My late late rabbiteyes just coming on. The variety in the pic is "Ocklockonee" a patented variety out of Georgia. Here in Oregon it starts in mid- August and we'll be picking until the end of October. About 15 lbs per plant.

They can send a plane load of Afghans here to Oregon...I need pickers!

Those are long gone here where it was bred. LOL

How do you like it? There's a big planting of it about five miles south of me at the Griffin experiment station. I believe it was developed down in Tifton and trialed here before release.

I drive past the experiment station almost daily and crane my neck to see what they got growing. That big block of peaches they put in a few years ago should've come into production this year.

I like it a lot better than the pollenizer for it "Powderblue" which is an oldy out of North Carolina. Has a lot of sugar and our customers like the size.

We just put in three more acres of rabbit eyes with "Overtime" and "Centra Blue" as well as "Ocklokonee". Overtime was developed here in Oregon and Centra Blue in New Zealand. All are varieties that fit our late late window where the better money is.

Sounds like an interesting variety of blueberry.

I keep asking the folks down at the station is they ever need a taste tester, lol. I do a bee presentation down there every year for school kids at their demonstration garden.

When does Ocklockonee end in your area Warrior?

Don't know specifically as I don't have one but the latest blueberries I see locally are in red haven season end of June first of July. That one may be the last to go.

Just noticed that mine are ripening right now.

An update:

Here is a pic from last year's rabbit eye harvest on our farm. 'Centra Blue' from a breeding program in New Zealand:

Those blueberries are huge! How's the flavor?

Keith

When mature Centra Blue produces an average of 15-20 lbs of fruit per bush. The flavor is really good and the berries firm, never mushy.

And maybe the best attribute of this cultivar is it produces over about an eight week harvest window from late August until the end of October. We're on the 45th parallel in zone 7a.

We produced a first crop of maybe 80-100 flats last year and all the stores wanted just Centra Blue over the others after that. LOL

have finger,, (lots larger then your wifes in the picture ),,, will travel.....

I have never had a cultivated blue berry that compared to wild ones for taste. The wild ones I picked never got much bigger than a pea. But they were real good. When you buy blue berries in a store, I have never seen the type listed, just says blue berries.

Can anyone get the bushes or is it a commercial variety only?

It's a patented variety and in the US only Fall Creek Nursery has a permit to sell them.

A 700 plant minimum order, prevents Fall Creek from being a source for most of us.

Keith

I wish We didn't live in zone 3 - 4

Don't know when that variety of blueberry makes, but the Ochlokonee River is about 65 miles due west of me. Nice little black water river that runs through the longleaf pine-wiregrass woods of SW Georgia and on down into Florida.

I went to that site and didn't see them...must of missed them somehow.
Yeah 700 minimum is a tad too many..

You could always call Fall Creek and ask what retailers they sell to. I personally can't sell anything as I was required to sign legal papers that protect the patents.

BP,
Do you allow U-pick?
BTW, do you know if it is possible to start blueberry bushes from cuttings? Asking for a friend.

For you waggler? Yep, U pick available anytime you want to come down here.

Blueberry bushes are propagated by tissue culture in most nurseries these days. A tiny growing tip is excised and place in a petri dish with a nutrient-hormone gel and with the help of subdued light and temp-humidity control it begins to grow. Then little sections of that growth are started and soon a standard petri dish will hold a couple dozen stage III starts. (About 1" tall with a few strands of roots)

For home growers blues can be started by rooting softwood (same year's growth) branches taken in early to mid summer. Treat with rooting hormone and keep in a mist bench with proper light, temp and humidity. Kind of slow to root but they do root well under these conditions.

^^^^
I will try to make a trip down there in early August. Are the berries ripe then.

last I heard was he is charging a entrance fee; "You have to flesh and board 10 beaver" per basket

The rabbiteyes start mid August and go until the end of October. Early August would be a mite too early probably.

I know where you can find a 7 story basket near me.



Keith

My dad used to sell UPick strawberries and the price was always per 5 qt bucket. Dad encouraged folks to heap those buckets up and sometime even sent them back out to the field to top off a bucket so as to get their money's worth.

But Keith, with that basket I WILL NOT encourage any heaping!

LOL!

Keith