It seems Plant City’s sweetness can — and does — attract visitors from far and wide.
The Plant City Times & Observer received a letter this week from Chiranjeet Baruah, who lives in Dibrugarh, Assam, India.
“In 2012, I decided to plant a few strawberry plants,” Baruah wrote. “Before planting, while researching for strawberry culture methods, I came to know of Plant City. Wikipedia informed me that Plant City is called the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World.
As I delved a bit deeper, I was surprised to discover that my town and Plant City were almost on the same latitude, and there was no significant difference in elevation from the mean sea level,” he said. “Also, the average monthly high and low temperatures were very similar. Annual precipitation rate was, however, about half of our town. Altogether, it seemed to me that, climatically, my town is very similar to Plant City, and, therefore, I felt I would get a roaring crop of strawberries. Unfortunately, that was not to be.
“The similarities, however, made me curious, and I decided to visit Plant City whenever I visited the United States next — even if for a short while — just to see if it feels like home,” Baruah said.
So, on May 2, after a trip to the Everglades, Baruah set his GPS for Plant City.
“When I entered Plant City, it was raining, and that itself made me feel half at home,” he said. “I drove around and spotted the Bruton Memorial Library. I parked, and my friends and I walked inside. It was deserted, but I picked up a conversation with the fine ladies at the counter. I told them where I was from and how my dismal crop of strawberries brought me to their town.
“They informed me that blueberries were the hot thing now, and I told them that my own town is surrounded by tea gardens,” Baruah said. “As I was leaving the library, I picked up a copy of the Plant City Times & Observer. I saw a few photographs of people holding a copy of your paper in various places. I am sending a couple of such photographs that show me inside a tea plantation.”