North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>]

At 07:41 PM 07/24/2000 -0400, you wrote:
> Thanks, Lucky.  I confess a certain fondness for the wild lowbush
> berries of my childhood.  Also, I have been looking for small berries
> (better for pancakes and baking)
I was interested enough to give it a try, as well, but it just didn't pan 
out for me.  If something doesn't make it in my low-input, 
low-maintenance(benign neglect) management scheme, I'm not usually inclined 
to give it a second chance - I just don't have time to baby  many things along.
I'll agree with you on the size matter - I make blueberry pancakes for the 
kids on a regular basis, and those big ol' Spartan or Patriot berries just 
seem a bit too large - doesn't seem to bother the kids, though.  I grew up 
picking sparkleberries(we called 'em huckleberries), a native woodland 
blueberry, back home in east-central AL - rarely made it back to the house 
with any, as most of those tiny little morsels went directly into my 
mouth.  They were ripe when the kids and I visited mom & dad, back in early 
June this year.

> I didn't know rabbiteye blueberries grew in zone 6.  Do you have to do
> anything special?
They're not recommended, except as trial varieties, in KY, but I'm only 
about 20 miles north of the TN border, just barely out of zone 7.  I've not 
treated them any differently than my northern highbush types, other than 
planting a bit farther apart - Dad's bushes are 8 ft tall, with a similar 
spread.  I don't really know what varieties I've got, as these are some Dad 
rooted from his bushes, and he's forgotten their identities long ago.

Friendship may work just fine for you, and it sounds like it's what you're 
looking for.

Lucky