Growing Strawberries

One of my favorite children's books is called The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear. It's all about how a little mouse is trying to keep a strawberry away from the big hungry bear. That's kind of how I feel about the strawberry plant that I am trying to grow this year, except instead of protecting my strawberries from a bear, I am trying to keep them away from the pesky squirrels.
As much fun as having a garden was last year, I felt I needed to pass on the opportunity this year mainly due to me being as big as a whale during the sweltering summer months. But just because I don't have a garden in the backyard, doesn't mean that I won't have some backyard bounty to share. Instead of the typical flowers adorning my deck, I have lots of herbs, a blueberry bush, a tomato plant in a Topsy Turvy, and a hanging strawberry plant.
The strawberries have been plentiful, but I have only managed to taste one not so ripe strawberry so far, because the squirrels snatch them up so quickly. Hopefully before strawberry growing season is over and using some squirrel scaring tactics, I can come out successful just like the sweet little mouse in the story that I adore.