I could not remember when Brett gave me a packet of seeds of strawberries. My educated guess is possibly before 2009 when I started doing the house extension.
I almost lost the plants in fact because the trades people just mercilessly and aimlessly dug out earth and dumped everywhere the diggings and remains of construction materials. It was one late afternoon when I picked up the single crying and remaining strawberry vine and replanted it some place where it couldn't get hurt it--ie at the quiet and less visited side of my house perpendicular to my street.
I was able to propagate the vine and it filled up approximately one square metre of my yard. When the tap was transferred at the other side of the house, I found it hard watering the vines so i pulled them out again and transplanted them in two tubs which eventually became crowded. Needless to say, I pulled out the vines in one of the tubs and transplanted them in a spot which could possibly be their permanent niche in the garden.
The strawberries I have are much smaller than the ones I used to buy from the shop. The picture above shows the various sizes of my strawberries. (Sorry, I haven't have the time to put a scale). However, I found them much tastier and most important of all--insecticide free!!!.
Furthermore, as I have grown them in mass, I am able to pick enough to make fresh strawberry smoothies or else use them in breakfast cereals regularly. As I have gotten tired of drinking strawberry smoothies, I now freeze the fruits for later use.
