Love this time of the year....

[WillsC]

Picked for 4 hours last night and did not even make a dent.

[m5allen]

Wow, you are so lucky the birds don't hammer your berries. Looks great, what are those - Emeralds, Jewels?

[WillsC]

Mike,

I think it is Star.

[Kelby]

I'll be there in 12-14 hours, traffic depending.

My blueberries are still thinking about blooming...

[Gina]

Nice photo. I just spent about 30 minutes picking in the warm Spring late afternoon sun. Very nice. I don't have near your production, Wills, but enough.

It's still early harvest here. When it's in full swing, I like to pick about half my bushes every other day.

My blueberries are still thinking about blooming...

I'll observe a moment of silence for you. Of course having to wait means you'll have fruits when those of us who grow early berries are again waiting for next year.

[WillsC]

A couple more......

Windsor




Windsor again




Sweetcrisp, still a bit behind.

[mountainfigs]

Great pics. A happy sight.

[PharmaChad]

Wills,
Thanks for the pics. I hope to share mine in the next 2 or 3 weeks. If you have time, can you give us a few pointers on what makes your berry production so successful?
Chad
Zone 9a

[WillsC]

Chad,

Not sure on the successful part.......had a kind of crappy fruit set this season so was not happy about that. BB are easy as long as you get the PH right of the water and you don't let them dry out. A couple months of pinching after the post harvest prune helps to maximize production ....well normally. I have been giving them less and less p&K and focusing more on just the N thinking they would get all the P&K they needed from the mulch but I think I have passed the lower limit and that is why the fruit set and fruit size was down this year. I just mulch with pine shavings and wood mulch, no pine chips. They only get the pine chips the first year they are planted.

[Darkman]

Have you ever done a soil sample or leaf analysis?

Do you not worry about the wood chips consuming available nitrogen in order for them to breakdown?

I also worry about Amarilli (spelling?) fungus coming in with the chipped wood.

[JD]

Looks good Wills. 4 hours and no dent? Impressive.
Please say more about the post harvest prune and pinching to maximize production.

Thanks,
JD

[brettjm]

Ugh. Most jealous over here. My rabbiteyes are just finishing up flowering. I've got at least 2-2.5 months before I get any fruit.

[WillsC]

Charles,

I have a state nursery license so I am entitled to unlimited free leaf / soil analysis but I have never done so.

As I understand it the wood chips work like this......yes while breaking down they tie up N, they don't really consume it so as it rots it gives the N back. I have never had an issue with a shortage of N.

Did you mean armillaria? Mushroom root rot? is in the soil here naturally as I am on lowland hammock soil of oaks and hickories. Get the mushroom clusters popping up all the time. Being a soil borne problem the wood chips don't worry me in the least and I don't believe BB are bothered by it anyway. My wood chips come courtesy of my electric company and they are all high trims from around the power lines. My peaches have so far not contracted it as far as I know but you don't know they have it till they collapse. My pomegranates sure did though......they would go from healthy and robust to wilted and dead in a couple days. I ended up pulling all 26 of them out of the ground. In ground figs are supposed to be some what susceptible to it as well but so far not an issue.

[Darkman]

Yes! Armillaria! It is present in my yard and I tried to remove all roots when I dug up the trees I removed. I can understand that if the trimming are from the topping of trees you will not have to worry about that. Nasty stuff that Armillaria!

[Blueboy1977]

Very nice Wills! I got my first ripe SpringHigh berry today. It was pink yesterday and turned blue over night. It's starting in my neck of the woods finally! I'm way behind though! Haven't even got the bird netting out of storage yet. Hope the mocking birds don't catch on any time soon

[Gina]

The mocking birds are already flying aerial combat missions to keep intruders out of their blueberry patch.

I picked more yesterday. Enough to give some to the neighbor across the street.

