Last year for Father’s Day, Mark, our son visited and brought three small blueberry bushes. He thought his dad needed some blueberries to tend.

Mark used the landscaping skills acquired during his college stint working for Anderson Landscaping.  He dug out the holes, planted three plants, and added some compost from our bin.

The next morning, some animal (skunk?) had dug around the plants (attracted by the compost) and the plants were lying on their sides. I replanted them, adding some commercial compost from a small company in Lisbon Falls.

Later in the summer, it appeared the leaves had been devoured by the birds. I figured that my future in blueberries was limited.

On Friday, while mowing, I noticed my little blueberry bushes had sprouted buds.

Yesterday, after swimming and biking 25 miles, I cleaned out the beds, and added some organic Holly-tone that I picked up at Allen, Sterling & Lothrop; I, also picked up some breathable fabric for later, when the berries come, to keep the birds away.

I took a few pictures and emailed them to Mark to say, “the bushes are budding.”

He wrote back thanking me for caring for them and that they looked a bit like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Budding blueberry plant.

Hopefully I can keep the plants from animals and birds.