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Outside the grocery store this weekend, a man was selling pints of blueberries, picked fresh on his farm that very morning. He had a couple of blueberry bushes for sale as well for $24.95 each. Always looking to be more self-sufficient, I couldn’t resist taking my own blueberry bush home with me.

The farmer was happy to give me some advice about how best to plant it, and I got some further instruction from the guy at the local garden supply store.

Blueberry bushes can tolerate some shade, but the more sun they get the better they grow. Also, because my yard has a lot of clay, I need to take extra care to add some things to the soil so that the roots don’t get soaked with water.

The farmer suggested that after digging a hole for the bush, that I put some mulch at the bottom to lift the roots up away from the clay. The bush should then sit a few inches higher than the level of the yard around it. That way, if it rains, the water will have somewhere to go, away from the roots, until it is able to absorb fully into the ground.

The man at the garden supply store recommended adding something called “Nature’s Helper” which is a soil conditioner. It costs less than $3 for a 20 pound bag. He suggested that I mix in some of the yard dirt in with the Nature’s Helper to “get the plant used to the yard.”

They are the experts so I followed these instructions as best I could.

When I decided to start gardening (see earlier posts in this category) I really thought that by now I would have a lovely backyard garden, springing forth a bounty of fruits and vegetables. It’s taking a long time to get that going. I need to bring in some decent dirt and finish loosening up what’s there with a pickax. I’ve been dragging my feet on it quite a bit due to the expense and the effort involved.

But that’s no reason not to get some other gardening projects done. I always thought that planting herbs around my front yard would be a practical and beautiful addition to the decorative plants that are already there. There is probably a “right” way to do that. Waiting until I found the motivation to look into all of that was just holding me back from actually doing it.

I’ve had a potted mint plant in my kitchen for months, doing quite well. I recently saw a cilantro plant for sale at the grocery store and just had to bring it home. My kitchen counter was getting too crowded so I figured it was time to plant the herbs.

So, what was the complex process for starting my “herb garden”? I dug a hole, planted the herbs, and gave them a little water. After 2 days, they look quite well. I’ll post another picture after they’ve either flourished or died.