Blueberries: grow your own

 

For anyone fortunate to live near an area with wild blueberries (Frocken / Billberry), now and for the next few weeks is the time to pick them. Blueberries like acidic soil - in other words, soil that is rich in organic matter, preferablay in the form of decayed vegetation. This is why peat bogs are ideal, and also the ground beneath established woodlands, where many years of decaying leaves have created a layer rich in leaf mould.The native blueberry or bilberry / fraughan / frocken / fraochán is a low-growing shrub which produces small very dark blue or black berries, with dark purple flesh and juice which stains the hand and mouth. This is in contrast to the North American blueberry which is larger, bluer and has a pale green flesh. These are the blueberries which are commercially grown. There is a large commercial blueberry plantation near Portarlington in Co Kildare, where these North Americam 'highbush' varieties are grown.See our blueberry plants to purchase online....

If you have ever bought blueberries in a shop, you will know how expensive they are and how far they may have travelled to get here. So knowing how to grow your own blueberries can save you money and give you masses of fresh blueberries, year after year. In fact, for the cost of two or three small trays of blueberries, you can buy an entire plant. They are easily grown in sun or light shade, provided you have moist, acidic soil. They can also be successfully grown in a container - remember to use ericaceous compost. Depending on the variety, they will produce fruit in late summer, and as the plants mature they will become taller and fuller, makeing them easier to pick. The fruit is extremely delicious and exceptionally healthy. Keep thew well-weeded at the base while they establish, as grass will compete for nutrients and water, and will also get tangled up in the branches of the younger plants. Use a cardboard box, bark mulch or one of our biodegradable tree mats to get them established.

A carpet of wild blueberries growing under oak in the Devil's Glen in Co Wicklow.

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