Blueberry Care

With the summer heat upon us, be sure to give your blueberry bushes a little TLC. I've been noticing my leaves are curling and yellowing, a tale-tale sign of problems.

Where once blueberry plants could not survive the valley heat, there are now varieties available for us to enjoy! I have six plants that produce lots of berries for my family every spring. However, once the heat is on, I need to abide by a few simple guidelines for my bushes to last:

Trick #1: Be sure your soil is acidic. 

Every so often it is a good idea to check the acidity of your soil. When my leaves were yellowing, I thought it was probably time to do a soil check. After a quick check, I discovered my soil was too basic- a big no-no for blueberries!


* I went to the local hardware store (Lowe's) in search of acidic soil.  Lowe's employees didn't know what I was talking about (surprise, surprise) so I headed to Orchard Supply Hardware and found just what I was looking for: Acid-Lover's Soil.

* I dumped a heaping pile in my blueberry bin and then slowly spread it out until it covered the entire surface area. I then carefully mixed the new soil into the old soil, being careful to avail areas around the base of the plant. Be sure, you don't cover up the base with soil.

Your finished soil should look nice and clean, like the picture shows.

Trick #2: Mulch, mulch, mulch!!  Do not let a blueberry bushes roots dry out!  

The only way for a blueberry plant to survive the Valley heat is by mulching (covering up) those precious roots! Every year I cut up my Christmas Tree into pieces that I save to add to my blueberries. Evergreen clippings naturally raise the acidity in your soil as well as insulate moisture by providing a nice covering for your plants. You can cut your clippings into smaller pieces, or just spread your clippings over your new soil. Don't mix it in. The clippings are meant to be a 'blanket' for your roots. Some people put down newspaper and then the clippings which also work great. The times I've used newspaper, however, I have noticed it locks in more moisture than I'd like. Be careful you don't keep the area so moist that moss, fungus or cockroaches start breading!!

Once your plants are fed and roots are covered, they're ready to hunker down and bear through our summer heat. Be sure to keep the soil moist and keep your eye on signs that the plant might need more water or food.

Good luck and Happy Gardening!
~ Connie

Time to Start Your Seeds!

Hello Gardening Friends,

The temperature may be freezing at night, but we're having beautiful sunny days to start growing seeds indoors!  This is the time of year when my bathroom is converted into a greenhouse (what a patient hubby I live with!).

In the past I have started numerous seeds indoors.  Due to a neck injury, I plan to keep things much more simple this year.  I planted only four tomato varieties. 

Last year I received my Burpee magazine with glee and bought quite a lot of unique tomato varieties to try out in my (very small) backyard.  Just like eating dessert, however, I ended up with too many plants and not enough space!  I frequently remind myself that my garden space is small and I need to plant accordingly.  So this year the only varieties I planted were: Super Sweet 100 (my absolute favorite!), Early Girl, Big Beef and Yellow Pear Tomatoes.  This variety means I will have red and yellow cherry tomatoes, some larger tomatoes earlier in the year and hefty-meatier tomato by mid-summer.  I know many people have other favorites or odd varieties, blah, blah, blah.  With my limited space and mobility, I am sticking to four. 

I also discovered in my Burpee buying spree that the cost of seed packets double (if not triple) the cost of the same seeds found in stores like Evergreen Nursery and Lowes.  The seeds from local stores tend to have fewer seeds in each packet, but most average 20 seeds; enough for the backyard gardener.  They also have less variety in the stores, but all the basics are readily available.

Tomato seeds take about 8 weeks from germination to being strong enough to weather the elements outside.  Make sure to keep your seeds moist and in a warm sunny, indoor location.  My advice would be to start your seeds within the next week or two...or simply wait until plants are available in the spring (which is perfectly okay too!).  By mid-March, tomatoes planted now will be ready to plant!

Go buys some seeds, fine soil and get your plants off to an early start!

Blackberry Pruning

January marks the time to get out and trim your blackberries.  You will need a good pair of gloves (blackberries are unforgiving!), a clean, sharp pair of pruners and a small hand shovel.

I hear people say, "berries grow on the second-year growth."  That may be true, but I tend to garden more simply.  I let my berries sit through the fall season and then look at how they appear in the winter to determine which vines I will keep and which I will prune off.

At this time of year, at the base of every blackberry bush, you will have an obviously dead vine (last year's major producer) and a new, greenish-purplish color vine coming out from the base.  For older blackberry vines, you will have multiple of each.

