You have to find the right variety for your area and growing conditions. Many of the strawberries sold to home gardeners are varieties developed for the commercial trade, where looks and shipping are the top priorities, neither of which have any value for the home gardener. Not many varieties are rated "excellent" for flavor. Strawberries produce differently under different growing conditions. So a variety that is sweet in a different zone might not do well for you. I grow Quinaults, which are supposed to be huge and only rated "good" for flavor. In my garden, they produce a small berry with excellent, intense strawberry flavor. Really not "as advertised" Find out which variety your successful friends are growing. If you have room, plant 2-3 varieties and see which one performs best for you. I just put in a bed with 8 new varieties. The best ones will be kept and allowed to spread. The non-performers will be pulled out. Be careful that you are not over watering. Strawberries don't actually like to be babied.

Natural: Cross pollination is not an issue on first generation fruit. It might possibly be if you were to save seed from the berries and try to plant them, but who would do that? Honeoye should be very productive for you, although this variety was developed for more northerly climates, and the wild strawberries? Well, they will be wild. The plants won't much like your very hot and humid summers, and you will be lucky to get anything. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

When I was in college at KU a friend took me to what he claimed to be an old buffalo rub in the countryside to pick wild strawberries. These were very tiny but packed with flavor. Wild strawberries are a companion plant for asparagus as are parsely, petunia, nasturtium, and comfrey as a dynamic accumulator of minerals from the soil (I prefer the Bocking 14 comfrey cultivar which produces sterile seed and spreads only by root division). I have also hear that horse radish ( probably as a decoy plant) and rhubarb make excellent companion plants for asparagus as well. I was searching for wild strawberry seeds when I noticed this discussion. I was amazed that the differing experiences others had with wild strawberries which were so divergent from my own. Jellyman's comment on digging some up to transplant made me wish I could return to Kansas for the ones I first tasted.

OK, don't panic about the oxalic acid, other more common greens have it too, like lambsquarters, beet leaves, spinach, swiss chard (leaves & stalks), rhubarb, and parsley. All things I like. Moderation is key, unless you have problems with calcium absorption or kidney stones. I just finished the batch, it is pretty yummy, and I can see why people liked it in the spring, because back in the day lemons weren't commonly available. The stuff looks like something you would need to clean off of the aquarium though. I very vaguely followed a recipe for "Saint Bertille Herb Soup" from a cookbook called "Twelve Months of Monastery Soups" by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourette. (What a name!) I love the book, got if for Christmas one year. The actual recipe sounds good too. It calls for lettuce, parsley, watercress, scallions and chervil, none of which I used, lol! I sort of subbed the herbs I had, and some wild onion bulbs from the yard and some dried chives and dried chervil. And the juice of a wrinkly lemon. The combo of bolted cilantro and the tartness of the sorrel was good. Also in there was thyme prunings and dill volunteers, along with some dandelion greens and some frozen spinach. I also didn't have cream so used 2% milk and lite cream cheese mixed. Also added one yellow potato. Saint Bertille Herb Soup - from "Twelve Months of Monastery Cooking" 1 small head leaf lettuce 1 bunch sorrel 1 cup chopped parsley 10 scallions or 2 leeks 1 bunch watercress butter 1 1/2 quarts vegetable stock 1 cup white wine 1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half 1 egg yolk, beaten 1/2 cup chervil salt and pepper to taste Shred the lettuce and the sorrel. Chop the parsley, scallions and watercress into small pieces. Melt the butter in the soup pot, add the chopped greens and cook slowly for a few minutes over low heat. Stir continually. Add the stock and the wine. Cover the pot and cook for about 40 min. Remove the pot from the heat, add the cream, beaten egg white, chervil, salt and pepper. Blend well in a blender. Reheat the soup for a few mintues, but do not allow it to boil. Refrigerate the soup and serve cold. Or it can be served hot with slices of French bread on the side. Note: I pureed the soup in the pot with a hand blender. I mixed the egg and milk together, and then slowly added 1 cup of the broth to that mixture. Then I slowly drizzled the egg mixture into the warm soup. I cooked it on low to cook the egg for about 10 min. It didn't curdle! I will be eating this hot, as I can't abide by cold soup for some reason. Gazpacho and cucumber are all I have been able to stomache.