Sunday, April 6, 2008

Blueberry Tree

We added another fruit tree to our yard. It is right next to our Mulberry tree. Since I grew up in Maine, blueberries used to be one of my favorite parts of summer. I used to go out to an area behind our house with my Gram to pick blueberries. We'd bring home a bucket or two each trip, and would make blueberry biscuits with some of them. Or course, we'd eat them fresh too.

I've missed blueberries since living in Florida. They are very expensive to buy, and usually shipped from across the globe. So, I've been buying more locally grown fruits. When we found the blueberry tree, I was skeptical. I've always thought it was strictly a northern plant. Thankfully, the University of Florida has come up with some tropical blueberry varieties.

Blueberries need acidic soil. So, after some advice, we planted it with peat moss, pine needles and pine bark. I believe our soil still needs some more acidity so we are picking up a soil test kit today.

Here are some photos of our new "baby".


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi. Thanks for the help in identifying our blueberry tree. My wife and I moved into a really over=grown and neglected garden in Boston's south end. With just a little effort and NO experience with gardening we have managed to create a wonderful city oasis. besides some beautiful Hosta plants that were sprouting, we kept the only two adolescent trees. The maple was pretty easy to identify. The other is sprouting berry like buds in abundance, and looks exactly like the photo you have posted. We are so happy to add blueberries to our autumnal harvest of fruits, veggies and herbs. Now we just need to research making preserves and canning.

-Be well.
Lawrence and Sally