A Man, A Tiller, and A Tasseled Beanie
The morning following a late night feature called "No Beds for Blueberries" dawned with a new script. The morning was uninvitingly chilled for outdoor work, but the blueberries needed us. So, we doffed our cozy sleepwear and slipped into a colorful array of warm things to dig in and get dirty. We apprehensively drove off to the rental center to equip ourselves with the required heavy equipment. In addition to the equipment we needed to collect a large amount of soil, sand, and amendment mixes to whip our sad soil into condition.
Our first task was to cut the shape and sod cut the area. This effectively removed the weeds and provided much needed sod for my neighbors eroded creek border. Which had the added benefit of getting the neighbors son to haul sod.
Neighbors son helping us remove sod. This sod will be used to help with the eroded creek in their back yard. This was a win for everyone (except maybe the son).
Once the land was cleared the man in the tasseled beanie started the arduous task of tilling the quarry...I mean garden. He made several passes with the tiller and deepened the tines for another pass at it. This was done about four times before we started adding materials to mix in.
The man behind the tiller.
This amount of amending may not be necessary for most new gardens but we were working with a low acid (actually basic), zero nutrition clay that needed both nutrients and texture help.
Sand for texture and drainage.
Hand spread before tilling it deeper.
We then continued that process for each material. Peat for texture and acid, compost for nutrients, and the nutrient rich all purpose garden soil.
After we tilled all of the soil enrichment the texture was taking on a nice feel. The next thing to combat was the lack of acid. Blueberries prefer a ph level of 4-5, my soil...ph level 8. This is pretty close to a crisis level difference. Although it seems like it should be an easy task to lower ph levels it does take time. Time we didn't have. We took a three pronged approach. Most garden vegetables and fruits prefer acid so we need to amend the whole garden anyway.
Step 1: Add a LOT of acid to the entire bed. I used Encap Fast Acting Sulfur but would prefer Epsoma Soil Acidifier.
Step 2: Add Epsoma Biotone (root stimulant) at time of planting.
Step 3: Add Epsoma Hollytone to blueberries one week after planting. Lesson learned: Next time I think I will add a liquid ph adjuster for more rapid acid results. Both of these products are amazing but require more time to adjust the soil than I had for this project.
Ok, so we were pretty tired after all of this so I the evening consisted of pizza and Netflix after the much needed showers. But the next day, we dug the holes. Our plants are 3 year old starts and came with a bare root. I wanted them to have plenty of footing so I dug a 1ft by 1ft hole for each.
Then using a fancy mixing container (paper grocery bag; with handles, that's what makes it fancy) I made a mixture of 3 parts compost and 10 parts sand. Matching the volume of material already in the paper bag I made another mixture of 1 part garden soil and 1 part native soil; 50/50. Combining these ingredients I filled the lower half of the hole and then spread the roots out in the hole before covering with the remaining mixture.
Free "mixer" at a grocery store near you.
Our blueberries did remarkably well for first year spring planting. This years unrelenting rain killed off two of the five, but the three remaining shrubs provided a sweet snack to curious yard combers.
I had to put up a fence to keep the dog from watering them, but that's just because my yard has been stripped of entertainment for an active vizsla (more on that another day).
Blueberry buds!
