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Knoll Acre Blueberries: A Sustainable Organic Production Project
Project Blog: UNDER CONSTANT CONSTRUCTION
Introduction
This is my blog which I will frequently update with the most recent material at the top.
Most Current Blog
Date: June 2, 2010
Title: Green Blueberries
Today I took some pictures of the old blueberry bushes which are loaded with green berries. The first picture below is from a Coville bush and the second is from a Jersey bush.
Date: June 2, 2010
Title: First Blueberry of the Season!
Today, I ate my first blueberry of the season. Selected from a Duke plant in the organic sheep manure plot.
Date: May 28, 2010
Title: Netting Frame
Completed the assembly of a netting frame for the six old blueberry plants. Frame is designed to later move to the last organic blueberry row. Dimensions: 3 feet wide and 5+ feet high and 30 feet long. Constructed in 5 foot segments with 3/4 inch PVC pipe. Anchored to the ground by slipping the ends of the down pipes over a 1/2" rebar which was driven about a foot into the ground, leaving six inches exposed.
Date: May 27, 2010
Title: Treating Chlorosis in Selected Blueberry Plants
Selected ten plants to treat for chlorosis: Two of them
--Chandler #1D, Bluegold #1D -- are in the horse manure treatment
plot); Eight of them -- DUke #16E, Jersey #14G, Jersey #15G, Jersey
#17G, Jersey #18G, Jersey #19G, Bluegold #7H and Bluegold #8H--are
in the sheep manure treatment plot.
Treatment consisted of pulling back the mulch from around the plant
(about 18" diameter) and then applying about 4 oz of
Espoma Organic Traditions Soil Acidifier (30% sulfur) and about
4 oz of
Hollytone Organic Fertilizer around each plant. Then I put
the mulch (shredded pine bark) around the plant again. (In
retrospect, I think I should have used a lot more productt --at
least double what I used.) Following this treatment, we had a
nice rain (about 3/4 inch) within the next 18 hours.
If I don't see an improvement within a week or so, I will try to re-treat the plants; maybe use some vinegar as a way to quickly lower soil pH around the plant.
Date: May 26, 2010
Title: Chlorosis in Selected Blueberry Plants
Noticed that several plants, especially in the sheep manure section have some yellowing leaves which is symptomatic of an iron lack or due to elevated pH which contributes to the unavailability of iron.
Read more about this situation at
Nutrient Deficiency and Chlorosis
Date: May 20, 2010
Title: Drip Irrigation System
During the past couple of weeks, I've worked at installing the drip irrigation system for the blueberries. Ran out of materials and have four rows remaining. Ordered more and will plan to complete the organic plots by early June.
Date: April 27, 2010
Title: Overwintered Success of Blueberries
In November/December, we planted 179 bare-rooted blueberry bushes. We only lost one plant over the winter. Examples of the surviving plants are illustrated below.
Organic Duke blueberry plant, #16E on April 27, 2010
Organic Jersey Blueberry Plant, #16G on April 27, 2010
Date: April 2010
Title: Organic Plots: Weeding, Sowing Grass, and "Vole Block"
Spent considerable time in adding soil to the borders of row middles; sowed grass seed to mitigate against broad-leaf weeds; covered with loose straw.. Also dug small V-shaped trench beside the row border and filled it with small river rock as a "vole blocker" and also to create a non-herbicide mower edge. See the following photos.
Truck load of "Brown Stone" used as Vole Block and mowing edge on paths between the rows of the organic blueberries.
Dug V-trench beside the organic bed borders for the "Vole Block stone"
Putting vole block stone into trench
BLueberry Row middle with vole block; straw covers newly seeded grass edges.
Date: February 16, 2010
Title: Overwintering Blueberries
Due to the recent snows, the blueberry plants, beds and rows are covered with snow. Hopefully when spring comes and the snow melts, we will find signs of renewed life!
Date: December 14, 2009
Title: Planting Blueberries -- Round Five: Mulching
On Saturday, (Dec 12) we started mulching the blueberry plants with shredded pine bark mulch. Today, Monday (Dec 14) we completed the mulching for all blueberry plants, 179 plants. We put about 3-4 inches of mulch around the plant and along the row making a strip three feet wide. For the Pine Needle rows, we used pine needles instead of shredded pine bark.
Date: December 3-4, 2009
Title: Planting Blueberries -- Round Four
On the 3rd, the FInch blueberry plants arrived. I was away on a school business trip in Pennsylvania. Elva planted all 132 of them on the 4th!
Below, planting a bare-rooted blueberry plant.
Date: November 30, 2009
Title: Planting Blueberries -- Round Three Preliminaries!
