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Pennsif's Progress - the One Year Anniversary Edition - Operation Blueberry Rescue

79
6 years ago
in#homesteading

Today marks my one year anniversary of joining steemit.

I came here as a prepper and a homesteader.

Most of my early posts were just about my prepping and homesteading activities.

Indeed I carried over from a previous prepper forum my 'Pennsif's Progress' series.

This had the full title of Pennsif's Progress - the days are numbered, as I was counting down from an arbitrary number of 1000 days I had given myself to get prepared...

I never particularly defined what I was getting prepared for - but I will stick with my sometimes quoted "when the bad times come".

I continued Pennsif's Progress on and off for a few months but then other 'steem stuff' rather took over and I let it lapse.

And I was never sure people would be interested in my daily, mostly mundane, homesteading and prepping activities.

However Pennsif's Progress did have one very useful purpose - it was a strong daily motivator to get out and do things.

If I didn't get things done, I didn't have anything to write about !

These past few months, with health issues, with a busy business and ever more steeming I haven't been doing as much as I should on the prepping and homesteading front.

I have oft been a lackadaisical lapser.

So now on my Year 1 Steem Birthday I have decided to fire up the engine again on Pennsif's Progress and see how far a full tank will take me.

My first task under the new regime is...

Operation Blueberry Rescue

I love blueberries - one of my favourite superfood snackers. So last year I planted a dozen or so mixed variety blueberries in the old pig garden.

I built a border bed along the fence and filled it mainly with coniferous woodchips and a bit of compost as blueberries prefer a more acidic environment.

We harvested a few blueberries last year.

This year the plants have begun to get established and are bearing a fair bit of fruit.

However I have not been tending to the bed and it had got totally overgrown with nettles, willowherb, grasses, buttercups and other uninvited guests.

So this morning I begun the assault on the bed and area outside along the fence.

This is the before...

And this is the after...

And this is a puppy digging to help picture for cute effect...

Tomorrow I will clear a pathway along the border and do a final tidy up of the bed...

Once I have finished clearing any weeds I am going to 'top up' the bed with some more woodchips and old mushroom compost.

I will finish Operation Blueberry Rescue by draping some netting over the fence and the blueberry bushes. That was in fact why I planted them along this fence border bed. A cunning plan eh?

I am looking forward to getting our first decent crop of homegrown blueberries in two or three weeks I think.

Generally I am working on a 3 year plan for most crops like this to get fully established. So next year I am expecting great things from these blueberries.

One point I need to check on as a novice blueberry grower - should the bushes be pruned in the winter to open up the centres like gooseberry bushes?

When I was on the prepper forum I use to have a motto - Do One Thing Every Day.

That was, and most definitely should be again, my prepping mantra.

Be prepared, get prepping, you never know what is going to happen next.
You might also be interested in some of my other posts :
MY RADIO SHOWS :
MY PROJECTS :

[ images by @pennsif ]

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6 years ago
pennsif79
via steemit
$ 4.08
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