Blueberries

These blueberry bushes were an impulse buy.  I couldn't resist how healthy and bushy they were, not to mention the fact that they were packed with unripe berries!  I reclaimed a section of our landscaping around the deck and plated them so we'd have easy nibbling access. 

Blueberries like sandy acidic soil.  After I dug up all the surrounding soil, I added coconut husk, cottonseed meal, and wood shavings to add acidity and nitrogen.  After planting, I mulched with more wood shavings.

In order for blueberries to bear fruit they need to cross pollinate with another bush of a different variety.  I'm on the hunt for a few more bushes to round out my berry patch.

Hot Starts

I picked up some hot weather crop starts at the nursery.  It's too late to grow our own seedlings so the tomatoes, eggplant, basil, and watermelon are the first to be planted.  We are using black landscaping fabric around the eggplant and watermelon because they are the most sensitive to soil temperatures.  The fabric mulch helps hold in the heat, and creates a slightly warmer micro-climate.

Digging Deeper

After the tiller is returned all the beds get marked with stakes and twine and the real digging begins.  To overcome years of compaction, each bed has to be dug by had with a shovel to a depth of 12-16 inches.  It's slow, hard work, but we hope it will pay off in the end.

Day 1: Kill the grass

We decided to start small because it was already late in the season.  We settled on 1,000 sq. feet of garden space.  The first step is to till in the sod...  To properly kill it we had to go over the same area 3-5 times with the tiller.