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Post by Wheelgarden on Jan 8, 2022 16:28:03 GMT -5
Inspected the blueberry patch. Very few dead tips to prune, and lots of little budlets bud-ling...and even more sprouts from the ground around. I finally talked DS (he who can't bear to prune, divide, or root-cut) after all these years into digging me up some of his "Premier" rabbiteyes. Big, plump, sweet, juicy berries, mmm. I do love my bowlfuls of blueberries.
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Post by gianna on Mar 1, 2022 13:18:54 GMT -5
I do love my bowlfuls of blueberries. Me too. Especially with a wee bit of real cream over the top. It's shaping up to be a really good berry year here. They bloomed very early, and it's been warm lately - up to 85F yesterday, the end of Feb! I'm planning on doing the first pick later today. This morning I spent time covering the bushes with black nylon tulle. We'll see how that works. I've used it before on things like lettuce and broccoli, and it seems to hold up well enough. I was able to water through it easily this morning. I don't mind sharing a few with the birds, but 'share'is not in their vocabulary. I'm hoping the netting will at least slow them down. I've spend the past few days totally re-organizing the blueberry area. Moving them about (they are all in pots - reasons), closer, weeding, putting down ground cloth...Now I'm hoping to reclaim 3 beds of primo garden territory, instead of just 1 by really condensing them.They don't need as much room as I've given them. I"ll have to measure to see what I can fit now. No rush but it will be nice to have lots of easy space for summer fun things like colored corn, baby corn, pepitas, etc. And lots more flowers of course. I also no longer want to do much hand watering in pots. If gophers get things now going into the ground... so be it. It's so much easier when th9ngs are in beds and the irrigation is hooked up.
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Post by Wheelgarden on Mar 1, 2022 15:50:11 GMT -5
gianna --- Oh, yes...blueberries with cream or yoghurt. Mmm. My highbush blubes are popping with both leaf and fruit buds, biding their time for the time being. They're too tall to easily cover, so the birds and I came to a truce ---y'all leave me a bunch, and you guys can have your share... If we don't have a late frost, I should get a bounty.
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Post by Wheelgarden on Mar 21, 2022 14:56:17 GMT -5
...and with late March comes the worrying. They're loaded with unopened berry blossoms. If we can dodge the late freezes, it'd be berry, berry good.
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Post by gianna on Mar 24, 2022 2:47:39 GMT -5
They're too tall to easily cover, so the birds and I came to a truce ---y'all leave me a bunch, and you guys can have your share... If we don't have a late frost, I should get a bounty. I was worried about the extra early blooms and fruiting too but damaging cold did not happen and the fruits now are ripening nicely. Very early even for here. And they are good. I ended up drapping the bushes with tulle and nylon netting. The tulle is very light-weight, and is wider and is black. The nylon netting is a bit heavier, but not as wide, and sort of floats on top. Works better than I thought it would. The 2 pieces of netting are blue and lavendar and looks sort of ghosty in any breeze. I think that alone is making the birds nervous and not eating too many. I don't care if they get some, but when the crop was light, they tried to get them all. About 10 plants are not covered at all (yet), and while I see evidence of birds having visited, it's not bad at all. On 3 sides of the blueberry patch is a 4 foot perimeter aviary wire fence, with the blueberries against it. This fencing is what I've attached the netting too, so it's not just floating on top of the plants - it's pinned to something rigid and won't just blow away. Pollinators can easily get through the wire too. This is working quite well. And not very expensive.
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Post by Wheelgarden on Mar 24, 2022 13:48:47 GMT -5
The tulle is very light-weight, and is wider and is black. Tulle is wonderful, and I covered the smaller Premier rabbiteye berry bush with white. I'm going to have to get some black tulle.
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Post by gianna on Mar 24, 2022 16:49:07 GMT -5
Tulle is wonderful, and I covered the smaller Premier rabbiteye berry bush with white. I'm going to have to get some black tulle. I love tulle in the garden too. I'm surprised more people don't use it. Not only for the berries, but also as a floating row cover, not for warmth, but for keeping the birds and insects off young plants. And it's so light, you can just drape it over seedlings, weigh down the edges, and as they grow, the tulle is carried up with them. In the past I've used it over lettuce on the salad tables. However... it does not allow water to pass as easily as nylon netting does. Perhaps in a rainy area, nylon netting might be more practical. When I water the blueberries, I put the hose end sprayer right against the tulle and it will pass through nicely. But I'm finding the nylon netting (not 'bird netting') allows water through very easily. I just now ordered some purple nylon netting to cover the rest of the blueberries. Purple was the choice because I love the color and I'm thinking making the netting more visible helps deter birds. I've also got a bolt of white tulle from a yard sale and might give that a try for efficiency. Black tulle almost totally blends into the background, and I really like that. So there are benefits to both, including neither gets as stuck on branches as does traditional bird netting (hate that stuff). I also like that you can get tulle in wider pieces. I think 108 inches wide and 40 or 50 yards for under $30. Netting costs more, but I think it might be more durable and last longer. $35 or so for 40 yards by 72 inches. Good prices on ebay. Both come in lots of colors. I think very dark green would look cool too.
