Show us your Blueberries!

[BUFFS]

our first crop is at least another 4/5 weeks off being ready but we are looking forward to that first taste...

[veggiechicken]

This month's Which has a best buy report on Blueberries.
Best for taste and producing the best berries over the longest period were
Chandler & Toro
Next Best were Spartan, Ozark Blue & Nui
Recommended - Earliblue
These didn't perform as well as the best buys - Brigitta, Bluecrop & Patriot
These had lower yields over 2 years - Bluegold, Elliott, Herbert, legacy & Sunshine Blue
The least Tasty were Duke.

[Feral007]

Speaking of growing them late after buying end of season, what's the llatest I can put some in? I was hoping to get more done this winter but the cashflow has been going in other directions. I was just looking a the fruit trees yesterday wishing there was more there to see. I'm after red currants and blueberries, and maybeeeeee raspberries, also jostaberries. And when can I plant my monster plant - the kiwi fruit? and grapes?

[chris]

I have more than I know what to do with now.

Just picked a bowl full last night:


There's roughly the same still green (almost turning), and some almost ripe.

I've already had a couple bowls of blueberries too Quite chuffed. They're 4 years old, were repotted in spring which I think has helped them quite a lot.

Chandler I think, are *huge*, tasty too despite the lack of sun

[sugar]

I let my son pick a bowl yesterday afternoon



They all finished the same way:

The best tasting variety (Sunshine Blue) doesn't carry berries this year due to the extreme cold of last year. It's a 'Southern bush' variety, less hardy, the plant did survive the extreme cold this winter. Good side to that story is that the plant is growing very strong.
'Elizabeth' certainly tastes better than all the other varieties in my garden (Duke, Darrow, Blue Jay,Brigitta Blue).

[Paul]

Wow, those are awesome!

[chris]

recipe please!!

[sugar]

Recipe? very easy.

I just purchased a prepared crumble pastry (but you can make it yourself if you want).
Bake it.

Whip 250 gr of Mascarpone + 70 cl of cream + 60 gr of sugar until this mixtures gets very firm

Filling into the baked pastry, throw the blueberries in it.

[iam]

Hi veggiechicken, I see you are using sleepers in your garden don`t you have problems with the creosote and if not how did you clean them. Hope you don`t mind me asking.

[veggiechicken]

Ah yes - the sleepers There are a couple of hundred of them and they were used to retain the bank and create terraces - it was those or gabions. There's a membrane to keep them away from the soil. A few of them do sweat creosote in the warm weather and I'm getting to know which ones are the worst. When they're sticky I throw sand or soil on them to absorb it. It is a nuisance but new ones would have been too expensive.

[Feral007]

I have my first blueberry in the ground! Would like quite a few more. So can I take cuttings and strike them? What time of year would be best, and do I need to use hormone powder to help them strike?

They're a bit pricey and we'd like a whole lot of them.

I saw on one shopsite that one suckers up. Would that be a benefit for me, or would it just be nuisance value? Since they weren't on rootstock, I thought it might mean the bush would just keep getting bigger.

[sugar]

I have my first blueberry in the ground! Would like quite a few more. So can I take cuttings and strike them? What time of year would be best, and do I need to use hormone powder to help them strike?

They're a bit pricey and we'd like a whole lot of them.

I saw on one shopsite that one suckers up. Would that be a benefit for me, or would it just be nuisance value? Since they weren't on rootstock, I thought it might mean the bush would just keep getting bigger.

There is a reason why the plants are expensive : it is rather difficult to let cuttings root.

[Aberdeenplotter]

try pinning some of the lower branches to the ground. The plant will eventually throw roots. When well established, separate from the parent plant.

[out in the cold]

We bought a blueberry last year to try in a pot. It started off quite well and had a promising amour of fruit on the branches

Unfortunately it just sort of gave up on us and dropped its fruit before they were ripened.

I thought this could have just been maybe one of my dogs trying to eat the fruit (she does this with the gooseberries too).

Is it normal for this kind of thing to happen, or should I be worried about the plant?

[Aberdeenplotter]

Difficult to keep shrubby plants in moisture in a pot and if they are allowed to dry out, the fruit will be the first casualty followed by the leaves as the plant shuts down those parts not necessary for life.