The strawberry was a symbol for Venus, the Goddess of Love, because of its heart shapes and red color.

Have you every eaten a double strawberry? Legend says that if you break the strawberry in half and share it with a member of the opposite sex, you will soon fall in love with each other.

In parts of Bavaria, people still practice the annual rite each spring of tying small baskets of wild strawberries to the horns of their cattle as an offering to elves. They believe that the elves, who are passionately fond of strawberries, will help to produce healthy calves and abundance of milk in return.

Queen Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII had a strawberry shaped birthmark on her neck, which some claimed proved she was a witch.

To symbolize perfection and righteousness, medieval stone masons carved strawberry designs on altars and around the tops of pillars in churches and cathedrals.

The strawberry, a member of the rose family, is unique in that it is the only fruit with seeds on the outside rather than the inside. Many medicinal uses were claimed for the wild strawberry, its leaves and root.

Did you know that the American Indians were actually cultivating strawberries in 1643? They crushed the strawberries into a mortar, mixing them with meal to make a strawberry bread.

By the 1800s, commercial strawberries had been cultivated. Strawberries are the leading small fruit crop in the United States today. They are farmed from Florida to Alaska, with the largest strawberry-growing centers located in California, Washington, Oregon, Louisiana, Michigan, and Tennessee.

Adding strawberries to your breakfast cereal and eating a spinach salad for lunch may help you fight cancer, heart disease and other ills, new findings suggest.

That's because strawberries and spinach have as much ability to counteract damaging oxygen-free radicals in the body as a large dose of vitamin C, according to researchers with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

In a study of eight elderly women, special drinks made from strawberry or spinach extracts each boosted the women's antioxidant capacity by 20 percent. That's as much as taking 1,250 milligrams of vitamin C, reported Ronald L. Prior of the USDA's Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston.

Vitamin C and other antioxidants protect the body by gobbling up the oxygen-free radicals that damage cells and are believed to promote cancer, heart disease and aging.

In an earlier laboratory study, the researchers found that strawberries and spinach had the highest antioxidant capacity of 40 common fruits and vegetables. The new study was designed to determine whether eating these foods would actually translate into greater antioxidant capacity in the human body.

"Both spinach and strawberries are nutrient-dense foods, so it makes sense that they would top the list of fruits and vegetables" containing antioxidants, said Felicia Busch, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association in Chicago.

When can my baby eat Baby Food Recipes with Strawberries?

All parents wonder about when is the right time to add strawberries to their baby's diet. Strawberries are a potential high allergen food and as such, they really should be avoided until 12 months of age; avoid them longer if your family has a history of allergies.

How to select and store Strawberries for yummy baby food recipes

Strawberries are very delicate. You should only pick ripe, completely red strawberries. Remember, we use NO chemical pesticides, this is the most important factor in choosing your food for your baby. Don't wash the berries until right before you use them. They will keep for a couple of days in the fridge.

Strawberry Baby Food Recipes

Yummy Au Natural Strawberry Puree

2 cups fresh Hydro Harvest strawberries

1. Wash strawberries and remove leaves and stems
2. Slice strawberries in half
3. Mash or puree as needed for your baby.

Mango-Strawberry-Banana Sundae Baby Recipe

1 ripe mango
1 cup fresh strawberries
1 large banana
1 container plain whole milk yogurt
1/2 package tofu

1. Wash, peel, de-seed and remove leaves and stems from fruits as required
2. Slice fruits into dices
3. Puree all fruits and tofu in a blender or food processor

In a clear bowl, add a layer of yogurt, a layer of fruit/tofu puree, another layer of yogurt and so on until all foods have been used up. Sprinkle with wheat germ for extra nutrition and serve to baby with her own spoon.

Foods Good to Mix With Strawberries: