Well I am certainly not "on the fence" about a fence for my blueberry bushes. I bought 4 blueberry bushes last year and fed the deer with those ones. This year I am much smarter; yes, a fence.
Now, in the suburbs a backyard farmgirl must be considerate of her non farm like neighbors so my fence, I hope, will be aesthetically, visually, a non issue for them. It is green to blend in and will be neat and orderly as it stands protecting my blueberries. Move over Trax...I open up my "pick your own" in about....5 years.
According to the directions in the book I'm reading, "Backyard Homestead", blueberries should be planted in the spring on a cloudy day. Well, today was a beautiful sunshiney day and I find myself sad about that. But, this is Western Pa so I'm sure the clouds are just around the corner.
Manure has been spread...and I'm not talking about my above post....We have a real farmer friend who gives us real cow poo. Love this stuff. It's aged to a nice piquant aroma and does the trick on vegetables. I'm looking to make some of my beds acidic. Blueberries and melons prefer an acidic soil. Anyone have any ideas on how to make soil more acidic? I've gathered the manure because I read somewhere that manure will make soil more acidic; I am up for any other ideas out there. Thanks in advance!
Oh, yea....embarrassed to say that I just got my seeds planted in my trays. The trays are tucked nicely away in my dark basement. Hopefully I'll see some green poking through in about 7 days. I planted yesterday, so the countdown begins.
I planted about 20 heirloom tomatoes - Brandywine; 20 plum tomatoes; sugar snap peas and some basil. My basil plants that I buy every year never do well so I thought I'd try them from seeds this year...I'll let you know.
Upcoming activities: RAISED BED!!! Number 2; direct sowing sugar snap peas, swiss chard, beets, lettuce and radish. Caneing the vineyard...ha ha...not really a vineyard yet... just some sticks poking out of the ground that I have faith will be concord grapes someday. FAITH: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1 Could this apply to my vineyard...Jesus said, I am the vine you are the branches....Good night all!
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Oak leaves for acid soil...
ReplyDeleteOne common concern for mulching oak leaves on turf in the Fall is the rise of acidity of the soil. Having some properties where the oak leaves have been mulched for years, I wish I knew the real impact in quantitative measure. The grass is always a little late coming alive in the Spring in those areas, but nothing any different than areas where maple leaves were mulched a couple of months earlier.
Load your beds down heavy in the Fall with oak leaves. Let them do the task for you.
Thanks Roger. We have two huge pine trees, 30 ft up...I read you could use pine needles as well. We're thinking of digging some up from under the two pine trees..any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteYes, pine needles will help. They don't deteriorate very fast -- I think I'm right about that. The soil underneath may be acidic, depending upon what has been done with the straw. We have some customers with pine straw in the Fall, but we typically clear it all away, leaving bare soil.
ReplyDeleteI suggest a soil test to determine where you are, and how much change you need (if any). You can buy kits that include the repositories, and the test procedure at Penn State. I know there are kits available for "do it yourself," but they aren't very reliable. Go to a good nursery, and I'm sure you can find the kit, that includes the coupon to send to Penn State for full report. Without objective data, you are "flying blind."
I see your "to do" list includes managing the grape vines. I worked at a property yesterday that has four rows of grape vines, each about 30 feet long. I noticed the vines were not trimmed since last Fall, and commented to the owner. He said the trimming was way overdue, and intended to do it yet yesterday.
ReplyDeleteHe commented on the importance of cutting back. Grapes only form on new vines, therefore the old ones are not going to be useful to set new grapes. Did not know that ....
Roger, thanks for the grapevine encouragement...I needed that. I hated to cut those back, there were beautiful leaf buds forming and it hurt to hack them off! Thanks.
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