As a proud California Strawberries Ambassador, I had the pleasure of traveling to Oxnard, California to meet the fourth generational family farmers who own Terry Farms.
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed that I was lucky enough to trade in the cold and snow for palm trees and sunshine this past weekend.
As a proud California Strawberries Ambassador, I was invited to attend a fun and informative farm tour along with several other bloggers from throughout the country.
Strawberries have always been one of my favorite fruits and now that I have children of my own, we eat more berries than ever before. As far as my toddler is concerned, strawberries are candy! “Nature’s candy” as I like to say.
We were hosted by fourth generation Californian farmers, Edgar and Will Terry of Terry Farms.It’s really too bad they couldn’t find a nicer looker farmer to tour us around….
A few fun facts about California Strawberry Farmers:
- There are more than 400 strawberry farmers in California, many who are multi-generational family farmers.
- Some of the most progressive and environmentally conscious farmers in the state, strawberry farmers have invested more than $13 million dollars in research and sustainable farming practices.
- California’s strawberry farmers use less than one percent of California’s cropland, but create nearly 10% of all California’s farm-related jobs.
BTW – see that guy in the middle? That’s Kevin of Closet Cooking. I am mildly obsessed with his blog and have been for some time. Meeting him in person was a dream come true!
He even photo bombed my picture! #Winning.
The photo above was taken during breakfast from the roof top of our hotel. After the never-ending Michigan winter, I couldn’t stop staring out the window.
Fortunately, I was busy chatting with these two beauties: Anne from fAnnetastic Food and Monica from Run Eat Repeat. These girls are seriously inspiring! Anne is a Registered Dietitian who has her own private practice and Monica ran in over 20 races last year! I ran for about 5 minutes today and it was purely to avoid my children getting frostbite from being out on a walk too long…
Can we discuss the food for a moment? As you know, I have more of a savory tooth than a sweet tooth so I was blown away by the creative ways in which strawberries were prepared for our trip. The strawberry gazpacho on the top left was the bees knees and don’t get me started on the kobe beef sliders with strawberry ketchup. There was peanut butter and strawberry jam on the slider! Worth it.
Fortunately, we got plenty of walking in during the day and were able to feast on as many strawberries as we could pick. In case you’re wondering, strawberries are loaded in health benefits:
- Superfruit: 8 strawberries contain more vitamin C than an orange. Low in sugar, with only about 50 calories, strawberries are a great source of fiber, folate and potassium.
- To your health: Nutrients and phytochemicals in strawberries help maintain a healthy heart, boost memory and may lower the risk of developing some types of cancer.
- Stay smart with strawberries: According to a recent study, eating strawberries more than twice a week appears to delay cognitive aging by up to 2.5 years!
- Good for your heart: Potassium found in strawberries can help control blood pressure and fight strokes. Plus, antioxidants, fiber and phytochemicals in strawberries have been shown to reduce total cholesterol levels.
- Dynamite for diabetics: The American Diabetes Association (ADA) identified berries, including strawberries, as one of the top 10 superfoods for a diabetes meal plan.
Anne and I couldn’t get enough of them! And you better believe we weren’t going to leave California without taking a #StrawberrySelfie.
It was hard saying goodbye to beautiful California but I had so much fun learning more about the hard working farmers that feed us nutritious food every single day. Thank you again to the California Strawberry Commission for sponsoring my trip!
What is your favorite way to eat strawberries?? I would love to hear from you.
No fork required.
Disclaimer: I am a proud California Strawberries Ambassador. Thank you for supporting the brands that make The Lemon Bowl possible. As always, all thoughts are 100% my own.
I would have loved to go to that – picking strawberries is so much fun. Blueberry season is here and I can’t wait to get out and pick a bunch! Baby bjorn and sunshine here we come!
The b’jorn is perfect for that!!
Strawberries are also my favorite fruit. I know fruit is good for you, but who knew that strawberries have such amazing health benefits! I have to run out and get some. Great hearing about CA strawberries, now I don’t feel so bad that those winter berries aren’t locao.
They are PACKED with health benefits!! Happy eating!
50 pounds…not 5. Blame it on my kids who don’t sleep at night. Although, hey, losing 5 pounds is still awesome =) I’ll take what I can get!!
No worries!! :)
Just stumbled on your website and loving it! What stunning photo’s. After having baby number 2, I lost 5 pounds….and never went back from making slow changes to my diet. Nothing drastic. I’m so excited about your passion for all things healthy and can’t wait to get your newsletter updates. Will be going over your recipes later when I get outta work =) Hoping you post lots of recipes that will help me everything in my garden….
I’m so glad you found me!! Congrats on your weight loss – 50 lbs is amazing!!!! Let me know if you try anything else!
What a dream!!!! And the food! Ahhhhh
It was so amazing Nicole!! Thanks for reading!
What a gorgeous overview for your trip….I follow you on social media and have been excitedly waiting to learn more…AND I can’t wait to see some fun recipes in the future, I looove me some strawberries!
Thank you so much girl!! You’re so sweet!
What a great trip, love strawberries!
Thanks so much Cheri!
Too many ways to mention. Strawberries are truly my favorite fruit….did you forget I started out blogging at the Strawberry Cake blog ;) Great recap!
How could I forget!!! Your avitar is a strawberry!!! xoxox Thanks for reading!
You are one lucky gal! These photos are fabulous! We used to have strawberries in my backyard growing up and nothing can describe their flavor when you cut them from the plant and straight to your mouth. These look so pretty though!
My favorite way to eat them is in my greek yogurt sprinkled with granola. Or a strawberry gallete… Yum!
That is the absolute truth!! I want that now!
What fun! Reminds me, I should head to the nearest strawberry farm. The berries from the stand at the farms are always the best.
They really are the best!!! I hope you can get there soon!