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[Jim Fruth <jfruth@uslink.net>]

   Contrary to what some may advise, I don't allow my strawberry plants to
move into the aisles and till the old bed.  My rows are 5' wide with 24"
aisles and aisles are kept free of encroaching daughter plants.  By the time
the last berries are picked, the daughter plants have already set roots.  At
this point in time, daughter plant leaves are in the understory and the
leaves of those plants that bore the fruit are the canopy.  I mow the canopy
and the daughter plants take over to the demise of the bearing plants.  All
beds have drip irrigation.
   In November, I top-dress with whatever fertilizer the soils lab advises.
I also spread fertilizer after fruit is set, before ripening, applying
whatever is needed:  This year I applied 13-0-44 with a smidgeon of calcium
nitrate, both soluble fertilizers applied via the drip irrigation.  If the
daughter plants exhibit a nitrogen deficiency, as they sometimes do, at the
time of mowing, I give them a shot of ammonium nitrate via a broadcast
spreader.
   I have tried winter mulching but no longer do it because the unmulched
plants do as well as the mulched plants.
-- 

Jim Fruth
Brambleberry Farm
Pequot Lakes, MN
www.bberryfarm.com