on the plant. When I lived in Costa Rica, strawberries were produced during the driest of the region's two seasons--the "rainy" and the "less-rainy" seasons, since the temperature was moderately warm all year round (strawberries are cultivated in mountainous regions, where temperatures are cooler than in the lower coastal regions). This is my basis for comparison in strawberry growing climates.
The summer, and even spring, climate in this region of China would be far too hot and humid, thus turning the berries to mush. So they choose to cultivate the crop during the winter, in greenhouses. This allows the temperature to be moderately warm inside, heated by the external sun coming into the houses, while the air is drier during the winter, as well. It is a treat to have ripe, sweet strawberries during the winter, since I am accustomed to associating strawberries as a spring or early-summer seasonal delight. I guess that's the long way of explaining my desire to go strawberry picking, despite the fact that I have had sufficient berry-picking experience, growing up in the PNW.
Though we got a little lost on the way to the strawberry greenhouse site (it took an hour and 45 minutes, instead of just the estimated 45 minutes to arrive!), it was all quality time spent as parents, students, and teachers all enjoyed one another's company on the bus ride, chatting, playing, and enjoying the scenery of a sunny Saturday morning. The company was super enjoyable. Once there, we were pleasantly surprised at how warm it was inside the greenhouses, and picked and ate to our hearts' content! While it was cold and clear and sunny outside (maybe around 10ºC, or 50ºF), it was at least 24ºC/76ºF inside those greenhouses! The rows of elevated strawberry beds were covered with plastic, to resist weeds amongst the strawberry plants, so footing was a bit slippery, but we all had fun, jumping over the rows.
I was happy to educate some of the younger girls who were interested in why it is so important to have bee houses (apiaries) inside the greenhouses--to pollinate the flowers on the strawberry plants so that the process is complete. Plus, the honey from the bees is a deliciously sweet harvest in addition to the strawberries! I was enthused that the girls genuinely enjoyed my biology/botany lesson, and were sincerely interested in why the bees were such an important part of having a healthy growing environment. When I asked the kids if they were having fun picking berries, one of the responses (from a 10-year-old boy) was, "We're not having a good time, we're having a delicious time!"
I think we definitely ate our fill of berries, between the hour spent picking, and the 45-minute bus ride back to AIAN at the end of the morning. Kids had red faces from so much berry juice!
Check out more images from the morning in my Facebook album: China, continued (2013)
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| Blue dot: where we picked berries. (in an area called Luatau) Purple pin: Where we live in Beilun. |
I very much enjoyed the strawberry picking experience this morning here in the Zhejiang province, in the southern Hangzhou Bay area. I liked getting the opportunity to go see how strawberries are grown in China. Where I grew up in the US, in Washington State, in the good ole PNW (Pacific Northwest), strawberry season is usually around June/July, depending on the "summer" temperatures that year... because that's when the climate is just warm enough for strawberries to be ripe and sweet, and there's typically less moisture to rot them on the plant. When I lived in Costa Rica, strawberries were produced during the driest of the region's two seasons--the "rainy" and the "less-rainy" seasons, since the temperature was moderately warm all year round (strawberries are cultivated in mountainous regions, where temperatures are cooler than in the lower coastal regions). This is my basis for comparison in strawberry growing climates.
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| Winter-barren soil between the lines of greenhouses |
The summer, and even spring, climate in this region of China would be far too hot and humid, thus turning the berries to mush. So they choose to cultivate the crop during the winter, in greenhouses. This allows the temperature to be moderately warm inside, heated by the external sun coming into the houses, while the air is drier during the winter, as well. It is a treat to have ripe, sweet strawberries during the winter, since I am accustomed to associating strawberries as a spring or early-summer seasonal delight. I guess that's the long way of explaining my desire to go strawberry picking, despite the fact that I have had sufficient berry-picking experience, growing up in the PNW.
Though we got a little lost on the way to the strawberry greenhouse site (it took an hour and 45 minutes, instead of just the estimated 45 minutes to arrive!), it was all quality time spent as parents, students, and teachers all enjoyed one another's company on the bus ride, chatting, playing, and enjoying the scenery of a sunny Saturday morning. The company was super enjoyable. Once there, we were pleasantly surprised at how warm it was inside the greenhouses, and picked and ate to our hearts' content! While it was cold and clear and sunny outside (maybe around 10ºC, or 50ºF), it was at least 24ºC/76ºF inside those greenhouses! The rows of elevated strawberry beds were covered with plastic, to resist weeds amongst the strawberry plants, so footing was a bit slippery, but we all had fun, jumping over the rows. |
| Apiary! |
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| Group photo! Multi-racial, diverse strawberry-picking group from AIAN! |
We left with overflowing baskets of berries we weighed and purchased for an additional cost, outside of the price to get in to pick berries (I think the entrance fee was about $6USD for adults, and $5 for children, just to pick. Taking berries home was an additional fee per kilo). I think I spent a total of $15 that morning, so about $9-10 on actual strawberries; a mound of red in my basket!
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| Me, Hossein, Nida, and Cavon take the back row of the bus, on the way back to AIAN |
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| Pre-K kiddos sharing their loot! Sooo yummy! (and sooo messy!!) I have a whole series of these photos Berry juice all over the place. |
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| Kaleema and I enjoy berries in the back of the bus! |
I think we definitely ate our fill of berries, between the hour spent picking, and the 45-minute bus ride back to AIAN at the end of the morning. Kids had red faces from so much berry juice!
Check out more images from the morning in my Facebook album: China, continued (2013)
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