Rich with blueberries

It seems like not long ago when I tracked down my first set of mature blueberry bushes and planted them.  I happily dragged home five of them from a craigslist listing for a blueberry farm that was being cleared.  It's been several years, and I never got a decent crop. Not even close.  Last winter I had the opportunity to attend a blueberry pruning and care class.  I bundled up early one rainy and cold Saturday morning and headed out to a nearby farm co-op.  I put my new found knowledge to use and pruned and fertilized mid-winter.  When the annual rotary tree sale came around I bargained for loads of sawdust and layered it up on my blueberry patch.  Meanwhile, I had planted many more bushes knowing that they take years to mature.  Instead of just the eight, I upped patch to 40 bushes.  Yes, four-oh.

Well, I have been rewarded for my efforts.  This year we had lots and lots of blueberries.  From eight bushes.  Just eight gave us more than we could use and freeze.  The other baby bushes didn't produce anything at all, as expected.

Now what?  What in the world will I do with berries from 40 bushes?  I'm sure we will come up with something.  And in the meantime, we're pondering planting grapes.  I'm pretty sure the grapes will go the way of the blueberries.  We will over-plant and then we'll be faced with what to do with all the fruit once it starts producing three years down the road.  Sometimes I think I just plant guilt.  Because I feel so guilty any time I produce food that goes to waste.  But I also feel guilty if such great soil goes unplanted.  What to do?

We will figure something out, I am sure.  And I love the look of the blueberry patch.  Just as I imagine we will enjoy the look of the grapes vines.  And the cherry orchard. And the apple trees in that same orchard. It's finally starting to look like a real farm around here.