Today, Monday, Elva and I dug the remaining blueberry holes and prepared them with peat moss & shredded pine bark so they would be ready for planting.
Date: November 27, 2009> Title: Planting Blueberries -- Round Two Preliminaries!
Today, Elva and I worked at getting ready for our next shipment of blueberry plants. We dug about 60 holes and applied a mix of soil amendments on the ground beside each hole. The idea is that when our next blueberry plants arrive, the pre-dug holds with amendments alongside will make planting a much easier task. We have another 70 holes to go.
Date: November 25-26, 2009
Title: Planting Blueberries -- Round One!
On the 25th, we received our first shipment of blueberry plants from Miller's Nurseries consisting of 28 Chandlers and 19 Bluegold. We started planting those in the afternoon and then finished the planting on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.
Planting was an all-family events: Elva and I mixed the peat moss and shredded pine bark together (1:1) in a small trailer. Then I dug the holes (about 18" diameter, 10" deep). We mixed the amendments (along with one cup of Holly Tone acid fertilizer) with the soil. Returned the mixture to the hole around the plant and thoroughly watered the plant/hole.
Date: November 9-10, 2009
Title: Building Borders
I spent intermittent periods o time constructing bed borders for the organic rows. Still not cmpleted when the rains came on November 11, but should be able to complete this portion next week prior to the arrival of the first blueberry bushes.
Date: November 3-4, 2009
Title: Soil Sampling & Building Borders
Two EMU work-study students, Aly Zimmerman and Caitlyn Suttles used the USDA soil test kit to obtain respiration and infiltration data from the five treatment plots; they also took soil samples to the laboratory for further analysis. I took soil samples from all the plots for analysis by the Soil Testing Laboratory at Virginia Tech.
Date: October 31, 2009
Title: Organics Applied & Building Borders
On October 9, 2009, I ordered Beneficial Nematodes (Hb/Sc) and Milky Spore Disease Powder (10 oz can) from the Extremely Green website. The purpose of the nematodes is to destroy (by feeding) the larva form of various insect pests. The milky spore especially targets the grubs of the Japanese beetle. The organics arrived on the 15th. I was pleased with their prices and prompt service.
The Hb nematodes (Heterorhabditis bacteriophora) patrol as deep as 7 inches into the soil. They are active predators for:
- White grubs in the lawn
- Japanese beetle
- May/June beetle
- European chafer
- Masked chafer
- Cranberry girdler
- Cranberry rootworm
- Blackvine weevil
- Gall midge
- Strawbery rootweevil
The Sc nematodes (Steinernema carpocapsae) stay on the soil surface and are active predators for:
- Annual bluegrass weevil
- Bluegrass billbug
- Hunting billbug
- Black cutworm
- Dog/cat flea larvae
- European crane fly
- Armyworms
- Sod webworms
- Tawny mole cricket
- Southern mole cricket
- Cranberry girdler
The above nematode predation information was obtained from the "Extremely Green" website.
On October 19, I initially applied the Beneficial Nematodes to selected Organic Rows: A-F & I-L. I did not apply to Rows G-H & M-N and will use those as a control. For application, I made a 6 quart solution of the nematodes and applied via a hand sprayer. I typically sprayed them on spots (6-10 squirts) about 4-5 feet apart on the rows.
Nematodes attacking fungus gnat larva. The larva is the large "worm-like" structure filling the visual area. Three small nematodes are seen at the head end. Photo by George Poiner. Taken from the "Extremely Green" website: http://www.extremelygreen.com/index.cfm
On October 21, I applied the milky spore powder to all organic and traditional rows. I made a dusting can from a jar, punched nail holes in the lid, and shook out the powder in discrete areas along the row.
I decided to construct bed borders along some of the rows. These are only one oak board high (5.5 inches) and are constructed on site. Ahead of time, I cut the side boards to discrete lengths: 8', 10' or 12' long. The joining boards are short segments (12") that are screwed to the ends of two adjacent boards, overlapping each one. At the top and at the ends, I attached cross-pieces periodically which were 38" long. That made the inside distance between the side boards to be 36". I then staked the boxed-formed boards to the rows parallel to the strings that marked the row edges. The stakes were 12-14" long sharpened pieces of 1x1" oak which then were screwed to the side boards.
Today, October 31, I completed the first Pine row (Row I) and staked it. It is 60 feet long. I then began with the first Planter's Choice mulch row (Row K) but lacked one 12' board to complete that row. That row will be 48 feet long when it is completed.
