Experts of the F&DB, strawberry question.

Depends on if they are already in the ground or not.

Famers can employ any number of procedures to mitigate the threat of freezing temperatures.

One such technique is to simply deploy row covers over the strawberry to trap the heat and prevent frost damage.

So, to answer your question, 0 screwed!

We lived in McHenry, IL in 1979, which was the "Year of the Blizzard. We got 110 inches of snow - 29 inches New Year's night. They had 100 in Chicago (40 miles south of us). In mid January, we had day #1, where the high for the day was below zero. Following that day, we had 36 days where the high for the day was still below zero. Maybe thirty miles north of us was the Wisconsin State line, and just above the line there was a huge strawberry farm. I have no idea how they protected their vines, but they had the biggest crop of beautiful berries I have ever seen that spring. All I know is it is possible to protect the vines from 20 - 25 degrees below zero cold snaps. I think they mulched them heavily.

Reminds me of an old joke. A know it all (insert the name of your favorite F&D person here) drove past a berry farm each day, watching the crop grow as time passed. One day, he noticed the farmer working the rows and stopped to discuss the crop. He asked many questions and then decided to set the farmer straight. He told the guy, "Did you know if you will sprinkle a little manure over the berries they will be a lot sweeter."

The farmer considered the statement for a moment before he responded, "I usually just eat vanilla Ice cream on mine."