Backyard Blueberries

We picked up three small blueberry "bushes" today. I have no actual photos to share because as soon as we got home, the sky blackened, the heavens opened, and the rain poured forth, bringing tornado warnings and flood notices with it. So you'll need to be patient for photos. Truly, they aren't what I would call photogenic plants anyway. Downright homely is more like it - tall and gangly like the awkward teenagers of the plant world. They are maybe 3.5' tall and almost vinelike in appearance with woody stems.

I haven't decide where to plant them. Some sources suggest they do well in containers, which is one thought, but I'm pretty bad about watering things in containers - not now, but when it really heats up in the summer and you have to water at least once a day, it's easy to miss a day or two. We have lots of ground, though as I may have mentioned, Mister Lawyer isn't keen on anyone disturbing his lawn. I think we'll make an exception for the blueberries. And by we, I of course mean, me. I'll let the kids show him when they have been planted.

I ran across this FAQ gem in my quest for self-education about all things blueberry:

Q: Do you sell organic blueberries?

A: Our blueberry planting has NOT had ANY pesticide application for over14 years. (knock-on-wood) It can not be certified "organic" only because we use chemical fertilizer instead of poop. We consider this"as good as" organic, but the governmental agencies do not.

Mmmmm....poop.

Also, I have no idea why, but this image pops up on a search for "Blueberry Plant." Interesting.

Since it has rained significantly, tomorrow (assuming the deluge ceases) will be an ideal day to plant our new project. The boys are thrilled and want to plant them immediately. The bushes (if you can call them that with a straight face) are actually fruiting - not what I would call a blueberry bonanza, but there are a few berries on there and it seems like a good sign. According to The Internet, the berries will be ripe in the summer. The Summer, is a bit earlier here that most other places - more like May/June rather than June/July/August. Very little grows in August due to the fierce heat.

Ironically, I don't really like blueberries. Sure, I like them cooked in things, like pancakes and muffins. But plain? That just doesn't do it for me. Now, I know they are something of a superfood that we all should like and want to eat, but I just don't. My plan is to hide my distaste from the boys and let them enjoy the berries and their nutrition without my coloring their tastes. Failing that, we will freeze them as they ripen and then throw the lot them into a pancake batter sometime down the line. Mmmmm.

2009 Veggie Project

I think it's good for kids to grow things - it teaches them where our food comes from, how our food is grown, and how to take care of living things. And it teaches something other than the immediate gratification that most kids are used to.

So being that it's pretty warm here already, I dragged everyone to Lowe's and we bought some veggie planting paraphernalia. Mister Lawyer has issues with me digging up his lawn, so we are restricted to container gardening for now. I thought we should start with little seed posts, since I'm not sure anything is going to grow at all and we chose the greener choice - that being little biodegradable peat pots which are also quite reasonably priced.

I chose organic seed starter and though we should have gotten fully organic potting soil, I just grabbed the Miracle Gro for veggies they had at the exit. I might return that though, since we're using the seed starter so far.

We are using Sunflowers, Snow Peas, Tomatoes, Summer Squash, Zucchini, Carrots, Radishes, and an African Daisy mix.

Here is the planting process. Note how he poured the seed starter medium in ever so precisely?

They had fun, which was important. They really dig that dirt.


I'll report back as to what grows. Not only is it only January, which is not known as an ideal veggie month, but it seems that some of this stuff is supposed to be planted in the early summer and some in the Fall, but it says "after last frost" which will be this month, no doubt (they are in the garage for now). So I guess we'll see, right? If nothing else, the Sunflowers are my safety - if nothing else sprouts, those are sure to grow, probably to impossible proportions. I'll add strawberries later on and whatever else I need to replace those of these that meet an untimely demise.

Wish us luck!