Each month the Cambridge in Motion team sends a flyer with fun facts and a family newsletter to celebrate the Mass Farm to School partnership. Download this newsletter here. This month we are learning about Strawberries! Enjoy the fun resources, recipes, lessons and activities that keep your family exploring and thriving! Follow us on Instagram! @CambMotion Fun Strawberry Facts! _____________________________________________ It takes 30 days for each strawberry to grow fully, from flower to fruit. A serving of strawberries (about 8 berries), has more Vitamin C than an orange! Stop and smell the strawberries! Did you know that strawberries are part of the rose family? The month of June was known to many Native American tribes as the “Strawberry Moon” as it was the month when most strawberries began to ripen. Visiting Belgium in the future? Check out Musée de la fraise, a museum & garden dedicated to this sweet little berry! Stolons (runners) are what strawberry plants use to reproduce. They extend out from the plant to root into soil, which grows a new (daughter) strawberry plant.

June Harvest of the Month Video!

Watch our Cambridge in Motion monthly video series featuring the Harvest of the Month (foods that are grown locally to New England)! You'll watch our public health nutritionist bring to life some fun facts, make a quick snack, and give a nutrition or cooking tip! Watch the Video

Keep Learning About Strawberries!

(1) Strawberry Activities K-2: Students will observe a strawberry with a magnifying glass, make observations, and identify the seeds. They will come up with descriptive words categorized by their sense of smell, sight, feel and taste. The best part: students will work collaboratively to prepare a strawberry salsa recipe! (2) Strawberry Straw Polls Gr. 3-5: Students will learn about polls, and how to collect people’s opinions, and how to analyze poll results, using strawberries! (3) DNA Extraction with Strawberries Gr. 9-12: Students learn about DNA by extracting it from strawberries. Students also analyze the similarities and differences of their extraction process, and learn how genetic testing (including DNA extraction) is useful in breeding new varieties of strawberries.

Joke of the Month Q: What do strawberries wear to bed? A: Jammies!

Phenomenal Phyto-Power!

Berries are among the top sources of vitamins, minerals, and disease-fighting phytonutrients. Plants produce phytonutrients to protect themselves, and when we eat them, they can protect us, too. Phytonutrients are often what give plants vibrant colors, but are also present in less colorful plants such as garlic and onions. These substances fight inflammation, protect our immune system, and more! Antioxidants are compounds that may also help reduce the risk of disease and cancer. They include Vitamin C and anthocyanins, which are abundant in strawberries! Anthocyanins give many fruits and vegetables their red, purple, and blue colors. They help prevent heart disease and cancer and boost cognitive function (brain power)! Learn more about anthocyanins from this BBC Good Food article.

Food Sustainability Tip! Get creative with food, and waste less!  Food Waste Feast: How to cook creatively and stop throwing away perfectly good food. Search by ingredient or category and find recipes for the foods you have on hand!  Chill Out! Frozen berries are just as healthy as fresh ones! Because fresh berries tend to be expensive and go bad quickly, having frozen berries on hand can be much more convenient and make less food waste. Berries are in-season for New England during the summer months of June, July and August. Enjoy more fresh berries in the summer and save money by going for more frozen ones in the fall, winter, and spring.

Delicious Recipes! A Strawberry Quinoa Breakfast Bowl gives you the energy you need for a berry busy day! These Strawberry Oatmeal Bars are an amazing dessert filled with good-for-you stuff! Looking to bake while we have this cool spell? Try these Strawberry Muffins! Try Strawberry Cucumber Tabbouleh as a delicious side to any protein! Try these easy homemade Strawberry & Yogurt Popsicles that will please everyone! An awesome summer salad: strawberries and baby spinach are a great pair! After the K-2 Strawberry Salsa activity, have the kids help with this Grilled Chicken Cutlet with Strawberry Salsa for dinner! Try this ridiculously easy 2-ingredient Strawberry Sorbet for an amazing dessert packed with Vitamin C! Children's Book Spotlight The Very Berry Counting Book Written by Jean Richards Illustrated by Joy Newton Young readers will learn how fruits are designed to protect a plant's seeds and also to help the plant spread its seeds to new places. The book includes questions and answers at the end to further learning and engagement. I Love Strawberries! Written by Joseph Bruhac Illustrated by Anna Vojtech For elementary readers, The First Strawberries: A Cherokee Story is a re-telling of a Cherokee legend, which explains how strawberries came to be.

Click Here to download the Harvest of the Month Family Newsletter! Arabic | Haitian Creole | Khmer | Mandarin | Portuguese | Spanish | Vietnamese

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