[WillsC]

Last year I had two mockingbirds, this year none. It is odd as we have lots of mockingbirds in the area just not in my neighborhood, Not complaining, I know they drive Hershell nuts.

[cis4elk]

Wills, what do you do with all those blueberries?

[WillsC]

Calvin,

We eat them Wife and I have BB everyday with our oatmeal in the morning. We make syrup from them and dehydrate them. We also give a ton of them away. Wine is also an interest. The biggest problem is picking them, this time of year it is 2-3 hours every day.

[m5allen]

You sure have it rough Wills, I really feel for you.

[Gina]

Wills, what do you do with all those blueberries?

Wills has far more than I do, but I always have many to process. I give a lot away, have even traded some. I keep a bowl of them on the counter for drive-by snacking (they always taste better the second day). To preserve them, I've dehydrated (slice in food processor first), made fruit leathers, and frozen. Blender ice cream is good. Also I made and canned a sweet-sour bbq sauce once. Have yet to make jelly/jam or syrup. And there is always pie - but I've not yet made one.

[PharmaChad]

Gina are you related to Forest Gump? LOL.
Have a great day!

[cis4elk]

Very nice, thanks Wills and Gina.
Wills, I wasn't sure if maybe you sold some at a farmers market or similar. Seems like you probably have a good deal extra. If I was one of your local buddies I would most definitely be swinging by to..help you pick.

Gina, so your saying second day out on the counter and they are better? You've gotta make a pie! Of course that takes a lot of berries. I made preserve one time with store bought BBs. I did the type where no pectin is added and very little sugar. I just pulled up a stool and stirred my berries as they simmered until they were the right thickness. Man that was some good preserve, but it took forever. I pledged I would never do that again until I was retired!

It looks like one of my two BB bushes is going to have a pretty good year if all goes well. It has never had as many blossoms on it as it does now. I saw a Bumble working it today, which was sort of exciting seeing I have never seen one on my BBs before. The other BB bush is just starting to form the premature blossom buds now, even though on paper their bloom is supposed to overlap it rarely does.

I pruned out the weak and extra twigs a few weeks back. Should I be thinning out some of the blossoms too or will the pruning result in enough thinning?

[WillsC]

Calvin,

I like to have 6 buds per branch tip/limb/twig however you want to phrase it.

[Darkman]

Counting buds! Dang I thought you just topped it as needed to encourage bushing and removed the oldest 33% of the limbs after they are through fruiting for the year.

Wills do you have or can you write a maintenance schedule for the BB's.

[Gina]

Gina, so your saying second day out on the counter and they are better?

Yes, I find that to be true. One day I pick and let them sit out in a nice bowl till the next day, or even two days.. and to me they taste much better. More berry taste. A BB friend in town finds that to be true too.

I made preserve one time with store bought BBs. I did the type where no pectin is added and very little sugar. I just pulled up a stool and stirred my berries as they simmered until they were the right thickness. Man that was some good preserve, but it took forever. I pledged I would never do that again until I was retired!

That sounds really good. Perhaps you could cook them down in a slow oven. Use a stainless steel or Teflon roasting pan or even cookie sheet with sides, and let it cook long and slow, with occasional stirring. (I do that with garden tomatoes, and it's exceptional!) Sounds like a great ice cream topping.

[cis4elk]

Great idea with the roasting pan in the oven.
So, with tomatoes, are you adding anything other than salt, pepper, and maybe EVOO? I'm guessing it's a concentrated simple sauce? Sounds good.

[LouD]

I employ a large number of feral cats (20 to 30) on my farm and they keep the number of mocking birds and cardinals off my blueberry bushes. They have completely eradicated the black rats, field mice, and have severely reduced the number of squirrels and moles on the property. At this time of year when the ripe berries draw the birds to my blueberry patch I see the cats snoozing in the blue barrel berry bush pots waiting for the next meal to fly in. Are bird feathers acid or alkaline?

[PharmaChad]

Lol! I think they are acidic- feather meal.