The "History of the Strawberry" Talk (dun dun dunnnnnn!)

Well I survived giving my first ever talk on fruit history. Last year I was invited by a farmers market friend of mine to speak about the history of the strawberry at the May 2013 meeting of the Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor. What a delightful group of people! They were very engaging, asked several questions, and even helped me with my atrocious pronunciation of several French words. (Duchesne? Yikes.)

My talk was primarily on the history of the strawberry as a table fruit, starting around Pliny and ending with modern commercial strawberry farming. It was awesome to watch so many hands shoot up when I asked how many people remember the strawberries of their childhood being more flavorful and fragrant than the modern grocery story strawberries. It was honestly the entire room of 30-40 people.

I was approached by a number of people afterward for additional chatting. So many people had wonderful stories about the strawberries they remember of their childhood. One man told me about a variety of strawberry that his father grew when he was a boy in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan that he hasn't been able to find since. A woman also shared that she is currently growing strawberries with some young adults at a local juvenile detention center. How cool!

With me I lugged six different varieties of strawberry plants to show and share with the group members so they could see just how tiny some of the earlier cultivated varieties were. I took with me a wild virginiana, a cultivated virginiana from monticello, a 17th century cultivated ananassa from France and a few others... People were fascinated by the fact that these plants have remained pretty much unchanged since the previous centuries (I admit, I too am still fascinated by the notion).

The whole experience helped me gain some confidence in myself when it comes to public speaking. I've struggled with speaking publicly for my entire life, and even with a subject that I am passionate about, I am a stuttering, stammering mess. Hah.

As I was walking to my car after the event had mostly cleared out, I was approached by two wonderful ladies who are also members of a Victorian history group here in Michigan. They both asked if I would be interested in doing a talk on Victorian farming and fruit at one of their meetings sometime. Without batting an eye I agreed, though I still have yet to set up the specifics. How exciting to find people who are passionate about similar subjects!