permaculture

[rick valley <bamboogrove@cmug.com>]

I wasn't looking for info on how I could grow blueberries in Cal. myself;
but, fr'instance, around my dad's haunts in Sw Michigan I have seen
blueberries growing out of stump hummocks in swamps; so here in Oregon I have
successfully transplanted 60 year bushes into retention ponds on
"hugel-hummocks" of mud and logs. An old guy I worked for had a blueberry
patch planted over cedar logs buried with a small spring above directed into
drain tiles that fed to each log. He never had to irrigate in our rainless
summer. The patch was narrow enough that split bamboo hoops could have
carried bird netting over the bushes in season. 
I used to sweep up needles from old people's driveways and put them on my
berries. A Vit. P application in the spring, and an under planting of
Houttynia and Gaultheria spp. made a fine combo. All next to apples and
pears- but it worked. I had to keep ladder spaces pruned open.
-Rick


Rick Valley Northern Groves 
PO Box 1236, Philomath, OR 97370 
Mobile-(541)602-1315, hm.& msg. (541)929-7152  Bamboo catalog $3 or at 
<http://www.teleport.com/~dbrooks/bamboo.html>
"Useful Bamboos and other plants‹ Permaculture education‹ Ecological design &
consultation centering on water,landform and horticultural systems"