(The picture to the right shows four vines coming out of the base of the blackberry plant.  The two in the center are both dead; last year's producers.  The two vines on the outside are new for this year.)

Clip the dead vines at the base, then remove the entire branch.  I never compost my blackberry vines since I do not want thorns in my compost and sprinkled around my yard.

Gently bend the green vine around your trellis.

If your vines have grown long enough to touch the ground, they may have rooted.  Gently pull the root loose and clip the vine so you have two vines (one attached at the base, and a new vine with roots).  If you need a new plant for your garden, dig a hole and plant your new vine.  If you have too many already, call up a friend and share your blackberries!

Blackberries, like most other plants, do not grow much in the winter.  Keeping the berries off the ground will keep them from disease as well as give you a head-start in keeping the crazy-growing plants under control when the growing season begins. 

Good luck!

Don't Waste Your Christmas Tree!

Among other activities this week, the slow and depressing job of taking down Christmas decorations has been going on in my house.  Part of that job involves throwing out our tree.

Certain plants in my yard thrive on acidic soil (blueberries, azaleas, hydrangeas, etc...).  Once my Christmas tree is out of my house, I cut branches into little pieces and then distribute my new clean-cut clippings around the base of my acid-loving plants.  The pine needles will decompose into a slow-release form of fertilizer. 

You do not need a fancy chipper-shredder to do this job.  I used only my small pruning clippers to chop up the smaller, thinner branches of my tree.  If you have a small yard like mine, you'll only need a bucket or two of clippings to feed your acid plants. 

Mix some pine needles into the dirt as well as leave a layer on the top of the soil to provide your plant with extra mulch during our cold season.

It is a cheap and practical way to use up your Christmas resource and feed your garden!

Try it!

Clean-Up Time!

 It is time to clean up your summer/fall garden!

Last July I was in a bit of an accident which left me incapable of caring and maintaining my garden. With the new year almost here, and my neck feeling a little better, I am slowly trying to clean up the mess from my summer garden. 

Some books encourage gardeners to keep leaves on the ground, but I have found in reference to a garden specifically, it is best to remove everything off the ground.  Old tomatoes and decomposing peppers only lend themselves to attracting pests and odd molds. 

Any kind of plant greens or vegetables that do not look moldy or covered in fungus I put into my compost.  I keep my compost as free from fungus and disease as possible by usually only putting clean and healthy greens into my compost.  I clip them into smaller branches to quicken the decomposing process.  Make sure to layer your compost alternating with green branches, kitchen scraps and dirt.  Keeping dirt on top of the kitchen scraps keeps little rascals out of your compost.

Clippings that may look suspicious, I put into my city's green waste can.

Once my soil is free of debris from my summer garden, I turn my dirt.  I mix in a large supply of compost and rabbit poop and then mix my dirt again.  Allowing the compost and rabbit pellets to sit for a month or so through January and February will feed my soil so it is energized and ready for planting when the weather warms.

Find some time to unwind and get your garden clean and ready!

You Say, "Good-Bye" but I say, "Hello"

Today I said, “good-bye” to my spring veggies.  As tradition holds in the valley our transition from spring to summer is quite short.  One week it is 70 and the next week it is above 90!  I don’t always plant “spring crops” but I was pleasantly surprised with my outcome and will most definitely try it again in the fall.  Unlike usual aprils, however, our weather remained remarkably cool.  While that put a snail-like growth on all our summer, heat lovin' plants, it gave our spring veggies more time to grow and produce.

By “spring crops” I am meaning broccoli, brussel sprouts, sugar-snap (snow) peas, spinach, and lettuce.  I kept in the ground my snow peas and spinach hoping I might harvest a little more for another week before I pull those out as well. 

I learned that I can grow a larger head of broccoli by snipping off the leaves.  I also learned that once I harvest the main top broccoli floret, the plant will send off more florets along the stock of the plant (who knew?).

With brussel sprouts I discovered they take a long time to produce.  While my plant foliage looked beautiful (notice the large, silver-looking leaf to the right of my broccoli on the picture above), I only recently began to see signs of formation of the actual vegetable.  I never knew the brussel sprouts actually form along the stock of the plant above where each leaf protrudes.  I did not clip the leaves.  I will need to experiment more on this plant to determine the best method of producing the sprouts.  Perhaps clipping the leaves would have directed more energy to growing the fruit not the (very pretty) foliage I enjoyed.  I planted this plant way too late in the spring season for adequate time for harvest.  The only ones who really enjoyed my brussel sprouts were my rabbits!  I let them eat the leaves!

