Every state as an agriculture extension service with garden info for the state. In Texas: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/web.html I looked up the info on strawberries Here is a link that might be useful: Growing berries

@shazaam - That's somewhat true (within limits) of plants in the ground outdoors. Not so much for plants in containers. They are MUCH more susceptible to freezing damage. I've heard of them being overwintered in refrigerators - but if you put them in the freezer, as I've seen suggested from time to time, you can pretty much kiss them goodbye. I had the impression that the OP wants someplace indoors to keep them, given he/she said it's an apartment situation. @Smitten - actually that's a much better situation than most people have for their container strawberries. ONE plant in a 5 gallon container will be much stronger than 20 stuffed into holes all around the same container. Even the strawberry pots are not that great. What they really expect you to do with those is discard them at the end of the season and start over again with bare root plants. Strawberries grown that close together usually aren't very strong. How cold does it get there? There is another problem with overwintering strawberries, and that's if you don't get sufficient days below 45F (for outdoor overwintering). If it gets warm enough long enough to break their dormancy - and I don't remember what those conditions are, but it can happen - the chances for damage are just as high as if they freeze for long periods, or freeze/thaw multiple times (which is actually worse than freezing and staying that way). You could try overwintering them outdoors wrapped in burlap with straw or shredded paper stuffed around them (and the burlap wrapped around all to keep it in place).

If the mixture is too sweet, you can open a jar, add a bit of acid blend and stir it in. That way it will help to give you bit more fruit flavor as opposed to cloying sugar. I use teh blend in all my jams and jellies as well as in some fruit drinks that are made from Crystal Light. Here is a link that might be useful: Acid blend source

Brady, I don't recall what kind of mix I used but I want to replace it anyway, so suggestions are welcome! No, the barrels were not cut in half. We cut the top off, put drainage tubing inside and cut holes for the plants. It would seem to work well, but the varieties that i had in the barrel that I did get planted didn't do well, so I am looking for other varieties (we have 2 barrels). Ampersand, are Honeoye ever or June bearers? I saw them listed on a site for VA plants, but have not heard of them before. Thanks for the suggestions!