If you want an absolutely delicious fruit to add in your muffins, smoothies, juices or you just want a tasty fruit to eat raw whenever you feel like. You should look no further than blueberries, these fruits are as delicious as they are healthy.
You can get these fruits from your local supermarket quite easily, but did you know that you could also grow blueberries in your own backyard garden? Well, if you must know blueberries can be consumed by you on a regular basis if you want, all you need to do is plant it in your home today and you can start to enjoy its amazing health benefits.
The Amazing Health Benefits Of Consuming Blueberries
- They are low in calories.
- They are high in dietary fiber, about 3.6 grams per serving of a single cup of blueberries.
- They are rich in vitamin C and provide you with more than 24% of your daily requirement when you consume just a cup of blueberries.
- They also provide you with 36% of your daily requirement of vitamin K, obtained also from a single cup of the fruit.
- They help to lower your bad cholesterol (LDL) level.
- They are rich in free radical fighting antioxidants and can help to combat premature aging and cancer.
- Blueberries help to regulate your blood pressure and they boost blood circulation while reducing inflammation as well.
- The antioxidants in blueberries will improve your memory and boost proper brain function.
Growing Your Own Blueberries At Home
In growing your own blueberry plant in order to have an unlimited supply of blueberries at home, you will need to get all the information necessary for soil preparation and planting. Keep on reading to avail yourself of this important information.
Decide On Where You Want To Plant Your Blueberries
These are the key facts you need to consider in choosing a spot to plant your blueberry plant.
- They love sunlight.
- They need nutrient rich soil.
- A raised bed in your garden allows for proper water irrigation as your blueberry bush needs the right amount of soil moisture to grow properly.
- If you don’t have a backyard garden, then you will need to plant your blueberries in a patio container.
Blueberries Love Space
- Your blueberry is a bush and it will need a space of up to 6 ft for it to grow properly.
- If you decide to grow two blueberry bushes, then you need to give them a space allowance of between 2.5 to 3 ft.
Know How To Plant Your Blueberry Bush
- Plant in fall or spring, do not plant in a winter time.
- Prepare your soil for your young blueberry plant. Use your hands to free up its roots and make sure soil covers the roots well and the young bush can stand upright all on its own accord.
- You should then pat the top soil using your hands or a trowel and wet the bush with water.
- Water your blueberry bush regularly to keep it hydrated, as it is a shallow-rooted plant.
- Check the acidity of your soil, ensure that it has a pH reading of 5.0 before planting your blueberry bush.
- Make sure your soil is well irrigated. Water should not gather and stay on the top soil, where your blueberry bush is planted for more than a couple of days. If it does, then the soil does not have proper drainage.
Mulching Is Necessary
- You should use sawdust mulching. This is actually the best for boosting worm activity in the soil where your blueberry bush is planted. However, you can also use grass clipping, rind mulch, acid tripe and pine bark as well.
- You should put in between 2 to 4 inches of sawdust mulch. When you do, you will help to keep the moisture of the soil well preserved, stop the growth of weeds and boost worm activity.
- Avoid using sawdust from a redwood or cedar tree to mulch. Mulching should be done once per annum.
Get Your Blueberry Bush Pruned
- Prune your blueberry bush frequently when it starts to grow to allow for the growth of stronger branches.
- Pruning will ensure that your blueberry bush grows to its optimal capacity, while you get to stop it from developing too much fruit; which can make the bush grow small fruits, rather than much larger and juicier ones.
- To prune you can use a very strong scissors to cut off branches closer to the soil and also dead ones.
- Cut off short and discolored branches.
- You should ultimately cut off between a third to half of the branches of your blueberry bush.
Ensure That Your Soil Is Fertile
- Use organic fertilizers only, as chemical fertilizers can harm your blueberry bush.
- Organic fertilizers keep your soil fertile for a relatively long time, they are not toxic and biodegradable.
- Fertilize your soil in spring. You should also fertilize your soil after pruning.
Did you know that blueberry is one of the 12 fruits formulation of C24/7? Should you wish to know C24/7, just click on the C24/7.
Source: Time for Natural Health
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