Great pictures! Now, here's a link to a really neat and simple recipe that pairs AVOCADO with strawberries in a salad! http://www.countryliving.com/recipefinder/avocado-strawberries-honey-vinaigrette

Fricanod: Since you are new to gardening, the problems may lie in your basic soil preparation or watering. What kind of soil do you have, and did you add any amendments when planting? Blueberries require an acidic soil rich in organic material, but well drained. Are you mulching your plants, and how much and how often do you water? Excessive watering is a common mistake of new gardeners. Mulching helps to conserve moisture and hold down weeds. So tell us about these things. There is no reason to believe that eggplant would affect your other perennial plants. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

The jelly can be softened. I had some quite stiff blueberry and added some honey and a dash of water, then placed in the microwave about 45 seconds. Just enough to get it a little softer. Now that is done, the jelly is more like a spreadable syrup. The blues can be different sizes and once frozen will lose some of the water as ice. Keep in mind a cup of big cultivated blueberries will cook down to less than a cup, compared to a cup of small wild blueberries. Its the same with Kosher salt vs. canning salt. The bigger the particle size, the less there will be if measured in a cup. A weight would be more accurate.

Some birds, yes, other birds not so much. When the Migratory Bluebirds hit my bushes, there were quite a few other berry type sources in my yard and it was just early 'winter'. Later in winter I had a few Mockingbirds pick the last few berries, but vanished quickly from the bluebirds. My resident pair of bluebirds have never really shown much interest in the Beautyberries though, preferring to go after insects.