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Post by Wheelgarden on Apr 16, 2022 14:20:46 GMT -5
"Anticipation..." The bushes are chock-full of pollinated flowers and little proto-berries, and others still blooming. Every kind of pollinating insect around is all over them. "...keepin' me waiting..."
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Post by gianna on Apr 20, 2022 23:09:33 GMT -5
I'm in the middle of harvest. It's a good year for berries after 2 bad years. I was concerned because they bloomed early and there didn't seem to be many bees, much less bumblebees. But they were well-pollinated. The season seems not only early, but condensed as well. It will mostly be over by the end of April this year. Then time for heavy pruning.
I did put the purple nylon netting over the bushes. Interesting look to be sure. it's sort of floating, and lofts a bit in the wind. It has a bit of a shine to it, and that I'm thinking the shine and movement adds to the bird-deterrence aspects. Just not as many coming in this year to pick. I don't mind them getting some, and even like that they get some. But not all of them. The netting does seem to slow them down. I really do like the nylon netting more than the tulle for this use. The netting seems sturdier . It does catch on the ends of little twigs, but it's easy to free. And when picking is over,I'll be able to save it for next year. Should get a few years of use from it.
Love them berries! They are all I had for dinner tonight.
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Post by gianna on May 21, 2022 20:58:30 GMT -5
Sniff... blueberry season is over, last week. I took the netting off, or rather the wind did, and the birds can have the few straggler berries.
This is the earliest ever that the season is over. It usually will last here well into June. It's been a good year. I got some frozen, but most were eaten fresh and appreciated.
I started pruning today. All are in containers. I'm going to prune hard this year. And I'm going to cull 3 or 4 of them. There are a few that just don't produce enough to keep. There was one that was suffering with a Bermuda grass thicket growing in the pot - one of the larger 20 gallon pots. I tipped it out, removed as many grass rhizomes as possible, trimmed the plant severely (roots and tops) and re potted it in a 15 gal container. Big job done. Much more pruning to do, and then moving the pots into better alignment.
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Post by Wheelgarden on Jun 14, 2022 19:19:25 GMT -5
Enjoyed the first handful of plump, sweet, dime-sized Premier rabbit-eyes...more to come. The others are a Tifton variety, and not quite ready.
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Post by Wheelgarden on Jul 8, 2022 17:09:36 GMT -5
Gotta brag and crow about the blubies this year. The Premier and the Tifblue have outdone themselves, and we're eating and freezing them fast as we can. Weather has been perfect for them this year, and all has seemed to smile on them. The every-third-year application of sulfur to the soil has made bigger and sweeter berries, too.
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Post by breezygardener on Jul 8, 2022 18:16:20 GMT -5
I only have one lone blueberry bush - a "Pink Lemonade" in a ceramic pot on the deck. It's pretty in the Spring with its little white flowers, as well as with it's bright red foliage in the Fall, & sometimes - depending on pollination - we do get a few cute little pink berries around this time of year, but normally we just leave them for the birds. In fact, the other day we really enjoyed watching a Catbird leap up & down picking off berries & flying off with them. There are two pairs with nests on our property, & I enjoy feeding them naturally.
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Post by gianna on Nov 21, 2022 21:57:43 GMT -5
My blueberry plants (all in pots and evergreen) have decided to bloom. Not totally unusual, but not as many plants, nor as many blooms as there are now. Fortunately the days are warm enough, so there are bees to pollinate. I could hear the buzzing as I worked in the area. These blooms started slowly a month or two ago, but now there are many. The earliest to bloom have fruits forming, and there is even a smattering of ripe ones. I found about 12 today, and they were quite good. I think it's going to be a long slow season, which seems a good thing to have gradual fruits, and not be overwhelmed by picking. Main blooming is generally in Feb or so. Main season picking season starts April or so. Who knows what's going to happen this year. I'm down to 33 plants, which is still too many, but more manageable. Yesterday I spent several hours re-aligning the plants. It was a big job but looks so much better now. They will be both easier to water and pick. Today I dealt with one that was being choked with Bermuda grass. I had to cut it out of its pot, and had to use pliers to pull some of the rhizomes. I doubt I got it all. Hope the BB survives. Tomorrow I will re-pot it after soaking it this afternoon. In general the plants are looking good, and the big reorganization job I'd been delaying is finished.
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Post by gianna on Apr 16, 2023 15:06:56 GMT -5
It's been a cooler year this year, so the harvest is a little delayed. It's the middle of April and now that it's warming up a little, I just picked the first nice bowl of fruits. And ate them. With cream. A nice tradition, lol. Looks like there is going to be lots of berries this year, enough for preserving. In the past I've given the extras away, dehydrated, or froze. This year with new canning lids burning a hole in my pocket, I'm thinking of canning some, in water. I'll freeze the extras until I get enough for a batch to can.
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