My sugar-snap snow peas are holding in okay despite the few 90° days we received.  They are slowly (with my guidance) climbing up my netted trellis.  My children are enjoying their crispy, tender texture & flavor!  My spinach is yellowing and looking a bit wilty.  I prefer to cut my spinach leaves while they are young, but with the heat, the leaves grow a huge amount in one given day!  I cannot keep up!

My radishes and strawberries are heavy-hitters right now!  This beautiful weather has these two plants pumping out produce!

While it is sad to pull out dear friends, it also opens up space for more summer vegetables!  Hello summer squash!!

How are your gardens growing?

Blueberries for Sal

One of my favorite children’s story is, Blueberries for Sal.  Not only is it a funny story of quite an unusual mix-up on Blueberry hill, but it also gets me exited for blueberry season.

Years ago, blueberries were not grown here in the Central Valley.  I remember visiting my husband’s uncle in Pennsylvania who had a HUGE blueberry field.  We crouched down inside the netting and ate blueberries (just like Sal) for at least an hour solid! 

Recently in the south valley, farmers are giving blueberries a try.  From what I have heard, the two tricks are: acid soil and lots of MULCH!  Below is a guide to help your backyard blueberries have a great year!

What you need:

·                    Blueberry plants – always plant more than one (for cross-pollination).  In fact, even better is to plant two different varieties.  Last year (my first year of attempting blueberries) I bought my bushes at Lowe’s.  They did not grow too good and I had a booming harvest of 5 berries.  This year, I visited Evergreen Nursery where I bought two varieties that have been engineered to survive our summer heat and winter chill.  These bushes were much more expensive ($25 each), but I am hoping for a much better harvest.  I purchased a Misty Blueberry and a Sharpblue Blueberry.  By the way, these varieties of blueberry plants are more like bushes.  They are evergreen (never die or loose leaves) and can grow up to 6 feet tall!

·                    Acidic Planting Mix – blueberries thrive in acid soil.  My backyard, and most basic potting soil, is that very thing – basic (or alkaline).  Time for a simple Chemistry lesson.  Plants require differing levels of acid.  Most flowers and vegetables thrive in alkaline soil (a high ph).  Blueberries and other favorites like Azaleas & Hydrangeas, propagate best in acidic soil (low ph).  Most nurseries carry acidic soil.  I bought mine at H&E Nursery.  I got a nice 2 cubit feet bag for $8.99.

·                    A place/pot to plant your blueberries.

·                    Mulch – although I have never personally bought mulch, you can ask your local nursery if they have some for purchase.  I usually create my own out of newspaper & leaves!  Remember- I believe in being resourceful (aka- cheap!).

Here’s what I did:

                After I assembled my supplies, I dumped my nice alkaline soil into my barrel.  (If you purchase a new barrel, make sure you drill holes in the bottom so your soil can drain!  I even have my barrels balancing on red bricks to keep the bottoms from rotting out.)

                Dig a nice hole for each plant (remember to purchase at least two plants).  I tucked my plant in right at the soil line. 

                My soil line is about 8 inches down from the top of the barrel.  This will allow me to mulch, mulch, mulch once our summer heat begins.  Blueberry roots do not like to be dried out! 

                Then I watered my new plants.

                If you have the capabilities to hook up a drip line or some watering device to put in your Blueberry Barrel that would be a good idea.  The roots should not ever dry out.  (Hence the trick with Blueberries in Fresno!)

                When our heat begins, tear some black & white newspaper into strips and place over-top of the soil.  Then sprinkle some yard trimmings (not weeds) onto the newspaper.  Even better are pine needles.  Pine needles are naturally acidic so are a great addition to your mulch.  It’s kind of like making a lasagna: paper, clippings, needles, repeat!  Layer to your hearts content!

                Be sure to lift the paper every few days do a visual snail and slug check.  Those rascals love the moist soil- and your blueberries!

This should get to going and on your way to a summer of blueberries.  As with most crops, the first year is the smallest harvest.  Hopefully within a few years we can experience, like little Sal, the kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk of blueberries filling our bowls!

 

Good luck and let me know how it grows!