Ahh! The perfect pH soil, 7.0. Doesn't every farmer dream of having that? I thought I did. I also got a somewhat clay soil on this new property. That is good rich dark soil for growing so many crops!
For about nine years now, I've known I've wanted to be a lavender farmer. Then about seven years ago, I decided I wanted to also grow blueberries. I read an article in "Out Here Magazine" about growing blueberries and thought there were certainly obstacles, but it might be worth it.
I grew up picking blueberries for a summer job. I was actually a very good, very fast picker because I didn't like blueberries. I worked very hard those summers starting after 7th grade, then again after 8th grade and once again after 10th grade. I was one of Mrs. Mayer's fastest pickers. When the pay switched from 12 cents a lb. after 7th grade, to having to actually pay us minimum wage, she had to be a lot more choosy about who she hired. I was proud to be chosen. Picked, if you will. I rode my bike along the highway two miles or so, early every weekday morning in order to work in the hot sun. We picked all morning long. By noon, the "boys", who worked on the picking machine, had gathered enough boxes of berries that we then moved to the sorter in the afternoon. We sorted and packed berries all afternoon. Then I rode my bike home, stopping at the Red Rooster mini market on the way for a cold drink or a popsicle, everyday.
So whether it was actually the blueberries or the memories that made me want to grow blueberries so many years later, I can not say, but that's what I made up my mind to do.
The lavender was a little less puzzling. I'd always wanted to grow a crop of something from which I could profit. I'd grown plenty of gardens over the years, but just for pleasure. In Coarsegold, we had decomposed granite soil with a large layer of topsoil someone must have brought in for building the house in which we lived. My lavender thrived. Lavender always grew well for me in our mountain climate. It also brought such pleasure and beauty. I could use it year round in bundles or save the buds for sachets. It was just so useful; so pretty; so peaceful. Didn't I need more peace in my life?
My first lavender plants I put in at the new property were experimental. I planted a few varieties up at the house. We put in a sprinkler system as we planted a lawn. The sprinklers tend to over water the lawn. Lavender is a very drought tolerant plant. Try as I might to regulate the sprinkler heads, each lavender plant kicked the bucket in a few months.
Our soil at the house had been scraped down to decomposed granite. I enriched it with some composted soil and topsoil. Then covered each plant at the base with wood chips we'd made from our own tree limbs. This is a new method of gardening I'm experimenting with called "Back to Eden" Gardening www.backtoedengarden.com. This method of gardening works for any plant whether in need of acid or alkaline soil. Whatever the watering need. It did not work for my lavender. I can only guess it was over watered. I am afraid to try again anytime soon.
In May, I planted 12 blueberry plants. also experimental. I know Blueberries do not like perfect 7.0 pH. They love acidic soil. Very acidic. It's hard to bring your pH down when it is as perfect as 7.0. I began with a wheelbarrow full of acid soil mix. To that, I added peat moss. I dug each hole big enough for a 3 gallon basket and then put in my gopher baskets. Anyone who has dealt with a plague of gophers knows what a gopher basket is. For those of you less experienced in such frustration, this is a basket composed of welded and twisted wire that has openings about 1/2 inch in diameter. This is half the size of the opening for chicken wire. A round basket is shaped that can fit a plant from 1 gallon to 15 gallons. The idea is to get the plant established before the gophers can destroy the roots.
After placing my gopher baskets, I filled each hole with the soil mix, then planted my blueberry plants. I composted with more peat moss, mulched, then I watered regularly.
Within two weeks my blueberry plants were turning reddish and losing leaves, as if it were fall. This could have been transplant shock. However, upon doing some research, believed it to be that they were not getting enough water. In order to get water to them more regularly, they needed a drip line. That was a bigger job.
I rolled a 500 foot drip line from the house at the top of the property, down the hill, winding through my fruit trees and past the new blueberry plants. It took almost a week to get all the lines put in for every tree and baby bush.
Another two weeks went by and now my plants were light green. Okay, time to fertilize. Not being set up yet to make my compost tea, I searched for organic, acid fertilizer. Ace Hardware carries this in good supply. Finally, my blueberries are saved. All summer long I've slaved over these plants. I've weeded around them constantly (I don't trust my chickens to weed that area for me); I've constantly maintained the drip lines as they keep bursting for some reason and I narrowly escaped killing a plant when I weed eated (ate?) too close and chopped the top off my beloved and babied first plant in the row.
You may be wondering through all this if any blueberries were harvested? Sadly, while many of my plants were loaded with blueberries when purchased, it is recommended to remove all blueberries and blossoms the first year to allow growth of the plant. You have no idea how difficult this was for me. Especially, when growth this summer has been painfully slow.
The plants, however, seem to be surviving. Over half have grown double their size. The other half are just slightly larger than when first planted.
Survival through winter will tell if I've become a successful blueberry farmer. I plan to add to their number by 20-30 plants next year after I see which varieties survive my soil and amendments most successfully! Hopefully, next summer we will be eating at least a few handfuls of blueberries off of our plants soon to be large enough to call bushes!
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