I actually have a strong opinion about this! COLLINS, all the way. It is one of the earlier blueberries, smaller and sweeter than many cultivated varieties. I grew up eating only wild blueberries and have a distaste for the huge, pulpy blueberries that are grown everywhere now. However, I found a local farm that grows Collins and that's the only place I pick.

I have a plan to put some blueberry bushes and raspberry bushes in my old vegetable garden area and Collins is the only variety of blueberry I will plant.

Good luck!

If you want a report on how my blueberries taste, you'll need to ask the birds in my garden. They get all the ripe ones first thing every morning.

I don't mind though, because I only have three small shrubs, and the berries don't all ripen at the same time. I don't think I'll ever have even a handful of berries that are all ready to eat on the same day. So the Robins are welcomed to the snack.

So if you want lots of berries you need to plant a lot of shrubs, and be ready with the bird netting come July.

I grew up eating only wild blueberries and have a distaste for the huge, pulpy blueberries that are grown everywhere now.
HmmmÂI think naked toes has been sipping a little too much blueberry brandy next I expect we will read that she feels flat leaf parsley is superior to curly leaf parsley!! Although I will admit the smaller tarter huckleberry and low bush blueberry make mighty fine pies they miss the mark in other baked goods such as muffins, sweet breads, or pancakes and topping for cereals, yogurt, and ice cream. My vote is for Blueray all the way!!!!!
I agree with gardenscout at last count I had thirty two blueberry shrubs and last year without netting collected enough for one batch of pancakes. I have yet to find a reasonably simple way of netting individual bushes without harming the bush when removing the netting. Any ideas? kt

Thanks for the suggestions. I had heard of Blueray but Collins was new to me. I'm somewhat of a novice on the various cultivars so I'm determined this season to try as many varieties as I can from pick-your-own farms and farm stands. I went to a farm last year which had four or five cultivars and one of them produced berries that were much more flavorful and sweet than the others. Unfortunately, the farmer was busy waiting on other people so I didn't have an opportunity to ask which variety was the one that I liked and unfortunately the individual bushes were not labeled. The whole experience was somewhat of an eye-opener for me because up to that time all blueberries that I had ever tried tasted pretty much the same.

I must say that I'm very surprised at the lack of opinions on this topic. I'm wondering if most people are like me in that they usually don't pay attention to the variety of blueberry that they buy in the store or pick at a farm.

wow,
What nice memories you have, you are so fortunate. Hope you share them with your kiddo's, nearly brought tears to my eyes too. kt

Great post, barefoot, great post. What a shame all that is gone now...

Dee

TO - My favorites are the wild high bush blueberries that I pick on the Cape every summer (how could I not appreciate something that I have to work so very hard to avoid Poison Ivy to pick?), but here is a thread from the fruit and orchards forum that you might find useful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Favorite Blueberry Variety?

naked toes,
I saw this blueberry vista today and thought of you. kt

Thanks KT! Wow, are those all blueberries?! My blueberry hill looked something like the picture below.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Yes all blueberries the area is fall mowed to keep other plants from maturing. Your link didn't allow me to see your photo. kt

Well, I went to pick some blueberries this past weekend with my children and it may be more difficult than I thought to ascertain which varieties that I'm tasting. I went to The Blueberry Farm in Hanson which I highly recommend for quaintness. They have the healthiest blueberry bushes that I've ever seen. They would make good shrubs in most people's yards. There was no shortage of ripe blueberries to choose from but I was probably a week or two early from seeing the real mother lode. There were distinct taste differences between the varieties. Some were large and sweet but very mild in taste while others were smaller and very flavorful but also very tart which I don't particularly care for. The couple that owns the place purchased the property a few years ago and cleaned it up quite a bit. They said that the blueberry bushes were around 60 years old but the whole place was overgrown with grass and weeds when they bought it. They've done a fanastic job getting the place in shape. They knew some of the varieties that were planted there but they couldn't confirm a berry as being a particular variety. Although I was told that the large sweet ones may be a variety called Weymouth. All of the plants and berries pretty much looked the same to me. This may be an impossible task to associate a berry with a particular variety.

