North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Jim Fruth" <jfruth@tds.net>]

Jerry,
   Personally, I would doubt that your chips are acid.  Is there a chemist 
in your community?  If so, he might have some litmus paper or a pH meter to 
test them.
   Give your blueberries some ammonium 
sulfate................or.....................if you use the chips on your 
blueberries, sprinkle one cup of ammonium sulfate per bushel of chips.  Soil 
bacteria will attempt to decompose the chips and will rob nitrogen from the 
soil to accomplish the task.  Plants can't use ammonium but bacteria will 
convert it to nitrate, the form of nitrogen plants can use but the plants 
won't get it until the bacteria release it..  The sulfate will add acidity 
to the blueberry patch.
   Rain and/or snow-melt will take the nutrients down to the root zone of 
the blueberry plants.

Jim Fruth
Brambleberry Farm
Pequot Lakes, MN  56472
For jams, jellies & syrups:
www.bberryfarm.com
(877)265-6856 [Store]
(218)831-7018 [My Cell]

I recently had the good fortune of having a truck load of fresh wood chips
dumped on my property (at my request!)  They are from Poplar Trees (tulip
tree) from my neighbor's place who had several very large trees cut down. 
The
guy doing the cutting said they are no good for mulching until they compost
several months because they are too acid.  I was planning on using them on 
a
patch that needs new chips.  But does anyone know:
1.  Is it true they are too acid for mulch when fresh?
2.  Does age take that problem away?
3.  Could I use them for my blueberries, as they seem to constantly  need
more acid soil?