I Pot On Blueberries

With Phil resting off his watermelon chemical poisoning a second day (besides moving the cows, a little after 7pm, he managed to drag himself out to mow the rest of the orchard, in hopes of chipping tomorrow), I decided to pot on as many of the 200 blueberries as I could.

In our zone 7 climate, ostensibly we can grow three types of blueberries: Northern Highbush, Southern Highbush, and Rabbiteyes (leaving only Northern Lowbush for our neighbors to the north to grow: not surprisingly, blueberries that thrive in Michigan and Maine have a harder time here in Virginia). The blueberry farm we visited last fall grew only Northern Highbush, with a good deal of success. Our supplier, Finch Blueberry Nursery, thought we would be a good deal happier with Rabbiteyes (which shouldn't be grown in climates much cooler than ours).

So we bought four varieties of Northern Highbush and four varieties of Rabbiteyes (25 of eight types), and we'll see which we like more, and which do the best. The potential disadvantage of Rabbiteyes is that they grow to ten feet, and it is odd to think of harvesting berries from a ladder. The main advantage, as I see it, is that they are supposed to be extremely hardy. And for a little over a dollar a plant, and about a year to let the berries grow in pots, I'm happy to let this experiment run.

Blueberries, according to our workshop this spring, are the only plant that actually enjoys being in pots. "All plants prefer to be in the soil as soon as possible—except blueberries. They are content to grow (slowly) in pots for a long time."

Which raises the question: is it better to buy bareroot two-year-old plants, or buy the cheaper one-year-old plants, grow them in pots for a year, and then transplant not bareroot? We're planning to experiment with that, too. One-year plants this year, two-year plants next.

Amazingly, several of the one-year plants had blueberries growing on them. So tough to pinch them off, even knowing it's better for the plant.

I had wondered about how much effort it would take to pot these plants. Since today is a biodynamic fruit day, I hoped to get done as much as possible. I knew it would require a good bit of shoveling and water hauling: shovel from my tote of peat moss (previously shoveled and moved up near the greenhouse), shovel from the purchased compost on the driveway, haul water from the spigot to the work zone, and mix peat, compost, and water in a large red bucket.

Then add filling the pots, each over a foot tall (since I'm using what I have: the tree pots). I got started, and Isaiah immediately came to my rescue.

For several hours, he was my helper. I was so impressed with him. Several weeks back, he helped Butch and Phil lay out the greenhouse. His curiosity and enthusiastic, immediate help with whatever needed doing prompted Butch to say, "I want to hire him in a few years!"

Today I was the fortunate recipient of his keen mind and enthusiastic nature. A list of him impressive innovations.

• He tried filling the pots with a little scoop. That was too slow. Like me, he tried holding a pot in one hand, and filling it with the other. That was faster. But then he set two pots on the ground in front of him, and, like a puppy, scooped with both hands, over the rim of the red bucket and into the pots. This did make him a bit more messy in both shorts and shirt than I was willing to get, but he also filled his pots twice as fast as I did. Which made him, rightfully, proud of his accomplishment.
• I had planned to fill the buckets at the spigot and carry them upslope. He took a length of hose, put it on the spigot, and ran the hose uphill so I wouldn't have to carry the buckets so far. He would stand at the spigot and turn it on and off for me.
• At one point, I went to fetch more peat and compost, leaving Isaiah to finish off the bottom third of what was left in the bucket. I expected he would finish before I was done, and take a well-deserved rest. Instead, he headed down to the spigot to get the water buckets filled, so I would waste no time in waiting to haul when I was ready.
• He didn't like the mixing method I was using: add all peat, add all compost, add all water: mix. We had to reach so far down into the bucket to mix it well. He proposed adding one dry matter and water, mixing, then adding the other dry matter. This definitely made mixing easier.
• He tried the stomp mixing method, like what you'd expect at an old grape pressing for wine. I don't know if it went faster, but it was creative!

Because of Isaiah's help getting the pots prefilled, I spent the afternoon putting the blueberries in pots and covering with extra potting mixture. It was still a huge, exhausting job in the sunny 80-something weather, and I have a nice sunburn to prove it, but it was a very fulfilling day. We ended with eight full crates (one for each type), plus a few extras.

The other boys amused themselves in various ways. I think Jadon read most of the day. Abraham had found a little purse of small change, so throughout the day he and Joe would "pay" Phil and I for the things we did. Served lunch? Here's a nickel and two pennies. (Since we went to Monticello, Abraham is pleased to note that a nickel has both Thomas Jefferson and his house.)

Joe sat nearby, and as often as he could catch and hold Cadbury, he did.