Picking
Pick by pinching the stem of the berry between your thumb and forefinger. This will prevent damage to both the fruit and the strawberry plant. Leaving the caps on helps your strawberries last longer. When selecting berries look for the ones that are plump, firm, and well coloured. If you wish to keep the fruit for longer than a couple of days, try to pick slightly under ripe fruit, these will be firmer and will keep for longer. 

Storing
Strawberries are best when prepared and eaten in the same day, but if you must keep them longer, store them in your refrigerator. Arrange the berries in a shallow container, separating out any damaged berries. Cover them loosely, and keep at 5 degrees for best results. Do not remove the caps or wash the berries until you are ready to use them. When caps are removed before use, the berries lose some of their moisture. Washing early tends to bruise them and the berries lose their freshness.

Preparing
When preparing (for whatever use), place the berries in a strainer and rinse with cool water. To remove the caps, give the caps a gentle twist or use the point of a sharp knife, trying not to remove any of the berry. The tip of an ordinary vegetable peeler makes a good tool for capping berries.

Strawberry Nutrition
Strawberries are a delicious, nutritious, fat-free food.
Strawberries are high in Vitamin C. A serving of strawberries contains more Vitamin C than a medium orange. Vitamin C helps your body heal, resist infections, and maintain healthy bones, gums, and teeth.

Strawberries are a significant source of fibre in the diet. They are also sources of iron, calcium, and Vitamin A.

Strawberries are high in ellagic and ferulic acid, both of which have very high antioxidant capacities. In laboratory tests, strawberries ranked third in these substances out of all fruits and vegetables tested.

One serving of fresh strawberries (one cup or about 6-9 berries) contains:
-only 50 calories
-no fat, cholesterol, or sodium
-140% of the RDA for Vitamin C

Frozen strawberries retain all the nutritional benefits of fresh strawberries

Freezing Strawberries
Whole berries: Place one layer of clean, capped berries on a plastic sheet and freeze until firm. Remove from sheet, place in freezer bags, and seal.

Packing with sugar: Slice berries in halves or thirds. Mix with sugar (six cups sliced fruit to one cup sugar). Allow to stand until sugar dissolves (about 10-15 minutes). Pack the fruit and juice into freezer bags or containers. Leave ¼ inch of space in pint containers.

Packing without sugar: Strawberries may also be packed whole or sliced without sugar or with minimal sugar, but the colour and texture of the thawed fruit won't be as good.

Good for kids: Let kids cap and pack their choice of berries into pint yoghurt containers  and freeze. For a quick, nutritious snack, thaw container slightly in the microwave and let kids eat their partially frozen berries straight from the container.