On a side note, there was a woman there with several out of control children. The kiddies thought it would be fun to grab a branch as close as they could to the main trunk and then quickly run their tighted hand to the end of the branch stripping off all blueberries on the branch whether they were ripe or not. Once the owner saw this, he was rightfully terse with the woman about keeping her brats under control. She didn't seem to understand why there was a problem. She didn't think the kids were doing anything wrong. Is it any wonder why the current generation of kids have a gone to hell in a handbasket. When I was a kid, I would have had a belt taken to my behind for pulling a stunt like that. Ahh, the good old days...

This whole page was mostly a waste of the questioners time!

When I was a kid we would pick wild blueberries in the Adirondack Mountains in New York, they were very very sweet. I am pretty sure the bushes are still there. New York does that forever wild thing, so no McMansions. Anyway, unfortunately I don't know the variety, but I have a cousin who lives in Rhode Island and his shrubs are the size of small trees. Not only are the berries really tasty they are large and he gets hundreds, if not thousands of berries every year off of less than ten tree/shrubs. If anyone is still interested I might be able to find out the variety.

gurneys.com says the best tasting is ka-bluey

One thing to take into consideration is not only sweet vs tart. I have planted O'neil and while they are very sweet they dOnt taste much like blueberries. In fact they don't taste much like anything, they just taste sweet. If anyone knows of a blueberry that actually tastes the most like blueberries I'd like to know as well.

Recently I planted 3 bushes each of 2 year old Northblue and Northern blueberries from Stark Bros. Both on the advice that they would produce the smaller tart berries similar to what is found wild throughout New England. Since childhood my taste for blueberries has favored the smaller tart ones and not the large mushy flavorless ones. This regardless of how they are used, on cereal, mixed diced fruit, muffins, pancakes, pies, and so on. Probably it is simply a matter of expectation left over from childhood experience.

Now the fun part. After planting them in a mossy floored area of field and foregoing mowing the area something quite unexpected occurred. It turned out that a myriad of small native blueberry plants sprouted up. This in an area I have mowed relatively aggressively for the last 30 years. These must be tough little plants. So I plan to nurture them, and row them up. I'm told the local native plants can grow to 5-6 feet. So in a few years I should have more than enough very determined, hearty, disease resistant plants yeilding my favorite berry type. Some are even showing a few berries now. I am thrilled at the prospect and amazed by the demonstrated tenacity of life.

What is the impact of a tined berry harvesting scoop on bushes? It would seem pretty harsh on the bushes to use one.

Best regards to all,

Duncan

Working with wild blueberries is a treat, living in a maine, pretty much anywhere that you cut down trees, the wild blueberry bushes appear. THey are much easier to put into pancakes, muffins or any other assortment, they have less juice to start with, so it works much better in baking.

I too prefer the taste of the wild blueberry bushes vs high bush large ones, but I do grow several of those as well and have tried several more, Ive done, patriot, bluecrop, and blueray.. Frankly, they all taste similiar to me, I know Ive had jersey as well.. To me the larger ones, really need to be eaten fresh.. within a day or two or they become very stale tasting.

Silverkelt

I found this thread and since I am planning on adding blueberry bushes this year, I wondered whether you added blueberry bushes, TreeOracle, and how it all worked out?

Anyone else have some Blueberry Bush experiences to share? I'd especially like to know where the best place to purchase bushes might be?

Funny you should ask PM. I've wanted to plant some blueberry bushes since I started this thread but I never got around to it. This year I did something about it. Home Depot was having a special on blueberry bushes this past fall that I couldn't resist. Each bush was only $3. I bought around 20 of them. I have Bluecrop, Blueray, Bluegold, Northland, and a couple of others varieties that I've forgotten at the moment. Holy Cow, we're going to have blueberries everywhere in 2-3 years.

This year was a banner year for us for apples and cherries. We also had a million crabapples although we left those for the birds. Soon we'll have blueberries and I've planted a couple of Asian pear trees for my wife. Unfortunately, the deer seem to have a taste for those trees. I also had a bed of strawberries that were just decimated by chipmunks, rabbits, and deer. I was so unhappy about it that I think I'm going to use that bed to grow onions this year. Let's see how well the critters react to those. I'm going to build some special raised beds in the spring to grow some blackberries. So we should have a ton of those in a couple of years, too.

