Winter Blues ( Blue berries )
by Ross
Frost in the morning with snow and skiing on Mt Washington in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island. The weather over the past few weeks has been ideal for Blueberry bed prep work. We have been removing wild grasses and weeds between our Blueberry rows and then moving soil from these valleys onto the Blueberry rows. This soil is then replaced with bark mulch.
We are fortunate here in the Comox Valley to be only 5 minutes from our source of Douglas Fir bark. The local pole yard peels off the bark from their future power poles. They double grind it which makes it very easy to spread. Fir bark is ideal for a Blueberry mulch – holds moisture – controls weeds and is a weed free medium – helps to keep feeder root areas of the Blueberries cooler in the hot summer months.
Prior to moving to Vancouver Island in 2001 we owned a 10 acre Certified Organic Blueberry Farm in the Fraser Valley on the British Columbia mainland. Our committment to growing organically continues here on Vancouver Island at Royston House. Ross also does free consulting for new and existing Organic Blueberry farms on the island.
It is really amazing how hardy Blueberry plants are. Our Blue Crop’s are sprouting new buds even in this frosty weather.
Like most Blueberry Foodies we really enjoy big,dark, tasty Blueberries. Breakfast this morning was great. We are still eating our Patriot Blueberries from early picking this summer. The other big ones we grow are Darrow and Chandler. Being close to derek’s Certified Organic Blueberry U_pick in Royston we usually manage to get in on his first pick of Duke’s.
Back to work in the Blueberry patch now as you probably noticed in the photo that I still have work to finish
