blueberries

4 years ago we purchased bare root blueberry plants. They arrived in two boxes and each bush was just a small set of roots and one or two twigs growing up from that.

We dug holes and added what was advised. Each year we've been able to pick blueberries and have them to eat fresh for weeks. We've had to pick elsewhere to freeze enough to last for the year. The mornings we have oatmeal we put frozen blueberries directly in the pot with water, oats and salt. As the oats cook the blueberries do too, and the result is a warm lovely breakfast concoction. Frozen blueberries can go straight into any baked good too, or a pancake. Everything cooks together.

The section of the farm were the blueberries are located is set apart from our paddocks. It gets overlooked, and has gotten overgrown. Homer has been working at clearing it out.

We purchased a ratchet pruner. With long handles and a ratchet head, he could clip off the tree saplings that have grown on the field.

We have learned that while we are busy farming, weeds and trees will grow where they are not wanted. So plastic weed barrier goes down to keep the blueberry bushes clear.

All for this. Each of those flowers will yield a blueberry. There are 20 bushes of 3 different varieties. An early blooming, a mid season blooming and a late season blooming. Each bush has berries that ripen for about two weeks, and with the 3 types of berries we can pick for 6-7 weeks and have fresh berries.

It is likely we will need to pick at other farms for our freezer stock, but as the bushes continue to grow and produce more we will be able to harvest enough here for us to stockpile for a year, until fresh again. So. Good.