Cottle Strawberry Farm
History

Her Story

This photo is of Joy Cottle at her Mom and Dad's Strawberry Field in 1966.  The lady in the background (with her hands on her hips) is Joy's Grandmother, Nettie Lee Carrol Cottle ... also known as Big Mamma.
Her Grandmother seems to be checking out the picks of the day, while Joy seems to have gotten a very early start on Strawberry Field Management.

Your local strawberry farm is proudly owned and operated by Ms. Joy Cottle.  She is a third generation strawberry farmer and her father taught her everything she knows about growing great-tasting strawberries.  Her father, Ned Cottle, retired from the strawberry business in 2005 and Joy took over the Columbia field to continue the tradition.   Ned still keeps up with the day to day operations and he is always available with a helping hand or an encouraging word.

        

               Joy Dawn Cottle                                                              Ned Able Cottle  

Strawberry History

Strawberry History has been traced back to the Roman People and maybe even the Greeks.

The philosophers Ovid, Pliny, and Virgil mentioned wild strawberries in some of their writings.

It is difficult to trace strawberry history because it has never been a staple of agriculture, therefor, records of the strawberry plant weren't really produced.

By the 1300's however, the French were gathering woodland strawberries and planting them into their gardens They also used various parts of the strawberry plant as medicinal herbs.

Soon after, these plants were becoming household names and by the 1500's they became known as a common garden plant.

Straw used to be tucked around strawberry plants to keep them from freezing, and gardeners in the North still protect their plants with straw today.  This is one of the ways the plant got the name strawberry.

Several varieties of the strawberry plant were brought to the American Colonies in the 1700s.

Since then, strawberry growers have produced all kinds of strawberry plant varieties depending on where they live.  Some produce early, some are mid-season, and others are late season.  Some of the strawberry varieties are known as ever-bearing.  Some do better in Northern climates and others are best suited to the South.

We plant strawberries that grow well in our hot, humid climate.

Strawberries are grown all over the world, but California and Florida are the largest producers of strawberries.