# Blueberries!



## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

Question:

1. What is a good price per pound on blueberries? 
* I will be in MI (Flint area) in 2 weeks, and in WI (Hager City/Hudson) in mid July.16 and 17. I live in central Indiana, and they local u-pick joint wants 32.00 for 10 lbs of MI blueberries. I want to get 12-20 lbs and dehydrate them, and bag them up in my food saver. 

2. I have been told time and again, that my Indiana clay is no good for growing blue berries. That our soil doesn't have enough acidity in it. Is it true, and is there something I can do NOW to prepare for berries next year??

3. What is the best way to dehydrate blueberries in the Excalibur? How long does it take? And will my whole house smell like blueberries??

Thank you so much for your help!!


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## fetch33 (Jan 15, 2010)

Would that be Spencers? Are you considering planting your own? I live near Indy and I had blueberry bushes for a while now. Unfortunately, I only have 2 bushes and probably average only a couple cups of blueberries from the two of them... if I can keep the birds away! This year, the yield seems pretty good and I have them covered with netting and they are just now getting ripe.


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

fetch33 said:


> Would that be Spencers? Are you considering planting your own? I live near Indy and I had blueberry bushes for a while now. Unfortunately, I only have 2 bushes and probably average only a couple cups of blueberries from the two of them... if I can keep the birds away! This year, the yield seems pretty good and I have them covered with netting and they are just now getting ripe.


Yes I was considering planting my own.....but, I have heard that you simply cannot grow blueberries in Indiana soil, and them not die in Indiana winters. 

Spencers is the only place in the state I could find that sells them in bulk. I am willing to drive, if the price is right. This 32.00 for 10lbs seems really high.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Raised bed? You could "make" the soil you want then. I want to get some built this fall for blueberries next year, too. We are also going to build one for strawberries. We could only do so much this year and the annual fruits and veggies got the 4 we built last fall.


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## chefed (Jan 30, 2009)

We have had blueberries in Southern Indiana for maybe 10 years now. 
We have a single bush, took 3 years to come on but so far we have had about 20 Qt this year and most others about the same.
We planted 3 last summer at the new place and they have berries on them this year too but only a hand full being so small. We did mulch with pine needles from the neighbors trees at the old place, don't know if it makes a difference or not.
later
Ed


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## Sanza (Sep 8, 2008)

I'm not sure what it would be weight wise, but up here wild blueberries sell for as much as $40.00 for a 4 litre pail (close to a gallon) The plants don't freeze here in the winter but sometimes late spring frosts will get the blossoms...


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## SueMc (Jan 10, 2010)

The last time I picked someone else's berries (couple of years ago), the berries were $3/lb, you pick. 

I'm in Central IL. My field pH was right around 7. The soil has to be amended with peat, sulfur, mulched with oak leaves, wood chips or some other acid mulch. I save my coffee grounds with filters to tuck under the mulch around my 8 plants. 
There is alot of info on the web about growing blueberries.

I bet you can grow them. Loosen up the clay with compost. It's recommended to replace 1/3 of the soil with peat (make sure it goes in damp). Nourse nursery instructions says to adjust your pH with sulfur, but I've read varying opinions about that. I did use sulfur. Get yourself a pH kit, they're cheap. Good luck!


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

They place where I get my you-pick berries will be charging $1.80/lb. this year. If you get there very early in the morning you may be able to buy the already picked ones for that price if they overpicked the night before. I generally get 30 lbs. for making wine.

The place is in a small town called Otisville. I don't think most places start selling until July around here. Here is a link to their website. They have MANY different varieties of berries.

http://www.blueberrylanefarms.com/

I have planted my own bushes, but they are only two years old now. I understand you need two different varieties for pollination.

You can amend your soil with peat moss or pine needles (or azalia food) to make it acidic enough. Pine and fir trees will make the soil acidic.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

suitcase_sally said:


> Pine and fir trees will make the soil acidic.


Not always! We just took down the last four pine trees in our yard. We tested the soil under them....planning to put in blueberries.... and it was pH 7! The trees were well over 20 years old. There had originally been 10 in the space (planted at 6-8' apart?!). So needless to say our blueberry dreams were put on hold a year till we can get a raised bed built and filled.


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## northergardener (Dec 12, 2007)

*****
I would definitely call ahead, I don't think any blueberry picking places open up in Michigan until mid-July. U-pick in my area is $1.60/lb.*****


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## LonelyNorthwind (Mar 6, 2010)

Well, folks, I'm surrounded by forest and wild blueberry for miles & miles. I get about 30 gallons right in front then head a mile down the logging road on the 4-wheeler and really get serious. *U-Pick Free* come on up, I'll leave a patch for ya.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Beautiful picture!

"You-pick free" - great! Of coarse, the cost to get there will negate the "free" aspect!

Ohio dreamer, did you leave the pine needles on the ground? If you raked them up the soil wasn't able to take advantage of the acid in the needles.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

suitcase_sally said:


> Ohio dreamer, did you leave the pine needles on the ground? If you raked them up the soil wasn't able to take advantage of the acid in the needles.


Sorry, we are rather lazy here, never once did we rake up the pine needles. Well, we did this spring - 6 months after the trees were gone. That was the same day we tested the soil.


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## rainydays (Jan 26, 2008)

I can upick for $1/lb here. Oregon must be cheaper than a lot of places.

You can plant blueberries in any kind of soil, because you really don't dig down much into the soil to plant them. They need to be planted shallow and then hilled up, not planted deep.
Dig a very shallow hole. Get a big bag of pine or fir shavings, put some into the shallow hole, put in the berry bush, put the dirt from the hole back over the roots, then hill with wood shavings. I add fresh shaving around mine every year.


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## fetch33 (Jan 15, 2010)

chefed said:


> We have had blueberries in Southern Indiana for maybe 10 years now.
> We have a single bush, took 3 years to come on but so far we have had about 20 Qt this year and most others about the same.
> We planted 3 last summer at the new place and they have berries on them this year too but only a hand full being so small. We did mulch with pine needles from the neighbors trees at the old place, don't know if it makes a difference or not.
> later
> Ed


20 quarts off of a single bush? Wow! I live near Indianapolis. I have 2 blueberry bushes in my landscape bed. I will get maybe one quart between the 2... and that is with netting them to keep the birds off. There is a place in Indiana off of Hwy 41 south of Vincennes called Decker U-Pick. Don't know what they charge though.


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