Pete Tallman

Blueberries

Not one to be swayed by realistic expectations, Pete decided he was going to grow blueberries in Colorado.

Blueberries in Colorado? No way! The soil is too alkaline.

And yet Pete manages to get great tasting blueberries for pies, ice cream, pancakes, fresh eating, and even a few for the freezer.

This photo illustrates the general approach, which was developed from an idea triggered by a local newspaper garden writer.
The photo shows a Patriot blueberry bush in 2003 that had been planted directly in a peat bale in 1997. The bale was buried in a trench and covered with a thick layer of pine-bark mulch. There were no other amendments to the bale outside of poking a few drainage holes and adding drip irrigation with municipal water. Bushes are wrapped in burlap to avoid damage from winter winds.

Unfortunately, variety Patriot proved unsatisfactory for this climate and has been discarded, but companion plants of varieties Nelson (early) and Elliott (late) grown in the identical manner are apparently thriving.

In summer 2005, Nelson and Elliott, plus a little help from a younger Blue Ray, produced about 22 pints of delicious blueberries. In 2005, a program of fertigation was introduced to provide water-soluble acidifying fertilizer through the drip irrigation system to the plants a couple of times a year.

Based on the initial success, new plants have been “installed” to explore different blueberry flavors and smaller berry sizes. New varieties for 2004 were Blue Gold, Elizabeth, Rubel, Little Giant, Coville, and Jersey. A new variety, Reka, was installed in 2006. New plants for 2004 and 2006 were treated with mycorrhizal fungi at planting time to aid in nutrient uptake. The 2004 and 2006 plants showed excellent new growth in 2006 with the exception of Little Giant. Productivity and vigor of Little Giant are noticeably less than the other bushes. No reason for this is known.

The summer 2006 crop was a total of 21 pints across all of the varieties except Reka. In approximate order of tast preference in 2006 from most favorite to least favorite, the order was: Nelson, Elliott, Coville, Little Giant, Elizabeth, Rubel, Jersey, and Blue Ray. Jersey and Blue Ray were noticeably bland when compared to the others; summer 2006 was characterized by consistently hot, dry weather, which may have affected the berry taste.

Nelson and Elliott, the oldest bushes in the planting, seem to have trailed off in their berry production. They may need to be pruned back over the winter to encourage growth of new, younger wood to improve their productivity.


Bird control is a necessary consideration. Inspired by a picture of his netting cage in Gene Yale's spectacular orchard shown on the MIDFEX web site, this conduit cage was put together to support the netting. This has proved most satisfactory.
























How many years can Pete get away with this unnatural act? Don't know yet. Stay tuned.


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