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I got to thinking, during this time of quarantine when many of us have extra time, rather than fritter it away, like doing Meth with male hookers in hotel rooms, reach out to my caterpillars here on .win to tap into this infinite well of knowledge for things we can be doing to MAGA by Making Ourselves Great Again, because after all, what is America? It's not the magic dirt. It's us.
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I could use some pointers on pruning blueberries. I know the berries grow from last year's growth, so when I trim I try to leave small branches, but the bushes are getting tall and rangy, I'd like to maintain a compact yet highly branches form.
Do you have suggestions?
What climate are you in? Blueberries like acid soil. I grow currants because they are so much easier and tolerate my dry mountain climate. In fact they grow everywhere I have lived and are super easy, plus I can't buy them in a store. I just grow the black and red as I am not so fond of the white ones. Also raspberries are super easy. I grow the kind that don't need trellising and you just mow them down every winter. Also the erect thornless blackberries have been a huge success. There are grapes for every climate. This is just my 4th summer in this house so my plants are still maturing. My fruit trees may produce a bit this year.
I have the blueberries in a container to avoid our native clay soils. Harvested 13# from 5 bushes last season. I just planted a raspberry along the fence last year, it didn't bear yet and I have no idea if it's a "mow down after the season" variety yet. Something to learn in the fullness of time. I'll have to look into currants. Thanks!
Look into the Caroline variety of raspberries. They will bear in years with late hard frosts because they are fall bearing. Right now we just had snow. Last week was warm. I grew up in the northwest where blueberries are easy to grow and just don't have the patience to grow things that require containers. I am a very lazy gardener. I don't till or dig anymore either, I just put really good compost down and let the worms do my work. It is composted biosolids from the sewage treatment plant with chopped up yard waste. I have never had things grow like they do with a layer of this on my soil, totally amazing.
Caroline are fantastic. I would suggest to grow lots of variety of raspberries and blueberries so you have them at different times.
Summer bearing are "mow down" varieties. Fall bearing actually produce berries in the summer and a larger crop in the fall. They bear in the fall on new canes, then again the next summer on that same cane, then the cane can be cut off at the ground because it will never bear again. If you mow fall bearing then you will only get a fall crop. Summer bearing can be mowed off after they finish fruiting around August-Sept.
I started with blueberries in the ground 10 years ago and had so many problems with rabbits and deer eating the new growth (with buds), so I've been growing them in containers (cloth pots) for 6-7 years now. I didnt prune anything til year 3, now I thin out the bushes so there is space (anything growing back into the bush). Ideally, youd clip off the oldest 1-2 shoots, right at the ground in October, but now is fine (leave it alone once the buds start opening in another 3 weeks). Right now my plants are full of buds on the new growth and I will probably cut the top 10% right off the top, and thin them out. Snip out any weak stuff and leave shoots with lots of buds. Young purplish branches with lots of buds are the best producers. Grayish "woody" thick branches are the worst producers (over maybe 5 years old). Anything growing out wild and bushy with a low amount of buds can be trimmed, that might help your plants. I try to keep them thin enough to be able to stick your hand through if that makes sense.
I put up a huge deer fence around my house and back yard which is working so far. Outside the fence is just deer resistant plants. They move up into the mountains when it gets warm so it is really spring and fall that are bad. Do you have chickens? I really want to get some for bug control and food. I am not a critter person so I am a bit hesitant, but they would add a lot.
Thank you for these suggestions! I'm visualizing what they look like and will give them a try. Was too afraid to cut the old woody stems right to the ground, heh.
berries
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