Strawberries
In the Oscar-winning Western Unforgiven, one of the characters is known as “Strawberry Alice” for the soft red hue in her hair. It’s a nod to the attraction of fresh berries, even in the windswept villages of the high plains. And Monterey County farms have capitalized, making it perennially the number-one crop in the region. Indeed, the local strawberry crop was worth $900 million in 2023 – and that was a disappointing year, when a portion of the fields were lost to devastating floods. So as Gene Autry sang, “Strawberry fields forever… ” Wait, or was that someone else? Anyway, strawberries are money, and that tastes oh so sweet.
