@Jamira this is great! Sorry that the strawberries got so beat up - I did my best to pack them up snugly but clearly, they still took a beating.
Brocolli
I’m glad to hear that you’ll be trying some other crops too (spoiler: broccoli) in your other three MARSfarm’s. I tagged you in another post last night - where I shared some USDA data about what cultivars are grown in the two states where most of the Brocolli is grown. It looks like AZ grows several varieties - though I’m not sure if these overlap with any of the ones you’ve planted.
Here’s a table that shows how much land (measured in acres) is used in AZ and CA to produce brocolli. It also shows the average price (measured in dollars, see how AZ gets $41.20 and CA gets $33.20 - that’s probably because people pay more in the winter when its too cold to grow any in CA.
Strawberries
Broccoli for Fresh Market and Processing Area Planted and Harvested, Yield, Production, and Value
by Utilization – States and United States: 2008-2012
Also, while there may not be much variation in the cultivars of Broccoli grown, there definitely is in the varieties of strawberries. Check out the table on page 78 of the Vegetables Usual Planting and Harvesting Dates Report which lists the primary strawberry cultivars grown in each state.
Strawberries for Fresh Market and Processing
It’s also interesting to note that the strawberry market is worth $2.2 BILLION - nearly four times the size of the Broccoli market - which according to the table above is worth $678 million. More demand + shorter shelf-life = more funding for research, more agricultural research = more cultivars specialized for growth in a specific region.
Strawberries for Fresh Market and Processing Area Planted and Harvested, Yield, Production, and
Value by Utilization – States and United States: 2012