Strawberries in Japan!

If we are gonna talk about all this other stuff that Japan is famous for growing, then we can't leave out the delicious strawberries.
Nick and I get the privilege of living in a small town that grows a ton of strawberries. Like many things in Japan they grow the plants inside greenhouses. Consequently we have 2 strawberry seasons!! We get to eat them in the winter and the spring! But, don't be fooled into thinking you can get delicious strawberries any time you want them. If it's not during the "strawberry season", then you can't find a strawberry around. One thing is for sure, the Japanese like their fruit and vegetables fresh and HUGE!! Each berry in this picture is almost the size of your cell phone. They're not cheap either!














When Angie's parents were here we visited a grape farm for her dad. But, her mom's favorite fruit is strawberries. So, of course, we had to visit a strawberry farm for her! In fact, we visited a couple of them. Both farmers let us pick some of their prized berries and kept encouraging us to eat more and more!! I guess it's International that farmers enjoy showing off their product and watching other people enjoy them as well!!

In this farmer's case, he wanted us to show off his crop for the picture. Little did he know that his wife would give them to us as a gift afterwards. I'm not too sure how happy he was about that!
Boy they were tasty!




Both strawberry growers that we visited had their own roadside markets to sell their product. Although, like many produce in Japan, it is also sold at a local supermarket. If you can't find what you want at a supermarket, then you can take a trip to a few other open air markets that are found in the heart of many cities in Japan. But, you will find much more than things grown in the garden! Common and let's take a trip to one of these markets!!