Let them get through several frosts before covering. You want the ground to be frozen solid before you cover them. You want to keep them frozen all winter, the covering of straw is to keep them cold. Otherwise, freeze-thaw cycles will hoist the shallow plants out of the ground. Uncover them in the spring a bit before the last frost, but keep the mulch handy in case the early flowers get caught in a late frost. It's probably too late to thin them, that's best done in July or August. I think thinning might stress them too much before the winter, and there isn't a lot of time left to overcome stresses. Don't worry too much, they'll still produce fruit! I wouldn't worry about mowing them, the frosts will kill the leaves eventually. I think the extra "fluff" from leaves actually protects the crown of the plant, a bit.

Jeez, first you ask the proper time to mulch and we go to all the effort to clarify things (though I think Kurt was a bit over the top- most people harvest strawberries with no protection at all in my climate) and than you say Oh, never mind. I think maybe I'll go back to giving people advice only when they pay me. Nahh, I can't help myself. Of course you can grow strawberries without protection- it's not about protecting the plants from dying. It's to keep them from being heaved out of the ground during the winter which sets them back but won't usually kill them. In the spring, blossum killing frost only reduces your crop it usually doesn't destroy it. With June bearing berries the earlier you can get them to fruit the better because the first hot spell quickly ends the harvest season. You're welcome for the free advice, I'm actually doing this to hone my writing chops and to serve my ego. Best, Alan Haigh

Thanks Nicole, maybe I can squeak by until Spring and just hack the few that continue to crawl into the Chandler bed. I just didn't want to let them get away from me and take over. The aisle between beds has now essentially become another Annapolis bed and it's damaging my calm lol. I'd rather sell them bareroot for cheap anyway, much less work and no investment for potting soil, pots, labels etc.... If you do ever happen to get out my way send me an e-mail and I'll dig you some goodies. It's funny, you mentioned how well your Chandlers are doing. I planted a total of 50 Chandlers and 50 Annapolis this Spring in two different locations (one bed for each at my house and one bed for each at my father-in-laws). The soil had the same make-up for both Chandler and Annapolis. Part top soil and part rabbit manure at my place (cow manure in my father-in-law's bed). The Annapolis exploded right out of the gate while the Chandler slowly died off one by one. I was kinda glad when it finally got down to one last plant right in the middle of my bed figuring soon I'd have an empty bed to move the extra Annapolis to. But it just wouldn't die......finally weeks later it sent runners out in each direction and that one plant has colonized about 1/3 of its row now and is doing well. I have no idea why the Chandler's were so fragile and the Annapolis never showed signs of problems, it's strange. They were adequately watered via the same drip system and we had no late freezes. Danielle

Hey squirrelly girly! Go ahead and pot your plants up now and then just overwinter outside. I water them when they are dry, once every few days in the winter. Been dividing and overwintering for years. Then I've been replanting in my yard, but you can surely try and sell them. Quinalt are a big seller at Holy Comforter. Our prices have varied depending on how many plants we have...if we have bucketloads I'll run a special discount, and even greater savings if you buy a whole flat. You could go ahead and pot up groups of plants in a large pot - which is also helpful to you. You'll eventually need to take out the mother plants and plant her babies. I find this is easiest by taking out the babies, potting them, clearing out the entire bed of old berries and re-planting new ones. I find the babies tend to want to start on the outreaches of the bed, so it works well for me. Even better, when the babies start forming (I have very narrow beds so this works) I fill some window boxes with soil, and use begs made from wire hangers to pin the babies into the window boxes along side the strawberry beds. I've had some great harvests of both baby plants and berries!