Lowbush?



You guys all have Back problems, and scars from Bear Bites.

We get 6-8,000lbs an acre, from the older and more reliable Cultivars in an avg year.

Jerseys are still the std. for the bulk of the crop here. The flavor profile drives the market, and as of yet, nothing beats the Jerseys grown here, despite the markets elsewhere.
In the early to mid season, Blue crop and Darrows(OLD Cultivar) dominate production, with 8-12,000lbs an acre.

On the late side, there is only Elliots that are worth a crap, and they taste like the crap coming from the west coast and BC., so the market is reduced quite a bit.
Elliots crank out 6-10K per acre on good years, when disease and fungus pressures aren't high, but input costs are insane, thanks to the Spotted wing Drosophila that the Californians refused to quarantine when the USDA had the chance. Go figure.

How do you low bush guys, separate the Bear and Deer poop from the fruit?
I get gigged HARD by the USDA for Deer tracks in the field, during GAP audits, and if I had critter poop ON the fruit, I would get denied.
I have never figured out, how you guys can even sell the fruit.

Well...it was Maint. time again today.

The last couple dozen Rows of the North Patch, were hit hard by winter kill, and the dead canes breaking off, chewed up the Conveyors, to the point that they were hanging up and binding again.
It's better to get them bent back or replaced, than wait for a Conveyor jam later, as the harvest continues.



Most of the dinged up buckets, just took a couple taps with a Ball Pein, or a tweak with channel locks.
The one above was too distorted, and was just waiting to bind up, so it had to come out.

Had to drill out all off the Rivets, I just replaced last week...doing the same thing.



Then came grinding out the pins supporting the KIA Bucket, and wrasslin' the things out, to free the Bucket.
Then Cajole, wiggle, cuss, and encourage the new pin, and roller into place with the new(Used and less mangled in this case) bucket.



Seeing as it is a 3 handed job, to hold a spreader punch, an anvil of some sort on the back side, and swing a hammer, I use a special tool, just for the job.



After 5-10min of banging away like a woodpecker, the pin is usually sufficiently mushroomed to hold the side plates.
(Note the rust? Blueberry Juice will rust Stainless steel quickly. It's a constant battle to keep in check)



From there it was all about remounting the panel, with 87 rivets, adjusting the conveyor, and then off to the wash rack for sanitizing...folks don't like rivet heads, and grinding dust in their fruit.



Thursday, the second and Final run through the East field, and the END of harvest will commence...anything left, the birds can have.

So how did harvest go today?  All wrapped up?

I had the pleasure of meeting S-28 and Greta the harvester in person yesterday.  Received a crash course in machine blueberry harvesting.

Even though the machine harvester is an ingenious tool, there is still plenty of human interaction to keep her clear of jams.  All kinds of woody and leaf material being picked up along with the berries.  Between keeping Greta clear and working with the lugs as they fill with berries, there is very little time to catch your breath while going down the rows.

Fascinating, thank you for sharing!

Got everything in we are going to get in this year.
Left a few for the birds, but finally done, is done.

The weird misfire in the Motor cost me 45 Min. this morning.
It started in again, after an hour of running just fine.
I got to thinking, and checked the plugs....yep!
Quick run to town, and plugs swapped, and she's purring again.

It was slow going, and right after lunch, the right conveyor sucked in a stick, and bound everything up.
It took another hour, and the ATV winch on the quad,  to get the Conveyor reversed, and unbound.

Got down to just 5 Rows on the short end left, and the damage done from the wedged stick, reared it's head, and one of the bucket pins wedged and broke...

I called it at that point.
Considering the cost of fuel, paying the guys on the back, and everything else.
Those last rows would be a wash, and I would be money ahead, to just get the fruit in a day before deadline, and square up on Lugs.

The Local processors and packers are winding down, and many will stop receiving fruit this weekend, except for a couple that will only take Juice Berrys, and Elliots.

Was good having you, and your better half visit. It was fun playing tour guide on a day off.
Next time, we will have to time your visit, for Irrigation leak walk downs. You guys left, way too dry and clean.

Now it's all about Mowing, Fall weed control, Bud Mite control, irrigation repairs,  fixing the dents and dings, and winter prep.
The regular grind stuff.

Disengage, or I'll do it for you.

Kitties

Hey, S-28, what is your basic planting advice for someone wanting to start a patch?  I was thinking about planting between 10-20 plants soon in zone 5b.  Can I plant in the fall?

Fall or spring...or summer....

Just different things to take into consideration, and work around.
I like late spring best, but that is when things get crazy, and it always ends up being early to late Fall.

