Yesterday I worked on the blueberries. My friends and relatives from the Pacific Northwest will likely laugh at my puny blueberries, but they aren't easy to grow here in Nor Cal. I've had the three shrubs below for over 5 years and they really haven't done much of anything. Part of the problem was I planted them on impulse and it's in an area that really gets too much sun for blueberries. I don't have the heart to transplant them, so I am focusing on nursing them into lush production this year. Yesterday I dug in some organic acid based fertilizer that Ollie would like to get his chompers on. I mulched the bases with Harvest Supreme. A Fuji apple tree is in the same area and can handle the more acidic soil and increased water. In previous years I get blossoms and then berries on the shrubs, but the Scrub jays seem to get most of the small berries that result. I'm determined to get berries off of these plants this year. And simply because I can't leave well enough alone, I mulched in some more Harvest Supreme on the side and threw out arugula seeds. That stuff grows anywhere. I'll take another picture of the same area in a month and we'll see what happens.
I also started several more tomato plants: Sun Gold cherry, San Marzano romas, and Zapotec tomato slicer. I think I need to open a plant stand. The cucumbers are already shooting up; I'll have big plants in a month, so we may have some greenhouse cucumbers this year. That's OK; I'll just start some more later. I did plant some Crimson Sweet watermelons; those can be babied along in the seed rack for a good two plus months before transplant.
Finally, I am trying my not-so-nice raised bed again with Bright Lights Swiss chard and "Watermelon" radishes. I never have luck here except for alpine strawberries (which are still there). For some reason the squirrels think this is their personal playground and dig in it constantly. We'll see how it goes this year.
Here's the barren blueberry base:
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