Here's a shot of this years Aronia crop. I have both 'Viking' and 'Nero'. 2nd year plants. So far no bird problems.

While looking for garden photos on my work computer I stumbled upon a photo of last years papaya tree. I usually grow a few for fun and this one tree really took off. Though the fruit was on there from early June til early November they never ripened. I got very tired of green papaya salad, as did all my co-workers and neighbors. I'm in zone 7b (Raleigh NC). In my entire life I have probably grown a million papaya trees and none of them have ever done this before.

Are aronia berries compairable to blueberries as far as taste goes?

Wow , that is a impressive papaya tree , lot of fruit. Green papayas costs more than ripe ones. Try to pickle it, a very nice side dish. I have a Aronia 'Nero'. I did not notice bird problem till one day the fruits are gone... very ripe at that point.

Blueboy sorry I can't post photos yours help me to confirm Sweet Crisp grow great with Black Hen from Lowes. I pick up plants 2012 November in one gallon pot from Homerville 12 inches tall sell said use organic soil that did not work out was very heavy soil and tight. I use larger pots half barrels and planted 2 per half barrel use composted pine bark to fill pots add Black Hen on top mix in with fingers. Growth been great almost size your 3 year old Sweet Crisp wish I had mix Black Hen before planting they are now over 4 ft. tall from soil line tip and grew and growing side branches.
Wednesday I pick up another load in 3/4 ton truck pile high cab drove 30 mph home lost very little got 2 tons at price of 24.00 this for this winter planting.
The same was done on Farlthing with half result 24 inches growth. I did use small amount Azomite and 50% Iron granules.
My new soil mix this fall winter be Composted Pine Bark 75% to 25% Cotton Gin Trash with added Black Hen 1 gallon per half barrel 4 tablespoons Azomite and 4 tablespoons Iron and 2 Quarts superphosphate.
The reason going to use Cotton Gin Trash is because centipede grass acid loving is running up my stock pile of cotton gin trash like crazy and health looking. I will use different amounts gin trash up to 100% but does get hot down into pile. My next ideal is to bury pots half way this cool pot for better cooling roots a metal T post will be drove into bottom pot to assist roots holding plant up under high wind.

Here are a few of mine:

{{gwi:122419}}
Pink Lemonade

{{gwi:122420}}
Black Jack fig

{{gwi:122421}}
Wonderful pomegranate

Very nice pics guys.I had some time today,so here are a few. Brady

Blueboy,Aronia berries probably need to be sweetened or mixed with sweeter berries in a drink.

Sweetcrisp Blueberry
{{gwi:122422}}
Black Beauty Mulberry-First Fruit
{{gwi:122423}}
Pink Lemonade Blueberry
{{gwi:122424}}
Chinese Creeping Bramble with it's Cousin Emerald Carpet Raspberry
{{gwi:122425}}
A Hawthorn That I Can't Kill-I Hear the Berries Make a Good Jelly Though
{{gwi:122426}}
Trentberry from Edible Landscaping-Some Kind of Hybrid Blueberry-First Time Fruiting
{{gwi:122427}}
Chester Blackberry
{{gwi:122428}}
Sunflower Pawpaw-Maybe Fruit Next Year
{{gwi:122429}}
Pawpaw Seedlings
{{gwi:122430}}
Young Strawberry Verte Fig
{{gwi:122431}}
Flavor Grenade Pluot Next to a Pakistan Mulberry in Barrel
{{gwi:122432}}
4 in 1 Plum with Puget Gold Apricot-Produced Tasty Apricots and Shiro Plums This Year
{{gwi:122433}}
Elizabeth Blueberry-Very Good Fruit and Beautiful Landscape Plant
{{gwi:122434}}
Dwarf Girardi Mulberry-This Little One was the King of the Mulberry Producers for Me With About 50 Fruits
{{gwi:122435}}

This post was edited by Bradybb on Tue, Aug 13, 13 at 15:32

Some of the blueberries on stop pinching day:) and a shot of the peach trees, well two of them. The rest are blocked from view. They continue to impress me, just 18 months in ground. If anyone wonders the plant to the right with the PVC is a Eustis limequat.

{{gwi:122436}}

{{gwi:122437}}

Bamboo, did you get any peaches this year?

