I have only one Alpine strawberry that I started from seed and it's going into it's 3rd year. Mine did produce fruit the first year from about July. Last year it produced plenty of small super sweet berries unfortunately slugs ruined many of them. Mine is in full sun and prefers LOTS of water. I haven't done anything special in the winter.

That's good to know! I think I may have sowed my seeds a tad bit late, but we'll see how it pans out.

You're in zone 5? So the winters here in 9 would be less severe than there, but I'm wondering about the summers. Anyway, regardless of the details, here in 9, should i plant in containers or the ground?

Given an option I would definitely plant in the ground. Even planted in the ground I was needing to hand water, in addition to the irrigation system, once or twice per week. But the summers are hot here and humidity levels are often around 10% in the summer.