Bring on the blueberries

Sorry I didn't start this post with some awesome shot I took of fresh blueberries. I meant to do that all summer, and well, I just never took the photo.

So we bought a farm. And now it's time to farm. Blueberries. 

(and maybe some organic dairy- but that's later).

Charlie's been interested in growing his own blueberries for more than a handful of years. He's done a lot of research, so what I share will be a dumbed-down version of what he knows. Maybe I can talk him in to blogging about the process some time. 

Now that he's finished building the house, it's on to the blueberries. He loves blueberries. I love blackberries. He's going to grow a couple acres of blueberries and I get a couple blackberry bushes (I don't know, do blackberries grow on bushes or vines?). 

He started his research with this fellow, Larry Martin, at Bluegrass Blueberries. He is awesome and so knowledgeable. Charlie talked with him on the phone a couple times and then we paid him a visit in August (on our way to Alabama in the last road trip in the Corolla). We were pleasantly surprised to find him so eager to share his knowledge with us. He has got to be the best resource in Kentucky (and maybe anywhere) on blueberries.

the wild ones hoarding all the wagons at Bluegrass Blueberries

From there, we had a long journey to the Gulf Coast ahead of us. Between baby feedings, brothers fighting and eating chicken nuggets, we dreamed and planned blueberries. I love that feeling- dreaming and finding a way to make it happen. There's a lot of that going on around here. 

I think it's a sickness I have. Dreaming isn't enough for me. I have to make it happen. And it isn't about money for me, either. It's about the dream, and living it!

Back to blueberries:

Before we went on our trip, Charlie took soil samples from the place he was sure to be planting them. 

He was also sure that we had plenty of room there. He underestimated. 

Earlier this week, we actually went out to that plot and measured it. What we thought was more than two acres was actually much less than an acre. And Charlie wasn't too thrilled.

He wished he had sampled a larger area and a couple different areas. So that's what we did. He grabbed his 100-foot measuring tape, that he scored at a yard sale for $1, and his clipboard with his acreage measurements. We all jumped in the truck and surveyed the farm for the right spots.

And when the boys got bored, they pitched in, too.

The last place we measured and marked turned out to be the best place, with the most room for growth. We have almost 24 acres, but most of it is a steep hillside. There's plenty of spots for blueberries, but only one spot, it seemed would accommodate a two-acre plot.

He took a soil sample from the new plot and rushed it to our cooperative extension office in the hopes that we'll be able to plant these puppies this fall.

Liam hands off our dirt for the soil test

 

 

 

 

 

 We're hoping to get the results back within two weeks and find out if we need to add anything to our soil before we plant them this fall.

taking a break to feed the neighbor's horse

 

 

 

 

Hopefully, blueberries are in our future and in our ground this fall.