JM:

Strawberries come in 3 major types (June bearing, everbearing or day neutral). June bearing gives you the biggest crop all at once so great if you are growing them for jams, freezing, ect. Everbearing is a misnomer as varieties in that class tend to bear fruit in late spring and fall but not in the heat of summer. They have a sporadic harvest but nice if you only want them for putting on your cereal in the morning. Day neutrals (Seascape, Albion, Tribute, Tristar) supposedly will bear all season long.

I grew a lot of June bearing plants years ago. Planted in the matted row method. The crowns are bought and planted when dormant in spring to early July. Usually sold in lots of 25. Store them in the refrigerator until you can plant them. I recall starting them about a foot apart in the row. Remove all blossoms the first year to get them started (ok, a few to taste will not ruin the patch). In August, they will start putting out more runners than you can imagine! Try to remove those that go in the walking space between the rows. Once they are solidly froze up in November, cover the plants with straw to protect the flower buds. Do not cover until late in the season or mice/voles will move in. In spring, uncover and use the straw between the rows of strawberry plants as a mulch. The straw will also allow you to pick when the field is wet and muddy. Helps to keep the berries cleaner too. Starting the second August, you will have to remove excess runners or your patch will become too dense. Time to give away or use to start a new patch. After 3 growing seasons, most remove and plant over or you can renovate by ripping all out and re-planting with some of the runners from that season.

Day neutrals did not work for me as they set flowers heavily, but the fruits turned brown and dried up before fully developing. At least when grown outside in SE WI. I believe I tried Tristar. I hear they do better when grown indoors in greenhouse or perhaps in hanging baskets. I have not tried the other day neutral varieties.

The ever bearing variety I tried was Ozark beauty that had soft pink fruits. Ok but not the quality of many june bearers. Sorry but I am partial to June bearing varieties.

I too like June Bearers too. Don't buy those whoopers, they probably are not that good. Go to Nourse Farms, or Indianaberry. for an excellent selection and decent price. Any there will work. I like Jewel, and many others there.

If you guys want to go a step further try planting some borage and and beans intermixed with your berries as companion plants