Thursday, May 7, 2009

First Attempt at Blueberries

Another first in the garden this year are the blueberries. I bought two blueberry plants at Lowe's recently and planted them next to each other. Both looked very healthy; one was already flowering. And now I have the very beginnings of blueberries!

Sadly, all the blueberries are on the same plant (plant #2) . I am hoping plant #1 catches up soon--so far, it seems to be growing leaves instead of flowers.

Blueberry plant # 2 is very plentiful. And I am so excited.


As you can see in the second picture, this plant has many, many bunches of blueberries. I have read online that birds absolutely love blueberries. So I am going to have to put netting over plant # 2 very soon.

I would love to share the blueberries with the birds, but sadly, I don't have a huge blueberry garden... so the birds will have to stay away! I can't wait until this ripens!

Does anyone watch Jeff Poppen, the Barefoot Farmer, on PBS on Volunteer Garden? (http://www.barefootfarmer.com/) Recently, there was an episode and he talked a little bit about growing blueberries. He said that they can take 6-8 years before they are plentiful and give lots of fruit. I don't doubt that. My little plants are very low to the ground right now, but I am looking forward to watching them grow in the upcoming years.

The Barefoot Farmer also mentioned that blueberries grow much better if you put different varieties next to each other. It's better for cross-pollination.

Plant # 1 and Plant # 2 are the same variety, so I am now in the hunt to find a different variety of blueberry. Blueberries are one of my favorite fruits.

9 comments:

tina said...

I saw the segment with Jeff Poppen. He is very fun. I have two blueberry bushes too. They've been here for about 7 years. Last year was the first year I really enjoyed the blueberries. They were slow to start. This year they are loaded. Be patient, they'll come.

Dan said...

Never seen that program, I will have to look for it. Nice blueberry bushes. We get wild ones late summer that grow up north, they are so good.

Susie said...

I've wanted to grow blueberries but just haven't. I hope yours turns out great D.P.

Dawn said...

Is he on youtube? I saw someone on growing potatoes, which is apparently difficult. Blueberries are in plenty over here as I live next to the electrical power lines, have to compete with the bears though.

Roses and Lilacs said...

Hi DP, blueberries don't grow well here in our alkaline soil. I wish...
Good luck with yours.
Marnie

lola said...

Hi DP, I have a dwarf blueberry in a half whiskey barrel. It is doing fine. I had my first ripe berry off it yesterday. Nice & sweet. I too will have to cover mine to keep the birds away.

Anonymous said...

I haven't seen that show, I'll have to check it out DP. Good luck with your new little Blueberry bushes, hope you get a nice little harvest this year. :)

DP Nguyen said...

Hi Tina-I really enjoy Jeff Poppen! I hope my blueberries do as well as yours in the coming years. Six years does sound like a long time to wait!

Hi Dan-I think it's a local TN program. He's a barefoot farmer with a farm somewhere in TN. Ooh, I'd love to taste some wild blueberries. I bet they are delicious.

Hi Susie- Thanks!

Dawn- I am not sure if he is on youtube or not. We've grown potatoes at my house before in the past. My dad says they are pretty easy, so maybe it depends on the variety of potatoes? And beears are no fun! I'm glad we don't have that kind of problem here.

Hi Marnie-I'm sorry you're not able to grow blueberries! I do read that they are picky about the soil they grow in :-(

Hi Lola, a half whiskey barrel sounds very interesting. You should blog about it sometime so I can see. It seems very interesting!

Hi Raquel, I hope I get a good harvest too!

Matron said...

Yours seem to be a few weeks ahead of mine. I planted one main blueberry bush, then bought a couple of really small ones just for pollination purposes - but the small ones grew so well they are all the same size now!