Wrench wrote in message . ..
Hello all. I have been lurking in this group for about a month
and have a few simple questions.
I am planing to grow blue-berries. I have a place to put them
that gets full sun until late afternoon, and is on the upper side of a
spring house so watering isn't a problem. My question is, what should
I do to the area before I put them in? Deep till? Manure? What do
blue-berries like?

you never manure blueberries, and if you do you will make them sick.
Wood ash is much worse. I suggest acid forming organic material, plus
ammonium sulfate if they are too brown. To my blueberries I give wood
chips, coffee grounds and leaves. A mixture of wood chips and coffee
grounds is probably close to ideal (you could also inject such mixture
with mushroom spawn, such as oyster, and they will lov it. But it
needs to be shaded within one year to be really productive). If you
put the organic material on top it will take a while for the soil to
change the pH to the 5 levels blueberries need.

Also along the west-facing side of my house I have several
vertical pipes about ten feet apart.(2" pipes) I am trying to keep an
edible landscape, so anyone have any ideas for a hearty climbing vine
that doesn't need much direct sun? I thought about scarlet runner
beans, but I'm not sure how well they would do in a shaded area. Plus
I have grown them before and didn't really consider them too edible.
TIA for any and all advice.

If you don't mind the vines taking over the house, try hardy kiwis. It
will take them 6 years to fruit, but they are pretty plants, hardy,
and very vigorous. The variety kolomikta is a lot less vigorous and
more beatiful, so kolomikta may be your ticket (it will still cover
the side of your house). The fruits are among the best tasting ones
but don't keep as well as the fuzzy kiwis. If you are in Zone 4-7 you
could also consider schizandra (Chinese magnolia).



Wrench