When presented with a glorious spring day, what better to
do than plant something? Living in a
townhome, however, can make planting things a challenge—outside, at least. As with many townhomes, there’s a little
community landscaping around my front door, but permission to plant anything in
the ground is firmly denied. My little spot
of outdoor real estate (and I mean little) is a six foot square cement
slab patio on which I have just enough room for a glider and small table … and,
if desired, a few potted plants. Add to
that the fact that it faces north, and my gardening options more or less
fizzle.
But, I have decided this year (spurred by a warm sunny
day) to take my chances with blueberries.
So I headed off to Bachman’s Garden Center and, with the assistance of
their very helpful staff, I came away with two baby blueberry bushes, a large
bag of organic soil, a block of peat moss, a giant pot, and a pH dirt tester. In my short shopping trip, I learned that a
blueberry plant should be planted with another variety for best fruit
production, that blueberry plants prefer acidic soil and need a pH level above
6 (hence the peat moss), that they thrive in full sun (this may be a problem
with their new north-facing home), and that they attract birds and
butterflies (probably bugs, too, but maybe the birds will eat them). Bachman’s has a great
one-year warranty on their plants (two, if you’re an “e-member” – I became one)
and will replace the plant on the unhappy chance that I kill it within that
period. Considering my sketchy success
with plants, it was worth the extra price to buy it at a higher-end nursery
rather than a Wal Mart or Home Depot type store.
There were about five or six varieties to choose from,
and I selected “Polaris” and “Northsky”… probably more because I liked the
pictures on the little cards that came with the plants than anything else (I’m
a visual person, you know). And once I got them
home, I proceeded to tackle the task of repotting from the little root-bound
pot they came in to the giant plastic pot that will sit on my patio this
summer.
Beautiful.
Blueberries are one of the healthiest fruits on God’s
green earth. An article on the
WomenFitness.Net web site listed the following health benefits:
- Highest anti-oxidant capacity of all fresh fruit
- Rich in vitamins and minerals
- May help reduce belly fat
- Helps promote urinary tract health
- Good for the eyes/vision
- Good for brain health and memory
- Improves digestion
- Contains a compound (pterostilbene) that inhibits cancer
- Good anti-depressants
Now for the downer… I probably won’t get a single
blueberry this year. And maybe not next
year or the year after, either.
Blueberries don’t produce fully unit about their sixth year. Bummer.
I guess I’ll have to rely on those Costco (supposedly) organic
blueberries for a while longer. 
But, when they mature (if they live that long), they
should give me about eight quarts of blueberries per bush in a growing
season. In my former (junk-food) life,
they would have gone into muffins and scones … and pie. I still may make a pie. But mostly, they will go into my morning
smoothie: 1 pastured egg, ½ cup
unsweetened Greek yogurt, 1 tablespoon raw honey, and a cup of frozen
blueberries. Yumm! And, it turns out that freezing blueberries
does NOT harm their nutritional value. How cool is that?!
Hmmm...I wonder how long it takes for raspberries to mature …
More about blueberries:
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