I plant strawberries for 1 season only (and this is not uncommon here in Germany). Get good runners from the best bearers (usually the lousy bearers have the best runners and vice versa, but as they are clones of the mother plant you'd get lousy bearers). Early August they are cut and planted on a sunny patch watered well. And in late Aug. to mid Sept they are planted in their new patch. And next spring good harvest of large fruits, in our area the 1st year harvest is the best: healthiest plants, biggest berries, highest yield. Rinse and repeat. Planting space 1 foot or slightly more between rows and 1 foot or slightly less in the row. Try to get a good cultivar, I live with quite loamy/clay soil here >>TeniraAnd strawberries are hungry and thirsty, on lighter soils a good manure digging in and good water supply will increase yields. I harvest +-1/2 pound per plant in a decent year (a nasty late frost counts as bad year). In 2nd and 3rd year yields are still decent.

Bobby: Watch out for weeds, especially deep-rooted perennials like nutsedge, clovers, and oxalis. If you don't have any, you have been blessed. Weeds have ruined a lot of strawberry patches. Since you planted late last season, you probably don't have an overwhelming number of runners; perhaps none at all. When a patch gets going and has a lot of runners, they can quickly become too thick. Plants should be thinned to around 7-8 inches apart, removing older plants first, to maintain good air circulation and plenty of sun to the interiors of the plants. You are probably in pretty good shape for this season. The timing of your planting was good. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Thanks, everyone. Carol, I missed that on the NCHFP but I think that's what I was looking for. Chunks are OK? I was concerned that adjusting thickness, sugar, and leaving chunks vs. not doing so might compromise safety. Would I be correct to assume that making a recipe thinner, rather than thicker is safe (as long as it's not diluting intended acidity)? ~ Lisa

I find inspiration and ideas from many threads at the Cooking Forum, pudgybaby, and I hope you will too. Welcome! Here are a few recipes I make that everyone seems to like. PORK CACCIATORE 1 lb. boneless pork, cut in 1/2 inch cubes 2 Tbsp. olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 stalk celery, finely chopped 1 carrot, shredded 1/4 lb. mushrooms, sliced 1 (1 lb) can tomatoes, diced 1/3 cup dry red wine 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed 1/2 tsp dried basil leaves 1/2 bay leaf Heat olive oil in large skillet. Add pork and cook pork over medium heat until brown on all sides. Remove and set aside. Add onions, garlic, celery and carrot to same skillet. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add pork and remaining ingredients, stir well, cover, and simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Remove bay leaf and serve over hot cooked pasta. (We like rotini or gemelli shapes best with this recipe. Unless you are a big fan of rosemary, you may want to start with less than the recipe calls for.) FRENCH ONION SOUP ��" serves 4 to 6 3 Tbs. butter 4 large sweet onions (about 1 1/2 pounds total), peeled and thinly sliced 1 tsp. sugar (optional, see note) 1 cup dry white wine 2 quarts beef broth 2 ribs celery with leaves, each rib cut in half Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 1/4 cup dry fino sherry 4 to 6 slices baguette, cut 1/2 inch thick, lightly toasted 1/4 cup coarsely grated Emmental, Gruyere, or other Swiss-type cheese Melt the butter in a 3 or 4 quart saucepan over low heat. Add the onions and sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly caramelized, a minimum of 30 minutes. (The longer the onions cook slowly, the richer the flavor of the soup.) Add the white wine and cook over medium-high heat until the wine reduces to about half, about 10 minutes. Add the broth, celery, salt and pepper and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover partially, and allow the soup to simmer until the onions are meltingly tender, about 40 minutes. Remove and discard the celery. Add the sherry and simmer soup for another 5 minutes. To serve, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Ladle the soup into individual ovenproof bowls. Top each with 1 slice of bread, sprinkle with 1 Tbs. cheese, and place the bowls on a cookie sheet. Heat in the center of the preheated oven just until the cheese melts and bubbles, 5 to 6 minutes. Carefully remove from the oven and serve at once. Note: The tiny bit of sugar added to the onions helps caramelize them, but the onions themselves will caramelize if they’re sweet enough and if you’re patient enough. I never use it, just keep them cooking. I always use firm yellow onions. The large white onions don’t seem to get soft enough and vidalias become soft but have such a bland flavor when cooked. MOLASSES COOKIES ��" makes about 4 dozen 2 cups flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. ground ginger 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 1/4 tsp. ground allspice 1/8 tsp. ground cloves 1 cup sugar 3/4 cup butter, softened 1 egg 1/4 cup molasses 1 tsp. grated orange rind (optional but nice for a change) additional sugar In a bowl, combine all dry ingredients except sugar. Mix well. In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and molasses. Mix well. Add dry ingredients. Beat until smooth. Shape dough into 1 inch balls (you can chill dough for 1/2 hour to make it easier to roll) and roll in sugar. Place 2” apart on ungreased baking sheets. (I always use baking parchment paper on the cookie sheets.) Bake in preheated 375 oven for 9-11 minutes or until the edges are firm and the surface cracks. Cook on cookie sheets for 1 minute; then transfer to wire racks to cool thoroughly. Tip: I usually triple the dry ingredients, mix, and divide into three zip-lock bags. They’ll be fine stored in a cool dry place for months. Then when I want to make cookies, it only takes a few minutes to mix the other ingredients and stir in the mixture in the bag.