If you are going to do it, get them in before October, and the first frosts.
They need time to acclimate and adjust to ground temp, or they will get bit hard by the first hard frost.

The other thing is getting the roots established and growing, and the planting cavity settled, or they get popped out by frost heave.
A pepper shaker with Hormodin is handy. Just a shake or two on the roots, after they are cut and spread out of the pot, seems to get them wandering outward nicely.
Then Water. LOT'S of water for the first  couple weeks. Keep the soil damp but not soaked.

If they are 3+ yr olds, I'll snip any new growth that isn't hardened over as well. It's gonna get killed anyhow, and leaves more resources for the root crown.
Fungus and disease pressure is lighter once the temps start heading to the 50's at night, so there is an advantage to Fall.

Mulching isn't needed, and I'm of the old school when it comes to that.
Wood mulch needs more N, but suppresses weeds, and traps moisture in the upper root zone longer.
It's one of those things, where it makes sense on planting, and for a few years after to push root development, but after several years in the ground, it's a wash on benefit.

Avoid the black plastic and exposed weed barrier textiles though...it keeps the soil temp too high, too long into fall, and they harden over too late, some years.
Same thing happens in the spring, and they break buds too early.
If you use the weed barriers, put mulch over it to negate the warming effect.

PIcs!!!!!

Good luck!!!

Great, thanks.  I'll probably be in the opposite camp as you.  I'll try to get them in the fall and will probably get too busy and have to wait until spring.

dunno, just work with some guys who have fields. I assume it is all washed or something. Most fields have been derocked and are mechanically harvest now at various scales.

One of the guys I work with bought a neglected old farm that turned out to have pastures filled with great native berrys. Sprayed out the grass and a couple years later he is getting about 4,000lb per acre with a really early harvest. (contract crew)

I didn't get a gallon out of 19 (4 year old) bushes this year. Just couldn't keep enough water on them. The few that did produce got eaten by the birds before they even ripened. they were thirsty birds. Going to loose at least three bushes this year and 3 more look really bad. May do a heavy pruning this winter and hope for the best.

I hate to stick new 3 gallon bushes in the middle of the ones that will make it but don't have much choice. Everything suffered through the drought this year, no raspberries, very few blackberries, all strawberries went TU. Ah the joys of gardening.................

Sorry to hear it.

The year after a drought, there is always a huge flush of new growth, and heavy fruit production.
Take advantage, and prune them all back aggressively once they go dormant.
Until then, spoil them with plenty of water, Ca and Mg amendments, and make sure they get plenty of water when dormant.
Root growth continues even during dormancy.

Don't give up on the crispy ones yet..they are tough.
They shut down hard in a drought, and appear deader than fried chicken above ground, but the 2/3 of the bush under the soil is doing fine on reserves.

Dang birds....

Both!!

Primarily Fibrous by mass, with small supporting Tap roots.
LOTS of hair fine "Umbrella roots" that span out 6-8' from the crown, just 3-4" deep, then the fibrous root ball of heavier roots under the crown, and then usually 2-3 Tap roots that might go 3'-4' on a mature old crown.


Lemme see if I can dig up a pic.

This ain't the greatest illustration, but close enough.
I was hoping to find an extension pic of a big old Jersey bush that was dug up and spread out, several years back for the production guide.
I'll keep looking.

Reeldoc,

We went through a LOT of drought damage here back in 2012. The guys who did not irrigate, or irrigate enough got clobbered bad.
Whole 30 50 and even some 100+acre fields completely toasted.

I found this from MSUE while digging around.
Blueberry Drought

Dunno if it will help or not.

If it helps, just about all of those fields came back with record production in 2013, with minimal percentage of bush mortality in fields that got water in the fall, and were pruned aggressively.
Hang in there!

Once established on good ground, they are tough to kill!
Trust me, I have been trying to eradicate the mavericks that grow wild in my woodlot and windrows for years.

They are only tough in their home soil.

The Fibrous roots and Tap roots are weak, and wont tolerate clay or rocky ground.
The surface area of the root system, is impressive, but they need it all.

For all that area...they really suck at efficiency.

They literally are a "Local weed" here.
Our ground sucks for anything else.

Thanks for the moral support LOL. Around here blackberries are the local weed. I've probably been too conservative in my pruning for fear I'd take too much off. I'll try and find a local blueberry expert to come by the house and mutilate them for me........

When do you fertilize your blueberries? I've been mixing up 5 gallons of miracle gro azelia food and giving each plant a gallon in the spring. That doesn't seem like enough for bushes this bid.