Blueberry – the antioxidant super hero

Wed. May. 16, 2018

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  Blueberry – the antioxidant super hero

I’ve talked about blueberries before, in fact, a long time before as you’ll see from this video I did YEARS ago!  Cut me some slack!  😉

The Blueberry is a tasty  antioxidant  superhero and a lovely shrub with rockin’ fall foliage.

Blueberry fall foliage

It does offer gardeners in the upper midwest a bit of a unique challenge as they like a more acidic soil, a pH of 4 to 5.5 is ideal.  For those of us in the Upper Midwest, we “generally” have more neutral to alkaline soil (that’s a higher number).  But get a soil test to know for sure.

I talked with Lee Reich, author of The Ever Curious Gardener, a guy with a lot of credentials and a great book!

He says,  it’s important to modify your soil using elemental sulfur.  It’s often powdered and used as a fungicide but Reich says for soil use, use the pelletized kind, it’s compressed into what looks like little lentils.

Sulfur as acidifier

Select  what’s called a “half high” variety, a cross between a high bush and a low bush blueberry.   ‘Polaris’ is a U of M introduction with good flavor and ripens early.  For a mid season blueberry, ‘Northblue’ is a great option and one of the most popular varieties.  ‘St. Cloud’ is the tallest half-high at 4 ft.  ‘Northsky’ is also a great selection growing just 3 feet tall at most.  PS these links are not a recommendation to purchase your plants there, only to give you more detailed information.  Purchase locally if possible.

Blueberry ‘North Sky’

Check out this extensive article from the University of Minnesota Extension – Blueberries for home for a LOT more information.