  New results concerning the production of neutral strange particles, $K^0$ and
$\Lambda$ in Ni + Ni collisions at 1.93$A$ GeV, measured with the FOPI detector
at GSI-Darmstadt, are presented. Rapidity density distributions and Boltzmann
slope parameter distributions are measured in nearly the full phase space of
the reaction. The observables are compared to existing $K^+$ and proton data.
While the $K^0$ data agree with previously reported $K^+$ measurements, the
$\Lambda$ distributions show a different behavior relative to that of protons.
The strangeness balance and the production yield per participating nucleon as a
function of the centrality of the reaction are discussed, for the first time at
SIS energies.
