Strawberry plants - what to do with them

[Ricardo]

I've just been given a whole bunch of strawberry plants - what exactly do I do with them at this time of year in Surrey? Shold I plant them in the ground and cover with straw? If so how should I prepare the ground?
Also there seem to be may "rooting points" should all of these be planted as a part of a long chain?
As you might have gathered I'm not normally a fruiter, so any pointers from you clever folk would be much appreciated.

[veggiechicken]

Sever all the bits of the chain so that you have lots of little plants. Find a bit of ground where you want them to grow and spread, and plant them out. They're very hardy and don't need any protection from frost.

[rustylady]

Plant them out as Veggiechicken said. Don't plant too deep though, just to the level they were previously at.

[Alison]

Or if you've not got any spare ground at the moment, you can plant them up in 3" pots and leave them outside over winter to sort properly in the spring.