There are many ways to plant strawberries and many varieties. I have tried lots of them, and they all require work. I will keep this simple and say I plant the Sweet Charlie variety, and I plant them like any other row crop. The standard way of planting strawberries is to set them out in the spring roughly at 1-foot intervals. If they bloom, pinch off the bloom and let all of the plant’s energy go into building the plant (no fruit) during that first year. I have done that, and it works. The problem is you have to keep the weeds out all summer long, and you seemingly get nothing out of all that work. Now I plant strawberry plugs in the fall, mulch them heavily, and then I can basically ignore them until spring. You can weed them in early spring, and they will produce soon after that weeding. Strawberry plants will put out shoots and create more strawberry plants, constantly renewing themselves year after year. However, I usually only let them go 3-4 years, and then I plow them under and start over in a different part of the garden. That helps with disease prevention. I have never had serious issues with diseases or insects with my strawberries. The biggest problem I’ve had is with birds and squirrels eating them. I have used bird netting with some success, but it’s not perfect—plant extra. 😊