Strawberry - what type is best

I want to start my first berry patch this year. The soil seems to be rich in this 1910 place we moved to in August. What variety and source do you recommend? How should I prepare my beds?

Any info is appreciated.
Thanks,
Kathy

It all depends - do you want huge tasteless berries, small soft tasty berries, heavy production all at one time, or lower production throughout the entire summer and into fall? Do you want 'em for fresh eating, canning, or freezing?

My favorite source is Indiana Berry & Plant Co.
http://www.inberry.com/index2.html

I kinda like the day-neutrals, like Tribute & Tristar; manageable production throughout the season.
Earliglow and Sparkle get raves for flavor, though they may be too soft for commercial production.
Look over the descriptions in IN Berry's catalog - you might want to try several!

Prepare your beds to be grass free. Also weeds including thistles are a real pain in the strawberry bed. Ideally, one should lightly cultivate the bed the summer before to sprout and kill as many of the shallow weed seeds as possible.

I like a slightly raised bed with good drainage, but remember that strawberries are shallow rooted and require water at critical times when rain doesn't come.

Great advice. I want pick and eat berries for the family. No canning, freezing or selling. Just flavor and as many as they will produce.

The raised be will be nice but this year it may not make it. Do you put a mess over the berries to keep birds away?

Kathy

I have never had much of a bird problem with strawberries in many years of berries. I have had some very tiny insects the last two years eating on the nicest ones early in the season.

Your situation may or may not be different.

Kathy, The 'day-neutral' Tristars are very nice. Great flavor, medium size and a fairly steady production all Summer. Don't expect to eat many berries the first season.
Don't plant strawberries where tomatoes grew last season, something about a virus.
Andy P

good info sarah - never thought about that type of issue. There has been nothing planted in the yard for many years. Lots of dark soil.

I have found that my strawberries did really well when I mulched them with pine needles. They love the acidic soil, which they get from the pine needles, and I didn't have a problem with the berries sitting in the dirt and going bad. I have mine in two wooden boxes, or small crates, which makes it easier to work with because they are up off the ground, and the excess water from the spring rains will drain out of the boxes.

The birds ate most of the berries the first year so we made a frame with a metal fence that has square holes about 1/4" to keep them out. This works really well so we can just lift the lid off the box and pick berries (or weeds) and put the lid back on. This fall I pulled up the strawberries we had for two years, because the berries were small and squishey, I think they were called Everbearing. I am glad you asked about different kinds, I think I will try the Tristars in one box and something else in the other box!