Blueberries! Good investment!

April 8, 2010:

My wife is a blueberry lover and has been after me to plant some blueberry bushes, which is something
I should have done years ago. Many mature blueberry bushes can grow 6-7 ft. tall and 4-5 ft. wide, producing gallons of large, fresh, sweet berries every year.

Since I am in a hurry for fruit, I spent a little extra money and ordered 2 – 3 year old bushes, and one 2 year old bush which arrived today. The 3-year old stoce should yiels a few pounds of berries each this year, and the 2-year old stock, perhaps several cups full. Each yest, the yield will increase markedly.

They arrived as bare root stock, wrapped in some peat bedding to retain moisture, and are already in bud. I have them soaking in a bucket of water over night, before planting tomorrow. Tomorrow I will pick up a bale of peat moss, because success with getting blueberry bushes off to a good start, is planting the roots directly into nothing by peat moss. Blueberries need a very acid soil to thrive, and the peat moss produces the ideal enviroment. If your soil type is naturally alkaline, an annual addition of some aluminum sulfate may be required for good results.

In addition to being a high yielding fruit, they also make an attractive foliage plant, and can be worked into the backyard landscape. Did I mention that my wife is also addicted to raspberries, so several 2-year old raspberry bushes will also be arriving shortly, making my yard very “berrylicious” this year! 🙂

*Note: Please take the time to visit my website, and log into the interactive message boards. I would like to develope a nice garening community there, and would value your input – questions, advise, suggestions, garden lore, etc.

Ron
The Garden Guy
http://www.TheGardenGuy.org

Spring Has Sprung!!

March 18. 2010:

What a day . . . What a week! Finally, temps in the upper 60’s, approaching the 70 degree mark, with not a rain cloud in the sky all week. On Monday, I got my peas seeded in the garden, and today was out there again!

I direct seeded my spinach, romaine, leaf lettuce, carrots and beets, all of which will germinate within a week or 10 days. All of these could have been seeded as early as 3 weeks ago, but the constant rain and previous snow cover did not cooporate!

I have a new cold frame coming on Saturday, that my son made for me out of scrap Corian, that will last forever. As soon as it’s in place, I will be moving my broccoli, parsley, basil and peppers into it. The broccoli will be planting into the garden, under mini-greenhouse made from soda bottles, the following week, after they harden off. I will keep the tomatoes and eggplant indoors for another week or so, as I start more plants, such as my melons, zucchini and cukes!
*** New Article on the website! Don’t forget your soil tests for Spring!

Ron
“The Garden Guy”
http://www.TheGardenGuy.nut

Gardening Season Starts Now!

March 16, 2010:

Hi All,
After a terrible Nor’easter this past weekend, the weather seems to have settled, and the rain has stopped. Time to give the garden some serious attention!!
I turned over the beds where I planned to plant peas and Sugar Snaps, and direct seeded them heavily. I also turned over two more beds where I plan to direct seed spinach, romain,leaf lettuce and carrots later this week. There is still a lot of undigested organic matter in the soil from Fall. After being a couch-potato all winter, I am not used to the physical stuff yet, so I stopped for the day. Don’t want to over do it the first day. I did spend a little time repairing the trellises that the Winds did some damage to.
I have brocolli seedlings started indoors, which I will set out later this week or next, under mini-greenhouses made from soda bottles. I also have tomatoes, eggplant, basil, parsley, Cayenne peppers and bell peppers started indoors, all doing well, except the Genovese parsley. The parsley germination was sparse, because it germinates best in cook temps. I plan to reseed it, and move it outside off the heat!
By starting the garden early, I will be harvesting and enjoying spinach, lettuce, romaine and peas while most other local gardeners are just getting started, and certainly long before they are harvesting anything. This is the way to cure that cabin fever!
PS – Don’t forget to visit my website and order your soil test before planting and amending your soil! NOW is the time!

Ron
The Garden Guy
http://www.thegardenguy.org