Brady, what's your thoughts on pink lemonade? The berries look cool but are they tasty?

Bam, do you have help picking? That's alot of blueberries man and they look great! Very healthy!

Oplea, WOW! That's some fine peach trees. Do you prune to a open center and what do you use for mulch, how thick is mulch?

I like the Pink Lemonade Blueberry's taste.It's sweet with a bit of tang,that reminds me of Red Huckleberry.Maybe that's in the parentage. Brady

"Oplea, WOW! That's some fine peach trees. Do you prune to a open center and what do you use for mulch, how thick is mulch?"

Thanks Blueboy,

I do prune to an open center, I'm just really behind on pruning. The trees need pruned so badly, but we are getting too close to the end of summer to start now. I've hardly done any pruning on them this summer.

I'd say the mulch (wood chips) averages about 3" thick.

MrsG,

The trees were absolutely loaded with blooms then fruit but I waited till too late to prune and then after I did prune we had a cold snap and most of the fruit dropped. Still not sure if it was the cold or just the trees young age. They did keep a few peaches.

Blueboy,

Nope it is just me doing the picking but at that time of year there really is nothing else going on in the yard anyway.

I'm only a backyard grower, and this is my first year. I have grown plants for over 38 years, but all tropical's and unusual plants. Recently wanting more out of the hobby I switched to edibles. So last fall I build some raised beds .
The back bed is 2ftx24ft and has various raspberry plants. I also have another bed on the east side of my house (I love raspberries) In front of this bed is three 4x4 beds , each contain a blueberry plant in the middle surrounded by strawberry plants. The bed to the right is 8x12 and contains Silver Choice hybrid (SE) white sweet corn. In the fall the strawberry runners will be put here and I will grow them for about 3 or 4 years.
The trees pictured were all planted this spring. Closest is PF Lucky 13, back row is Spice Zee Nectaplum, 4 N 1 Pluot, Arctic Glo Nectarine. Not pictured is Indian Free Peach next to Arctic Glo. In the pots up close right side are tomato plants. On the left are my blackberry plants in ground.

Here's a close up of the beds

My first year (planted this last spring) in ground blackberry plants. Everything pictured in these three pictures was planted mostly from bare root this spring. last year at this time no beds, no trees. Nothing but grass.

This post was edited by Drew51 on Thu, Aug 15, 13 at 15:10

Actually this spring I build most of the beds. I started with the three 4x4 beds for blueberries. I did build them last fall Then i decided in the spring I needed a 2nd place for raspberries. Then a bed for gardening. Here's a photo of the back yard February 2013.

So for those of you just starting, hey look what you can do in one year!!

This post was edited by Drew51 on Thu, Aug 15, 13 at 15:18

One rogue blueberry plant in a field of maine wild low bush. After being attacked by 2 escaped granddaughters. It is marked to mow arround and send to Ri this fall when it starts to go dormant.

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Raven!

Nice set up there Drew!

Tony

Blueboy, nice, very nice blueberries! I really want to grow more myself. I may have to grow some in pots.
Also thanks for the comments on set up here and in other threads. I feel like I'm going in the right direction, and this place has saved me lot's of time (and money!). So thanks all for being here and sharing your gardening techniques.

Yup, nice set up Drew1! I have a hard time believing your saving money though. I thought the same thing but after crunching the numbers I figured I'm growing because I like it, not because I'm saving anything. I do like the idea of edible gardening cause flowers and trees just don't do it for me. If I can't get something in return for my efforts, other than visual pleasure, it's not worth it to me.

