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

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

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.

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 have those 3 plus 8 other varieties. Premier and Climax are early, Tifblue is mid-late season. Tifblue tends to get very tall, so you may have to keep it topped. Remember they are very shallow rooted, mulch well for the life of the plant. If you are looking for other varieties, Powderblue is a highly productive mid season plant and my very favorite for fresh eating, pick Centurian for huge, late berries. My other plants are Northern Highbush so I don't think you would be interested.

I have an acre plus of blueberries, 700 or so plants. My picking season runs from late May through frost. I did a lot of study with the Ag extension office of NC State U and planned for a long picking season. So fat it's worked out pretty well.

Good luck with them,
Steve

On 2/14/2015 1:59 PM, Steve Peek wrote:


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 have those 3 plus 8 other varieties. Premier and Climax are early, Tifblue is mid-late season. Tifblue tends to get very tall, so you may have to keep it topped. Remember they are very shallow rooted, mulch well for the life of the plant. If you are looking for other varieties, Powderblue is a highly productive mid season plant and my very favorite for fresh eating, pick Centurian for huge, late berries. My other plants are Northern Highbush so I don't think you would be interested.

I have an acre plus of blueberries, 700 or so plants. My picking season runs from late May through frost. I did a lot of study with the Ag extension office of NC State U and planned for a long picking season. So fat it's worked out pretty well.

Good luck with them,
Steve

The raised bed they're in is mostly peat moss with vermiculite, cow
manure compost and a manmade dirt which is mostly composted peat moss
(?), composted pine bark and other ingredients. The bed will be mulched
heavily with pine straw, easily come by near by for free.

Don't have room for anything else Steve, very small property and the
backyard is already crowded. We dug in every amendment we could find
along the backyard fence, all three sides plus the little space at the
front. One corner has my herb garden in it as they seem to do well with
the shade there. One of these days I will take a picture and post it.
Will have to be happy with going to the U pick 'em farms nearby. We got
blackberries and blueberries that way last year at about $3.50 a lb.
Were going to pick dewberries along the state highway verges but they
didn't get enough rain. Texas actually has a law that allows picking
berries along the state and county roads so lots of folks do that. I
wish they had a law that allowed you to pick up a deer that just got
clipped and only the head was damaged. Saw one this morning and we could
have had it in the SUV in a few minutes if a damned state trooper didn't
happen by. They don't salvage road kill for food banks here, they just
have them picked up and hauled to the dump. I like the way Alaska does
it, gives it to folks that need meat.

Add on: all our raised bed gardens have a flat soaker hose buried half
way to the bottom and right in the middle for watering during our very
hot and sunny summers. Beats standing out there with a hose an hour
every day. The fenceline beds have a regular soaker hose running down
the middle. I put in a four connection rig on the faucet and have the
hoses run through. Might decide to go to a buried drip system later.

Got three heads of cabbage left to pick, might make sauerkraut tomorrow
or Monday. Got a nice clean five-gallon bucket that is food quality just
for that.

George, Heat zone 8B, SE Texas