LOCAL HISTORY: A chronicle of Oregon’s famous strawberries

Alice Faist picking first Oregon strawberries in 1956 (Oregon Historical Society)

This column was originally published in the Willamette Valley Genealogical Society’s Beaver Briefs, May 2022, in a slightly different form and is shared here with permission.

The Salem bumble, honey and Mason bees had a late start on pollinating Oregon’s strawberry plants. Your local shakes and strawberry short cake specials have had to use “California” strawberries to fill the vacuum. 

Normally, at the end…