How thick of a mulch did you put on them? What type of Mulch?

I usually just leave it on and they come up through it.

I put about 4 inches of pine needles between the
the rows and aout 2 inches ontop of the plants.
Jim

Since I don't want to encourage crown rot or insects, I avoid mulch close to the plants themselves. I mulch between the rows with dried out grass. I tried rye straw one year and found that to be a big mistake! Now if we only have strawberries after this week. It's predicted in the 22-28 degree range for almost a week!

I think I know what you mean about the weather
and the straw. I had straw on mine last year and
I'm still puliing the weeds out, even after I
tilled the straw under and added pine needles. I took
the pine needles off the plants two days ago.Now
I'm thinking I should've waited.

I'm fairly new at gardening and I've never put anything on my strawberries and they've always come up strong every year.