My Favorite

My dream has been realized.
I love blueberries - there are never enough, they're expensive to buy in the quantities to sustain my craving, and they never last long in our house - but given the area of the world in which we live, I never thought it possible that we could grow our own. Blueberries typically require cooler temperatures than we have here in The Jungle (ask me about chill hours...do it, ask me!!)
This is not so...anymore. Geneticists have bred blueberry plants that can survive, even thrive, in the warmth that is The Jungle. (75 degrees Farenheit in February)
Tarzan and I were thoroughly educated on this blessed topic last summer when we visited his uncle, who lives even further south than we do; he has bushes everywhere!
I came home from that trip and ordered some southern blueberry bushes straight away from GrowOrganic.com:

Of course they don't ship plants all year 'round, so I had to be patient and wait.
And wait.
And wait.
But the blueberry plants finally arrived this week and I planted them.
I made sure to get big pots:

For two reasons, portability - in case I have to move them for more/less sun or to avoid the cats or cars or whatever - and so I can have HUGE blueberry bushes and lots of berries.
Then I put a shallow layer of rocks in the bottom, for drainage:

Special soil - blueberries like acidic soil:

Dug a hole and put the sucker in:

Then a layer of mulch to retain water - they still need lots of water, even in warm areas:

And some chicken wire to keep the cats from sleeping in the pots on the nice sun warmed earth. Watered them up and now I get to wait some more.
I planted three of the Sunshine Blue variety (lowest number of chill hours required) and two of the Jewel variety (only a few chill hours more). The idea is to see what grows best here in our little neighborhood and, because chances are small any of our neighbors are doing the same thing, to guarantee cross pollination.

This is me and they can't grow fast enough.