Including fresh fruit in our raw-food diets adds important taste variety. Growing those fruits ourselves is also important because they are often the most costly foods in the produce section of the supermarket. Blueberries are native American plants and, contrary to popular opinion, they can be grown just about anywhere. You just need to pick the variety that is best suited to your region and use sound organic principles for nurturing them and helping them adapt to your own garden or yard. Blueberries are sweet but not too sweet, and the flavor is even more satisfying when they are allowed to ripen on the shrub. They put forth delicate, bell-shaped flowers in the spring; and in the summer, the foliage is blue tinged, turning bright red in the fall. They have no thorns; therefore, they are much easier to harvest than some other berries. If all of this were not reason enough to plant blueberries, consider this: they contain more cancer-fighting antioxidants than any other fruit or vegetable.
Choosing the Right Type
This is your first priority if you want your blueberries to do well. However, you will need to plant at least two varieties in the type you choose for purposes of cross-pollination. Also, if you plant several varieties with different maturity dates, you’ll have a longer harvesting season. A grower in upstate New York reports picking berries from her fourteen bushes (9 varieties) over a period of two months. The region you live in is the most important consideration when choosing what type to plant; there are four to choose from. All four require a period of prolonged cold weather before the flowers will set; however, some need less than others. If you plant different varieties of the same type, you will get bigger berries and a larger yield.
Highbush. These are the ones you usually find in supermarkets and have big, dark berries. The bushes grow six to eight feet high. Northern ones in this type grow best in zones 4 to 7. Some northern varieties: Blueray, Bluecrop, Jersey, Patriot. Southern highbush will do fine in zones 7 to 10. Some varieties: Cape Fear, Gulfcoast, O’Neal, Blue Ridge. These bear well even in Florida.
Lowbush. These do best in zones 3 to 6 and are extremely hardy. These are the ones for gardeners in the very cold climates. The bushes hug the ground and grow to only six to eighteen inches. They spread by underground runners, and the berries are small but very sweet. While a few varieties have been cultivated, what you’ll get at your garden store will mostly be wild seedlings. For that reason, there will be wide variations in plant size but also in the fruit.
Half High. These are the result of growers’ efforts to create a new type from the Highbush and Lowbush ones so they could achieve the big berries on the cold-hardy bushes. These don't grow as tall as the high-bush ones, and they don't put out underground runners. Some varieties: Friendship, Polaris, Northland, North-blue.
Rabbiteye. This one is for southern gardens. They’re smaller than the Highbush types and are ready for harvest later in the season. Some of these have extraordinary flavor and cross-pollinate each other very well. These can grow to ten feet. They are more adaptable to various soils than other kinds.
Preparing the Soil
Don't think for a minute that you can plant blueberries in the same soil as other plants in your garden. Nothing could be further from reality! For one thing, the soil must be well aerated. It also must be moist and very high in humus. You can probably achieve all of these fairly easily, but getting the proper pH is the biggest challenge. The soil for blueberries must be very acidic. What this all says is that you will need to have your soil tested. You want a pH between 4 and 5.5. To achieve that, you will need to add sulfur (an organic substance) the season before you plant the berry bushes, from one to seven pounds per hundred square feet. If you have your soil tested, the expert there will be able to tell you how much sulfur to add. It must be mixed in with the top six inches of soil.
Planting
Lowbush blueberries: 2 feet apart; Highbush: six feet; Rabbiteyes: fifteen feet. Make holes and mix in a bucketful of composted leaves or pine needles. The pine needles will help maintain acidity. They also make good humus for nutrition, aeration, and moisture. Once they are planted, cover the ground with a three-inch layer of organic mulch to keep weeds down and keep the roots cool and moist. You can use straw, shredded leaves, pine needles, or wood chips. Some blueberry growers prefer sawdust, but be certain that it doesn't come from treated lumber.
Concluding Thoughts
If you've ever lived in an area where blueberries are grown and can be purchased directly from the grower, you have probably become hooked on that wonderful fruit. The good news is that you can grow your own. It will take some time and effort, but they’re worth it.
By TTS Cofounder Botanical Chef Omid Jaffari
|
Prev