Blueboy, I meant saving money from good advice, no you're correct it would be cheaper to buy my fruit! It's a hobby. So really growing fruit is much like growing ornamentals, as you say you're not really saving any money. Again what I meant is this forum saved me from killing a lot of stuff and buying it twice, in that sense I did save money!
I do like flowers and trees just for ornamental reasons, but I agree, it's nice to get something back. I have been picking fruit everyday all summer, and it's going to continue till the 2nd or 3rd frost in November.
I recently added a night blooming jasmine to my plant collection, and the fragrance is intense. You do get something back, and when your surroundings are pleasant it sets your mind at ease. For you seeing a blueberry bush full of ripe fruit must do the same thing.
I like both, but why I switched to edibles is the fact the time and money spent didn't seem worth it, but I still grow ornamentals too. I want to eat my cake and have it too!
Switched is not the right word, added edibles...
The challenge of growing to me is what is fun. Of trying to grow something that is not easy to grow. I have cacti that had to grow 30 years before they were big enough to flower. They have now flowered, and it was very cool!
I really don't like to be told I can't grow something. I realize regional fruits are best, but with proper care you can grow any cultivar. Fruitnut does it all the time with a greenhouse.
Another problem is the lack of experts from my area. MI is really a very good place to grow fruit. So I'm not getting the best advice for my area. We are in the top ten states for blueberries, cherries, and peaches. Number 1 in tart cherries, number one in NHB blueberries. Number 6 in peaches. Not trying to brag, many states beat us hands down in many items. It's just to show that I do live in a favorable area for fruits. I'm sorry some can't grow CA stone fruit trees in their area, we don't have a problem with any stone fruits here.

Here is a picture of my recently planted fuzzy kiwi plants.

My redhaven,

{{gwi:122438}}

My Elberta

{{gwi:122439}}

The shapes are a little funny because Both trees are netted to keep the birds away, so lots of branches are bended, tucked in.

Blueboy and Drew,

I disagree on the saving money issue....Take my blueberries I produced well over 500 pounds this year. What did it cost me to produce those berries? I used 3 51# bags of ammounium sulfate this year but that is for all my 100's fruiting plants but even if it was just for the BB...it would be 3 x $15 = $45. That was all the fertilizer I have used no P or K added at all. Also used about 2 gallons of 96% sulfuric acid and that would be $12 so $45+$12=$57 and lets add $20 to that for electricity to pump the water for the acid fert applications so $77 total. That would make my cost for blueberries about 15 cents a pound? My mulch is free and delivered here. My pine chips (stable waste) also free. Seems like a real bargain to me. In the coming years the production will double to around 1000 pounds yet the costs will remain the same as I am already irrigating the ground where the new plants will go and the growing young bushes I have not allowed to fruit yet. So eventually you are talking less than 10 cents a pound for blueberries. That cost is very much inline with the commercial growers here but of course they have a lot of labor costs I don't have.

Wow! Bamboo, 500lb at 15c/lb, I am in awe! both production and the cost!

I guess your right to a point Bam. I get nothing for free other than rain water and my 65 gallon drums. Everything else cost money and some way more than others. The new irrigation set up I just installed cost around $500 and that was only because I did it all my self. Pumps are not cheap and neither are irrigation timers. Add in the cost wire, valves, solenoid valves, pressure gauges, pump relays, conduit, water tubing, sprinkler heads, fittings............. You get the point. Good thing is a lot of these expenses are mostly a one time thing. And as you say, the longer they are alive the less per pound I'm actually paying. For me the initial start up cost is not about saving money but setting my self up for success which isn't cheap but it sure makes it more enjoyable. In the long run yes, I will save money the longer I do it but up front not so much.

My main expense is deer, rabbit, and bird protection. My whole garden is booby-trapped with chicken wire and fencing. Northwoodswis

Blueboy,

I understand. Those one time expenses do sting but what would you figure your yearly costs are?

Bam,

Now that I have every thing in place I figure the only things I will have to buy is Pine Bark Mulch at $35 a yard and Micro Life at around $40 a bag. One bag will last a year. A yard of Pine Bark Mulch covers more than just my blues. I will only use maybe half that on the blues and the rest around my citrus and other fruits. So I figure this next spring I should get some where around 70 to 80lbs of blueberries will only cost me around $57. That comes out to around $0.71 a pound. So excluding all my set up costs Im saving money and it will only get better.

Old thread I know, but that price per lb is great! Especially considering organic blueberries are $4.99 for 6 oz fresh, and $3.99 for 10 oz frozen, at least in my area. That equals $13.30 for a lb of fresh blueberries from the store!

Also, what about everyone's cost of water considering blueberries take a lot of it? Mines not free, lol

Just for comparison . Un sorted blueberries delivered to packing co were paid 1.15 a lb. I am small time maybe bigger worked a better deal. I only had 5000 lbs.