This past weekend, my dad and I planted the huckleberry plants I ordered.  Here’s to hoping they grow.  Perhaps we really didn’t need to buy eighteen of them, but we’ll see how they do.

First we prepped a large chunk of one of the gardens.  Huckleberry bushes can get quite large under the right conditions, and they can live a long time.  Giving up part of this garden for these bushes is a huge commitment!  No turning back:

Next we mixed in a large amount of peat into the native soil already there.  We did this by digging a very deep hole, adding the peat, stirring it like dirt stew.  We then removed the plant from its gallon container and broke up the root ball (gently!)  The plants were ordered from a farm in Washington state…their soil was very dark and had many earthworms in it.  We plopped the worms, still attached to the bushes, into their new home and tucked the dirt all around them.  We added more peat to the mix.

Next we added some Azalea fertilizer around each plant.  Huckleberries, like azaleas, like acidic soil.  This is very important!  You can also make soil acidic by adding sulfur or coffee grounds.  We aren’t going to get the soil tested like all the gardening sites recommend (even though we should, probably) because who wants to pay for that?  If the huckleberries are a total failure, then I guess I will regret saying that. 

As soon as that dirt was packed in, the wild honeybees started to arrive as if we had called them on the phone.  They seemed thrilled to find flowers.  We’re a bit concerned that the plants arrived with blossoms on them…it may have been time in Washington but it’s probably not time here.  We’re not hoping for berries until next year anyway, but still.  At least the bees and butterflies will enjoy the blossoms this year! 

After the eighteen huckleberry plants were happily planted, it was time to relax and watch the river go by.

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