Deciding the next fruit collection for our seasonal cards is always tricky. But with Valentine's Day just around the corner, I knew I wanted to pick a red one (this also completes the rainbow for the ink colors I have in my studio!). With California growing 90% of the nation's strawberries, I had found a winner.
It's true February 14 is a day celebrating love. But in this box, you'll find cards inspired by the unconditional love our God gives us. You'll find verses like "Jesus loves you" and "my unfailing love for you will not be shaken" and encouraging phrases like "You're my Jam". Whether you or a friend feels the lack of human connection this coming Valentine's day, we can always be encouraged by the knowledge our Lord loves and cherishes us.
The farming information came from Kenny's Strawberry Farm, located in Fallbrook, California. Here's some fun farm facts!
> They plant 18,000-25,000 plants per acre. They subsoil/rip the ground 3’ down, then disc, plow, & chisel to get field flat, loose & without clods. Then they have specific, strawberry attachments that tractors pull to shape the strawberry “beds”. These attachments include a lister, shaper, drip irrigation machine & a plastic mulch layer to keep weeds down & future fruit clean. Finally, they have a hole puncher that gives the berry planters a perfect hole to manually plant the new transplants in.
> Strawberries are very temperamental. They are easily affected by too much rain, frost and high summer temperatures. They like a more mild temperate climate. since they are grown in the dirt there are also a lot of pests and diseases that can affect them.
> In the first 2 weeks after planting the transplants, they overhead irrigate daily to establish fresh new roots, then for the remainder of the growing season, we irrigate through drip irrigation which targets the roots directly.
> We can expect to get 2-3 pounds per plant over the whole season. The strawberries are picked by hand. Each picker can pick about 25-30 trays per day. Each tray is 12 pounds.
> Check out Kenny's Strawberry Farm - You Tube channel for more strawberry farm information and videos!
The recipe card, scripture sticker and art print can all be used as inserts for the cards you send. Of course, you can keep for yourself too!
I invite you to follow along @paperfarmpress to learn how strawberries are farmed to feed the world, deep dive into how God continually shows His love for us, be encouraged to cultivate your community through handwritten cards, and of course share tasty recipes and juicy deals.
Happy writing, friends!
Lauren
