Did you know that in 2010 Monterey County had 10,664 acres in commercial strawberry production? You can look at that as 10,664 football fields stacked up together. That was close to 425,000 tons! It's like 425,000 good size cows going to market. Imagine that cattle drive. That's a lot of berries, which brought in a dollar amount of $739,845,000 to the county!
You may ask why I'm talking berries on Thanksgiving Eve? Even on this rainy, overcast morning, somewhere in the fields of Salinas the land is being stripped and prepped for the next planting. Today in one field there was approximately 80 workers that covered 60 acres pulling up plastic and irrigation lines.
Each worker had a row where in the mucky mud they started at one end walking forward yanking up the plastic. The plastic would come up in three pieces, one from the middle and two from the sides. Holding tight to the plastic in their hands they would walk about twenty feet or so, stop and swirl the plastic that was behind them in a bundle. Repeat the process over and over again until they hit the end of the row. Rolling the bundle back down the row ending up with a rubber band looking object the size of my exercise ball.
Then they focused on the irrigation spaghetti lines. Essential walking the whole field yanking the two lines as they go. When they arrived at the other end of the row, they would turn around folding the tubing in ten foot sections until the got back to the other side. Folding it in half again and tying in a bow.
Just last week a major planting of the Albion (Fragaria x ananassa) root stock were planted out in Salinas Valley, which sounds more appealing than the prep work. These cloudy, cool days make for ideal planting. Let those roots settle into their new home.
Since 2006 the Albion strawberry has been the most widely planted public variety in all of California. This particular berry has an outstanding sweet, candy like flavor and their consistent large uniform conical shape( perfect for chocolate dipping) make them appealing to consumers. I can only assume from a growers stand point, their fruit color both internal and external and the fact that they preform evenly throughout the production season are just a couple of reasons for growing and sending them to market.
So as I hose of the jeans and prep them for washing I'll dream about Strawberry fields forever with a smile on my face. It's only appropriate to give thanks to all the men and women who work the fields that allow as to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
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