From what I understand, plants in cinder blocks dry out very quickly because the concrete leaches the water from the soil very quickly.

You could probably, and I say probably, fill the holes for the strawberries with potting soil that contains those moisture pellets to retain as much water as possible.

I would be concerned with the strawberries escaping the holes, though, unless you are prepared to train those runners so they stay within bounds of your blocks or the internal bed you are creating. I have strawberry plants in pots and they have escaped the pots and the runners have rooted on the ground (not an ideal place for them to grow).
You could also alternate your plants to every 3rd block or so, then you would have space to train your runners as they grow.
I sure would attempt it, though, but I am as Dawn says, an adventurous gardener. I think I will get some cinder blocks now for some of my plants, herbs especially, so thanks for the idea!

Where's a good place to buy cinder blocks? I checked them out one time at HD, but I think they were kind of expensive there if I recall correctly.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Things to Grow in Cinder Blocks

Laura,

Some folks, particularly those on the Square Foot Gardening forum who often use cinder blocks to build their raised beds, do grow strawberries in the opening in the cinder blocks and some of them have been happy with their results and others haven't. I think it probably depends on weather as much as anything else. Strawberries might have issues here in cinderblock 'holes' during hot weather.

I like Susan's suggestions of using a 'Moisture Control' potting mix if you choose to plant the strawberries in the holes. During the hot weather, the plants not only will have to deal with soil that dries out quickly but also with the heat of the sunlight on those concrete blocks.

Cilantro probably would grow well in the blocks, but it will burn out by early summer because of the heat. If I was looking for something to plant in the 'holes' in the concrete blocks, I might choose some of the more heat-tolerant herbs or flowers or maybe even bush beans. For summer flowers in those concrete blocks, you could use something that's very drought tolerant like purslane or portulaca, or even small-flowered marigolds or nasturtiums (the creeping, spreading forms would help shade the cinderblocks and keep the soil cooler).

Dawn

Ok, I have actually done this. 4 years ago we made a circular raised bed in the back for the strawberries, planting a Sand Cherry shrub in the middle. In theory it was a great idea and I DID use the potting soil with moisture control although I planted Vinca's in the holes (I thought they'd be more heat tolerant). The berries did well that first year, but it was a struggle to keep the vinca's watered enough in the middle of summer. The second year the berries spread and I trained them to grow in the holes along with any vinca's that came up from seed....and by the end of the summer (2007) dang near everything was fried. We would have had to keep a constant trickle of water going to keep those alive. The Ice Storm of 2007 killed the Sand Cherry and summer of 2008, we moved the berries to the northside flowerbed of the above-ground pool. They've done well there. Maybe if you're placing the block where they're not in the sun from 10:AM until the sun sets (like mine were), you might have a bit more success.

Paula

Agreed. I plant a few heat tolerant things in the holes of a cinder block bed but it's on the north side of the chicken house so it's spared a lot of heat. I doubt I could keep anything alive there if it was full sun.

Diane

I SWEAR, three times I have posted to thank everyone and tell Susan where I got my cinder blocks and it hasn't gone through. I guess if they all show up, it will be a more detailed response.

Susan, I got my cinder blocks from Old Time Pottery. Ours was going out of business and they were selling everything (fixtures included). They wanted $2 for each block, but I talked them down to $0.75 a block. I bought all 80 and hauled them home. I should have thought about what moisture hogs they were because my hands were SO DRY after.

Laura