My wife grabbed a blueberry bush from a big box store and planted it in the ground. It never thrived and started dying after about a month. Fast forward about five years and that spot now has a rose in it, but we still wanted blueberries. As luck would have it Farmer Fred did an article about blueberries.

Unbeknownst to us, our Sacramento valley and foothills is not best suited for blueberries. We get really hot and have frost, plus our soil is not acidic nor well draining enough. Planting them in containers, however apparently is very successful. Two of the local UCCEs have done extensive trials with over 20 varieties to come up with a short list of great performers.

Armed with this information I headed off to one of my favorite new local nurseries Green Acres and purchased one each of Misty, Sharpblue, and Sunshine Blue. The first two are early season and the last is regular. Despite being self-pollinating it is recommended to have at least two bushes and the Sunshine Blue is specifically reported as producing best when planted with other varieties. I just transplanted them into 20 gallon containers using equal parts of peat moss, azalia mix, and small bark with 4 ounces of soil sulfur per 5 gallons of soil.

I also transplanted a replacement Black Monukka grape for one that was destroyed while replacing my roof a few months ago. I added a Flame Seedless as well since it wasn’t available when I planted the others in August. The potato box has been reseeded. We’re also trying our hand with our first fruit trees with a Chojuro pear and Red Baron peach.