Unfortunately, I lost the asparagus in the planting process. Either I left them in the pots for to long or I did not provide the right conditions for transplanting but all three of my plants did not make it. How does the saying go? - "You can't make an omelet without killing your asparagus plant."
On the brighter side (the bright blue super antioxidant side) we have a new member of the family to announce.
Introducing the blueberry bush!
Pouring over the pages of Pat Welsh's Southern California Organic Gardening book I learned that blueberries were ideal to plant in January here in Southern California. I also learned to look for either rabbiteye or southern highbush blueberries to ensure they would bear fruit in my climate. Additional points to note were that blueberries need "acid soil mix, acid fertilizer, good drainage and ample moisture." (Pat Welsh's Southern California Organic Gardening; page 50) One final note made, to get two bushes so they could cross-pollinate, and I was off to City Farmer's Nursery to pick one out.
The customer service at City Farmer's Nursery was fantastic. They had over 10 different kinds of blueberry bushes and all of them were in the highbush family able to bear fruit in San Diego. I learned from the staff that the Southern highbush family of blueberries is the only one that does not need a second bush for cross-pollination and so one bush purchase later I was good to go, well almost.
In addition to the bush I purchased an organic acid loving plant fertilizer made by Fox Farm and a block of organic coconut coir fiber made by Procoir.
The first step in planting the blueberry bush was to open this dry, hard block of coconut fiber and let it soak in water for about 20 minutes.
Eventually it will look like this.
Next I dug a hole in the ground where I wanted the blueberry bush to go.
My final step was to plant the blueberry bush in the hole surrounded by a mix of the dirt removed and the wet coconut coir fiber to be sure I had ample drainage and moisture in the soil.
I have become very proud of my garden and grew eager to enhance my photography skills so that I could better capture how beautiful it was becoming. With a little research I discovered an App called Instagram for my iPhone. Below are the latest images of the garden vegetables.
Brussels Sprouts
Elephant Garlic
Broccoli
Carrots
Beets
And now - Blueberries
Next post - Harvest Time! :)
