straw and strawberries

i add the straw when the strawberries are big and green - so that the ripe fruit stays off the ground and the straw also prevents the slugs from eating them.

As soon as the plants are large enough to not get buried by the straw mulch, lay it down, and thickly where possible. The berries love a steady moisture which a deep straw mulch will give, plus keep down most weeds, plus keep those berries drier and no splash-back from soil.

You  might get a bit of slug damage but the benefits outweigh the cons. If there's a hosepipe ban this year, then you're already set.

My FIL who has grown strawbs for decades swears by using Barley straw as  Wheat straw goes mouldy fairly quickly.