Blueberries Galore!

Well, another Craigslist find!  25  7 gallon organic blueberry plants.  I paid $10 each for them, which I think is a great find.  We paid $8 for 3 gallon ones a few years back.  They are the northern high bush varieties of Windsor and Emerald.  Estimated at about 3 years old, so should start producing fruit in greater quantity starting this year, and definitely in years 4 and 5. 

As you may recall, we are finished burying the container.  We discussed using the hillside as a place to plant fruiting trees or bushes.  We want to keep the dirt from running off during the torrential rains (which we seem to be getting nearly everyday since June), and we want the plants to be purposeful.

I'm not sure if I'll try and create more of a raised bed feature, by shoring up each row with wood, which would help erosion issues, or not.  Jury is still out.  In this heat (we reached 97 degrees this week), it will be a work in progress since it's out in direct sunlight. 

The soil used to bury in the container has a higher sand content which will be good for drainage.  I'll amend it with peat moss and pine chips/needles.  A light application of fertilizer to get things going.  Starting in October, they will be left alone to go dormant, until January when they will begin to blossom with fruit around April.

We're hoping this was a worth while investment.  We love blueberries and looking at long term this number of plants will give us more than we need.  I'm sure the hens and hogs will be happy too!