Category Archives: Homestead Projects

Posted on

Building A Modified Kiddie Pool Grow System

My Blueberries Need a Better Home!

Do you love blueberries? Are they growing well for you? Well, I do and they weren’t! So, it was time to make a drastic change.  Even though we had followed the planting guidelines for growing blueberries in our dreadful hard clay soils, they just weren’t thriving.  This 4 part video series shows exactly what we did every step of the way.

 

Part 3 shows the recipe I used to create an acidic potting mix that the blueberries will love.  For your quick reference, here is the mix for whatever size grow bag/container you have.

Acidic Potting Mix

70 % Peat Moss

20% Pine Shavings (or bark, needles)

10% Perlite

2 Cups Epsom Salt (for our 20 gallon grow bag)

1 Cup Cotton Seed Meal

Posted on

Blueberry Bushes Gonna Get a New Home

I just LOVE blueberries! Which is why we planted six 2 year-old bushes in-ground three years ago. Unfortunately, they have not grown or produced very well for two main reasons: soil environment not acidic enough and the birds are faster than my hands at harvesting!  Sooooo, it’s time for a solution I do believe!  NOTE:  Mr. Farmer Brown starts eyeing me suspiciously when I pull out my sketch pad! 🤓😝😉

The roots of blueberry bushes are shallow; they grow wider rather than deep. Therefore, they are one type of fruit bush that do well grown in containers. They do NOT like wet feet, but they do like/need moisture and cannot tolerate drought. This Modified Kiddie Pool System (MKPS) will fill the bill on all counts.
Keep on reading