Early last year a neighbor's kid and his friends decided to cut through my property and then back again, several times on four wheel atv's. The path of least resistance was across my blueberry patch (about 110 plants). Pretty much destroyed them, and I was ticked to say the least. The Dad and I had a discussion, kids haven't been back. I dropped the discussion, because he has been good to me, loaning me a brand new John Deere when I needed a loader, without question. (tractor had 2 hours on the meter). Keys in it, use it anytime you need it type of attitude, a gesture I appreciated and did not take lightly. Anyway, briars and blackberry bushes pretty much engulfed the area. A couple weeks ago, I discovered that under all those briars, there were blueberries ready for picking. So... for the last two weeks the wife and I have been ripping out briars taller than us and clearing around the plants. Probably lost 65 percent of the plants, but what remains seem to be pretty hardy. Considering they haven't been watered, fertilized, and have had the sun blocked for the most part, the quart or so of berries so far has been a welcomed blessing. Blueberry pancakes, berries on homemade ice cream, (and a few while picking, lol) has made the work a little less of a burden.
Hope your berries are just coming in a little late, and you have a bountiful harvest.
David from jax
I have told freinds they were ready but everybody seems too busy also.