Well, that was quite a find with the blueberry bushes, tree oracle! You will be able to start your own 'pick your own' blueberry business, with all those bushes. (g) Maybe time to buy a new freezer, too.

I wonder if you did a soil test before hand and if your soil is acidic enough? Do you plan to cover the bushes with netting once they start producing fruit?

I would love to know what kind of apple and cherry trees you chose and did you do a lot of research first? Crabapples make great jelly. Onions over strawberries, lol, that will be quite a surprise to the local critters. On the blackberries, I remember a consultation I had with a landscape architect and telling him I wanted to try blackberries and he explained with a smile that I would have to just about build a concrete bunker around the roots to keep them from taking over my yard. Is that what you mean by a special raised bed?

I think it is very smart of you to make the effort to produce what your family needs for it's own food and I bet it's a very exciting project for you and the whole family.

That is indeed what I meant by a "special" raised-bed. I don't need blackberries popping up everywhere.

I'm a chemist who also likes to garden and both interests involve pH so you can bet that I know the pH of my soil. I have a nice recipe that I use for planting things that like their environment to be acidic. I use one part compost, one part peat moss and one part topsoil (usually native soil) along with a generous sprinkling of sulfur powder. The pH of this mixture gets down around 4-5 in no time. It's just perfect for azaleas and rhodies and I'm sure blueberries. I live close to the ocean so my soil is very sandy which should also be good for the blueberries.

I have two Fuji apples trees and two Granny Smith. The former is very sweet and the latter have a tartness that is perfect for baking. The two varieties pollinate each other nicely. I have one crabapple that's called Prairiefire. It's highly resistant to disease and puts on a banner crop every year. I planted it for ornamental purposes and to feed the wildlife. If I was going to grow a crabapple for jelly, I would plant a Dolgo.

You're right about the freezer. We bought one a few years ago that I thought was plenty big for our purposes but we freeze so much food that I think we're going to get another one this year.

Tree Oracle, thanks for that recipe for the mix you plant your blueberries in. I'm pretty sure I am around 6 for PH and the soil could use a little help.

Prairiefire is a very pretty crabapple, too. I see the difference in the size of the fruit between that and the Dolgo.

I look forward to seeing some photos of your blueberry bushes in the growing season. Twenty of them must be quite a sight. Good luck with them!

In the years '75 to 84 I lived where there was an 8 to 10' blueberry bush (sorry, don't know the variety, but it was nursery planted). I could never harvest more than a cup of fruit at a time due to the competion with the birds. In the ensuing years I wish I had installed a plastic owl on a post over the bush.

I haven't had much luck with the plastic owls. There are some newer ones out now that turn their heads occasionally (solar-powered) to fool the birds into thinking they're alive. Haven't tried one of those. I think one of the best methods is just to make it a war of attrition. If there are enough blueberries or whatever it is you want to harvest then the birds can't possibly eat all of it. Then all you have to worry about is the deer problem.

My inlaws have a large pipe cage over their blueberries and they put a net up during the season and take it down in September before the leaves fall. The birds get a good feed after the net comes down since there are always still berries ripening then, but we all get a goodly number of berries also. They do have some bushes in other parts of the garden that the birds can feed on when the net is up.

I like your strategy, Tree Oracle, and wish I had room for many blueberry bushes. With the 4-6 that I might be able to fit in, I'd have to go the route that Bab's parents go, with some kind of netting.

I guess you mean a PVC framework that your parents use to support the netting, Babs?

I've enjoyed following this thread. I have a number of different varieties of blueberries. Our favorite is Bluejay, sweet but not too sweet, tastes like a blueberry. Next is Patriot. I also have lots of wild blueberries and some wild huckleberries which are superior in flavor but their harvest is a much shorter time period and I do love fresh berries best!
By the way, has anyone tried paw paws in Maine??? If so, which varieties are hardiest and taste the best?

I'm glad I re-read this thread; it's reminded me that a) I love blueberries and b) they're not all that much much more work than lawn. I really should fill up part of my yard with them.

