Tips for Planting Blueberries (Vlog)
Today's vlog is all about blueberries. We've been planting some Southern Highbush blueberries and invite you to join us as I talk a little about how and why to establish blueberries.
This delicious and nutritious fruit has lots to offer those who say YES to this delightful plant. Blueberries prefer a low pH and even moisture, have few pests and thrive in many locations.
The 3 main type of highbush blueberries (Southern, Northern and Rabbit eye) all have differing bloom times and climatic requirements, so pick the one(s) that works for your area.
We've chosen 8 varieties (7 rabbit eye and 1 Southern Highbush) totaling 65 plants to establish this year to ensure a long picking season and abundant fruits to eat, preserve, share and later to create value added products for gifting, selling, and trading.
Layout
We've laid out the berries at 5.5 foot spacing on contour for optimal water infiltration. To bolster the organic matter and lower pH we've incorporated 2-3 gallons of moist peat moss per plant, and 1/2 cup of elemental sulphur to bring our pH down from 6.5 to around 5.5 (blueberries like it around 4.5 to 5.5). We've slightly mounded the area where we plant to allow for better drainage and mulched with aged sawdust.
Once established the plant can live up to 50 years! They will provide delicious low glycemic antioxidant rich fruit for years, and we're super excited about this. The anthocyanins are what make the berries so richly colored and act as antioxidants in our bodies. Consumption of blueberries has even been linked to improved eye sight.
Did we mention how delicious blueberries are? These bushes are a MUST for any home, garden, food forest or farm.
Thanks for tuning in!
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Beautiful! I can't wait for those blueberries! Do the three varieties have different flavors? Great post@mountainjewel!
i can't wait either!! i think they will have slightly differing flavors -so excited to taste the nuances!! xoxo
Will be nice once they get established. What a great legacy...a lovely, delicious berry patch.
50 years! That's such a long time for a plant to be producing. You've made me start wondering what kind of varieties we have down here in New Zealand. Many in my network and local community have the dream of establishing a permaculture block, so I'm happy to be following you and learning this cool stuff :)