Friday, February 26, 2010

Blueberries!

Today, I'm all about blueberries!
I've allways wanted to grow blueberries, but I didn't think I could in my area... then the other day I saw that there was a blueberry farm in my town (http://www.blueskyblueberries.com/) and I thought that's what I want! so now I am all excited about blueberries.
so this is what I've learned:
The type of blueberries we would grow in my area is "highbush"

I think we are in zone 8. You should plant two plants per person in your family.
I want plants that will ripen early, mid, and late, that are hardy and can withstand the heat.
The species that I think are best suited for us are:

Vaccinium 'O'Neal' - Southern Blueberry PlantO’Neal: Very Early, Ripens in early May. Blooms and ripens over an extended period. Best flavor of the southern highbush. The bush is vigorous and upright to 6 feet.  Suggested chilling requirement of 200-400 hours. Zones 7-9

Blueberry Plant - MistyMisty: Early, A perfect compliment to “Sunshine Blue”, evergreen, about 5' tall, thrives along the west coast to the Canadian border. It yields best when planted with another variety. Tolerance for higher pH soils. best for Zones 7-9 Chilling needs are very low (150-300 hours) Zones 5-10.




Georgia Gem: Mid-season, An upright bush to 5-6 feet. Quite cold hardy, yet tolerant of high temperatures. It is performing exceptionally well in California. Requires a minimum of 200-300 chilling hours. Zones 7-9

Reveille: Late Mid-season, easy to grow, to 5-6 feet tall, a great hedge plant. Hardy to 0 deg. F, it thrives in hot climates or in the cool Pacific Northwest. Needs at least 500 chilling hours for best production. Zones 7-9

Low Chill Sunshine Blueberry Potted Two Gallon PlantSunshine Blue:  semi-dwarf evergreen, Produces up to ten pounds of berries. Ripeing over a very long season, from early August through early September, up to 9 weeks. Hardiness to 0 degrees F, a very low chilling requirement of only 150 chilling hours and a tolerance for higher pH soils. 3-4 feet tall. self-pollinating Zones 5-10.

Southmoon "Mild Winter" Blueberry Plant Two GallonSouthmoon: early-bearing, fine-tasting blueberry and the only one in a local collection of 20 varieties that didn’t show leaf burn in the hot California Summer.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Re-Blog

it's been a while, but, I've been busy. I've had two more kids, a boy named Noah who is now 3, and a girl named Rachel who is 6 months old. Phil is five and has started kendergarden (with us here at home of course)
As I get the time I will back-Blog thingz I've posted elsewhere.
I think that's enough for now I need to finish our taco lunch :P yum!