On 2/14/2015 10:41 AM, Steve Peek wrote:
On Friday, February 13, 2015 at 8:14:23 PM UTC-5, George Shirley wrote:
Today we finished a four-day project. Built a raised bed for our new
blueberry bushes. The old ones drowned in our heavy clay. Used untreated
landscape timbers and built a bed three feet wide by eight feet long.
Drilled half inch holes in the timbers, three each for the long run, one
each for the end caps. Stacked the timbers and drove an eighteen inch
long half inch diameter rebar stack in each hole and used six inch,
super strong, metal screws to hold the end caps in place. Worked well
but took we old people a few days to gather, contemplate, consider, and
do the work. Today we mixed up a big mess of dirt, vermiculite, peat
moss, and composted cow manure.

Dug the three new plants in, watered well, and took a nap. In 2013 and
early 2014 we got a goodly amount of berries from the originals. Then
the heavy rains came and drowned everything planted in a hole in the
five feet of clay under our property except the pear tree. Had a crew
come in and dig a humongous hole for that one with lots of soil
amendments added.

The plants had bloom buds appearing already so we will see what happens
now. Three different rabbit eye bushes should cross pollinate well and
we happen to have a goodly amount of pollinators here. Mostly bumble,
mason, and carpenter bees with a few European honey bees and a lot of
bee flies.

One more raised bed to amend starting tomorrow when I take the last
three cabbage heads out and pull up the green pea vines that haven't
done well all winter. The other bed will get emptied by the middle of
this month. Pulled the last of the beets and radishes from that one but
still have broccoli, spinach, and lettuce doing well there. Will empty
it anyway as it badly needs amending for spring.

George

Remove the blooms for at least the first year. Your plants will show their thanks in berries in later years.

What varieties did you get?

Steve

Good advice, just read that in the Texas A&M info on southern
blueberries, will do that this afternoon. Putting up pickled beets at
the moment, the only way I like them.

Premier, Climax and Tifblue, purchased from the top nursery in our area.
We will probably go back to a nearby market farm and pick both blue and
black berries plus figs.

I miss our old property, had mature fruit trees, a Brown Turkey fig, a
Japanese persimmon, large Meiwa Kumquat and another that I don't
remember, and two different plum trees. Did have a couple of peach trees
but the peach borers got both of them before I learned about planting
chives or onions around the base.

Here we have a small Celeste fig, a small Meiwa kumquat, and a Tennousi
pear out front. Wild dewberries came up under our fence and we've been
pruning and feeding them and training them up a nylon trellis on the
fence. I do like dewberries.

Big difference between a 14,000 SF property and a 6500 SF one.