I want to start my blueberry patch this spring (southern missouri) and have been reading that they like acid soil. My question to you blueberry growers is, could I plant them in the area where I ran pigs this year? I was going to plow (what's left) of it up and plant corn, but blueberries would be ideal there as well. Thanks!

-- CJ (cjtinkle@getgoin.net), November 27, 2001

Answers

I can't answer your question about pigs, but I can tell you to dump coffee grounds around your blueberries (azaleas and other acid loving plants). Places like starbucks (which we don't have around here) will give away coffee grounds--but I imagine any convenience store/diner will also save them for you if you leave a bucket.

Good luck! Our blueberries are just a complete disaster!

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), November 27, 2001.

You better run test on the soil, if it doesn't have the right ph you will be fighting it forever. I have a u-pick and the reason we picked blueberries is because of such a low ph. Now are hay fields suffer because of it so they get lime but perfect for the blueberries.

-- Debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), November 27, 2001.

I have another question, I've noticed several of you have u-pick blueberry farms. Do you make a decent supplemental income off this, say 10 or 15k per year? If so, around how many blueberry bushes does this require?

-- CJ (cjtinkle@getgoin.net), November 27, 2001.

We have 190 blueberry bushes for our u pick operation. We'll get about 500.00 per season. We don't have it as our main income. I'm a semi retired pharmacist, with Social Security. Mulch the bushes good with pine straw or old sawdust to keep the weeds back. Check the soil for acidity. 4.6 is ideal. Prune back bushes so tall, the pickers can't reach the berries.

-- Charles Haddon Jr. (Buddybud@csranet.com), November 27, 2001.