Next week I want to complete Row K and also do Row M (32 feet long). If I have time, I want to go back to the top and complete the ends of Rows A, C, E, and G this fall. It will be interesting to see if the bed borders make it easier to maintain the rows. According to my calculations, I'll need about
Date: October 15, 2009
Title: Mulch for Blueberries
Spent some time today calculating the amount of covering mulch I will need for the blueberries. The raised bed portions that have 11" inch oak board sides are designed to hold 10-12 inches of mulch; the standard (non-raised) bed portions are designed to accommodate a 3 inch mulch covering.
Consider:
- 252 linear feet of raised bed (portions of the Organic Horse manure and Organic Sheep manure plots) which are 3 feet wide = 756 cubic feet of mulch or about 28 cubic yards.
- 532 linear feet of standard (non-raised) bed which are 3 feet wide. This represents the balance of the Organic Horse manure and Organic Sheep manure plots as well as all of the Organic Pine Needle and Planter's Choice mulch rows as well as the Traditional (non-organic) Horse manure compost rows. These rows require 399 cubic feet or about 15 cubic yards.
- Totaling a need of 43 cubic yards.
Shredded Pine bark mulch is available from Yancey's Lumber Company, Crozet, VA which is about 50 miles from Knoll Acres. Cost is $40/scoop (3-4 cubic yards). I plan on hiring someone to haul about 20 yards of mulch next week for planting. I want to supplement the pine bark mulch with some hardwood chips that we can mulch from our woods at Knoll Acres where we have a mature oak forest.
Date: October 5-9, 2009
Title: Planning Irrigation
Since irrigation is an important element in this project, I spent much of this week reading about and trying to figure out what I needed to do to get a trickle or drip irrigation systems set up for the organic and the traditional blueberry plots. Both of these plots will depend on passive or gravity flow.
The organic plot will be primarily fed by the 1600 gallon water storage tank. Exiting the tank, I have a 1.5" PVC pipe which needs to be connected to a header line (115') that will feed the 14 rows. I probably should use a 3/4" header line to cut down on the resistance. The row drip lines will probably be 1/2" in diameter and require about 700 linear feet and require 156 emitters.
The traditional plot will be primarily fed by a 330 gallon water storage tank which will need to be elevated on a stand about 3-4' high. This system will use a header line (3/4") about 28 feet long and four row lines (1/2") totaling about 78 linear feet..The row lines will require 19 emitters.
At the head of each system, I want to include a filter, a flow meter, and a port to allow liquid fertilizer to be injected into the system.
I have researched and am considering three sources for the drip irrigation systems:
- Berry Hill Irrigation. Buffalo Junction, VA 24529. Phone: 1-800-345-3747. Website: BerryHillDrip.com
- Drip Works, Willits, CA 95490. Phone: 1-800-522-3747. Website: www.dripworks.com
- Rain Bird Irrigation, Azusa,
CA 91702
Phone (877) 727-8772 Website: www.rainbird.com
I submitted a description of the organic plot to Drip Works technical service several days ago; there technical person responded with a couple of questions and said that they would design a system for me with recommendations. I haven't heard anything back from them.
I need to do more work on the irrigation issues as well as connect the rain barrels to the downspout system at the Westland barn and the downspout system of the horse barn to one of the 330 gallon storage tanks.
Ultimately, I need to purchase two more 330 gallon storage tanks ($50/tank). One should be installed at the top of the traditional plot and the other stored below the culvert that carries the rainwater from the house roof.
Date: October 1-3, 2009
(Thursday-Saturday)
Title: Soil Work: Incorporating compost
Used the Mantis tiller to incorporate the various composts into the soil of their respective plots. Picked up and removed lots of rocks.
Date: September 29, 2009
Title: Soil Work: Sulfur for pH
Applied elemental sulfur to all rows. Added about 120 lbs to 2,352 square feet which equals about 5.1 lbs/100 square feet. Still too wet to till in the compost which was spread earlier in September due to the 1.9 inches of rain we received over the past weekend.
Date: September 23, 2009
Title: Posts for Border Fencing
Stopped at Dayton Lumber Mill today to order locust posts (10' long) for the border of the Organic and Traditional Blueberry plots. Need the following:
- (4) 6"x6" x 10' squared posts
- (10) 6"x4" x 10' squared posts
- (17) 4"x4" x 10' squared posts
These should arrive sometime in March so I can put them in when the ground still has quite a bit of moisture. The posts may need anchor support or be cemented in place. Plan to dig holes about 2 feet deep leaving an eight foot post above ground. I plan to stretch wire netting (8') high along posts along with oak "2x4" joining the tops of the posts to attach high tensile wire that will be stretched across the plot to support bird netting.
Related Resources
under construction
- Extremely Green Website http://www.extremelygreen.com
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