One part of the garden is devoted to a patch of things Vaccinium, in this case blueberries (evergreen and deciduous), lingonberries, huckleberries, and cranberries.  The ‘blueberry patch’ is basically an inverted aviary – if the fruiting plants aren’t protected, the Black-headed Grosbeaks will take all of the blueberries.  Rather, they will ruin all of the blueberries by taking a beak-shaped bite out of each one.  The original chicken wire kept out the grosbeaks, but the finches easily found their way in, so a second layer of smaller poultry netting had to be added.  Even with elaborate defensive mechanisms, birds still occasionally find their way inside, only to panic and become entangled as they try to escape.  Though grosbeaks are a ‘species of least concern’ I typically go to great lengths to release them from their self-chosen, greed-driven imprisonment, but not before giving them a stern talking-to.

Last year (2010), I fertilized all of the blueberry plants with duck pond water, and added another thick layer of pine needle mulch.  As if to thank me, they took the year off, producing basically nothing in the way of fruit.  This year, however, the bushes are positively crowded with flowers, which the big bumble bees absolutely love.  The fruits are just beginning to fill out, but won’t ripen for several weeks.  I see quarts and quarts of huge (the size of a U.S. nickel, easily) blueberries in my future…