Also, though, it reminded me how much I miss some of the old members who no longer post here!

I'm going to look for alternatives to plastic pipe for blueberry netting; maybe something built out of cedar would work, and would not need to be taken apart (just the netting removed).

Quick question - when I look at blueberry varieties, they're never listed as getting higher than 6 feet. What I'd LOVE to find is a really tall variety, one that would work as a privacy screen as well as producing berries. I know it's not all that practical, since shorter plants are easier to pick, but my space is so limited that I need plants that will fill multiple roles.

Maineiacbac, I did a "search this forum" on the word pawpaw, and there were 2 threads that mention them. I don't personally know anything about pawpaw, but a new thread, or a follow-up to one of the old ones, might be a good idea.
.

Maineiacbac, Thanks for reporting on the varieties you have and enjoy. IâÂÂm getting ready to select which varieties to grow, so that helps. So far IâÂÂve been using a reference from the book, âÂÂEat on the Wild Sideâ that recommends varieties of fruits and vegetables based on their nutrition.

What they had to say, was that Rubel has the most nutrition of any blueberry. And here is the list of other varieties which are considered more nutritious.

Bluechip, Bluegem, Bluegold, Brunswick, Burgundy Maine, Brightwell, Burlington
Centurian, Chandler, Climax, Coville,Darrow, Earliblue, Early May, Elliot
Northcountry, Northsky,Rancocas and Sharpblue

But none of those recommendations are based on flavor, and thatâÂÂs important too.

I have never even eaten a paw paw, but wonder what they taste like. IâÂÂve seen photos of the trees and they look pretty attractive.

DtD, I am with you on making a framework with wood instead of plastic, so just the netting could be added and removed.

I havenâÂÂt noticed the heights on different varieties of blueberry, but I donâÂÂt remember reading about one that gets taller than 5-6ft. I think the breeders are actually going in the opposite direction and âÂÂhalf highâ varieties are now available that are 3-4ft high. One thing you might consider, Aronia berries are supposed to have 5x more antioxidants than blueberries and many people are starting to grow more of those. That might be more the height you are looking for? The black berries over the red, are the more nutritious too. Plus they have nice fall color.

And I miss how much more activity there was here, but I'm happy that we still have regulars, that are consistently here. Like you, too. :-)

My inlaws' structure is iron pipe which is smoother than wood, so doesn't snag the netting when it gets slid on and off each year. It has been in place probably 25 years. There are screw on caps over the ends of the pipes, and coated moderately heavy wire between the upright pipes for horizontal support. Theirs is a quite large patch (perhaps 40 plants?) so it needed to be stout enough to hold quite a bit of netting. It is tall enough to walk under and so that the netting doesn't snag on the bushes.

I guess you could use copper plumbing pipe or galvanized EMT (electrical conduit) for a smaller patch without the maintenance of a wood frame. Elbows, T's, and caps are available for these, I think. The EMT could probably be painted if you wanted a different color and it would be less expensive, though not as elegant as copper.

I'll see if I can a photo of their patch.

Tree_oracle, did you get to taste all of the blueberry from the plants that you purchased? Which ones would you recommend from the group of blueberry plants that you planted?

My Brigitta was exceptionally tasty last year, which was my second year growing blueberries. I've bought two Legacies after reading they've done very well in USDA taste trials. I'll see how they do and how they taste this year.

My friend bought me an O'Neil and Gulf Coast recently. Those varieties are also said to be very tasty. My other is a Tifblue but I haven't tasted it yet as the plant has been slow to grow.

I love the look of Misty. Does anyone have a first hand account of the taste? I like tart & sweet (but not cloying) berries. My bugbear is texture. I prefer crisp & not mealy / mushy when ripe.

I am constantly learning new things - here that blueberries grow in South Africa, I believe. Unfortunately, the southern forms of blueberries can't be grown up here in the northern part of the country, only in the warmer parts of the US, so I think lala's varieties won't grow here since s/he is in 10a. However, it is good to know that the USDA has done taste trials. I'll do some hunting around to see if I can find a link to those.