PIKETON, Ohio -- Don't let rising food prices keep you from enjoying your favorite summer fruit crops, like blueberries. With the right soil and little space required, blueberries can be easily incorporated into a home garden. Ohio State University Extension horticulturists will explain how it's done at a workshop on May 15.
Planting Blueberries in the Home Garden will take place from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at OSU South Centers at Piketon in Piketon, Ohio. The workshop is part of OSU South Centers' Third Thursday Horticulture Business Training series. Cost of the workshop is $5 per person.
The workshop will cover the steps of successful blueberry production, including the tools needed to prepare and grow blueberries, care and maintenance, and pest control. The workshop is open to anyone interested in expanding the production of their blueberry farm or simply adding blueberries to a backyard garden.
For more information on the workshop, contact Julie Strawser at (740) 289-2071, ext. 223 or e-mail strawser.35@osu.edu.
The production of blueberries, high in cancer-fighting antioxidants, is rising in popularity in Ohio. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture 2002 Census, blueberry acreage increased 32 percent since 1997.