BOOYAH FARM!!!: Growing Blueberries

Growing Blueberries in the valley seems to be more legend than fact around here. I've heard a few hundred stories about growing these delicious little blue critters but have never once seen an established patch that has been around for even a few years. I myself have killed at least 20 different blueberry plants. Over time though I've figured out a few things and I actually got 4 blueberry plants to live for a whole year, they even made it through the summer. I actually ate about 40 berries, that these plants produced in the June and after they lived through the summer I decided to invest in more soil and half barrels for these perennials. There are a few sure things you have to do 1. the plants you plant have to be Southern High Bush 2. They have to be in containers 3. You have to make up a special mix of soil for them to survive. 4. You're supposed to have two different varieties of Southern High Bush to ensure pollination. I planted 2 Misties that I bought at Walmart (they were bare root and smaller than a half pencil but they were only five bucks each) 1 Sunshine Blue that I bought at a local nursery (it was in good shape and was my best looking/producing plant it cost nine bucks) and 1 more Misty that I bought at the same nursery (it also cost nine bucks and was a nice growing plant). Blueberries like a soil Ph of 4.5 to 5.0 (acidic) the average Ph of the soil in the valley is 7.5 to 8.0 (alkaline). This is why they'll never survive in the ground, even if you amend the soil, believe me I've tried. I also believe our tap water here which has a Ph of 7.8 to 7.9 (alkaline) is bad for the plants. That being said mine survived for a year on tap water but now I'm using the rainwater from my rain barrel to supplement the watering. If you want grow your own blueberries, you need to watch this video. I followed the instructions precisely except I couldn't find feather mea,l and my plants still thrived. Here's a video of him showing off his personal stash. Once my blueberries started going dormant I transplanted them out of there pots and into there half barrels. Here's some pics of the transplanting that I did Christmas day. You'll notice that my pics are a little bit higher quality than usual, that's because I took them with my Christmas present, an ipod touch thanks Mom and Jake/Audra. All my other previous pics have been taken with my gps. I live in the stone age, and love it, the only reason I have a gps with a camera is because I hunt and geocache. Enough about my Christmas, go plant some blueberries.

My blueberries that made it this year.

The soil stuff, peat moss, medium sized bark, and potting soil (made from forest by products) most forest by product potting soils are acidic.

The whiskey barrels, one of them is actually charred on the inside.

Everything ready to go, peat moss, medium bark, potting soil, fish meal, cotton seed meal, and soil sulfer. I like the tarp it makes it easy to mix the ingredients and nothing goes to waste.