Cindy,
those farmers place sawdust around the bushes, to give them acid. I am a cabinet maker, by trade and of course I build all my beekeeping stuff. Therefore I have plenty of sawdust, which is not recommended in your average compost pile. I store it in bags and boxes and I take it to my summer home, which is 124 km south of Sudbury and where my bees are. There I spread saw dust under the cedar plants that I had planted along one side of the driveway.
No, in Sudbury we do not need to add acidity to our plants, cause soil is too acidic allready. Almost every year, City of Sudbury hires a bunch of students and they spread, tones and tones of lime, in our region, to de-acidify the soil.
What was ones coined as "Moon scape," (astronauts from NASA did actually train here for their first moonwalk) now we already have lush vegetation and "moonscape" has all but disappeared...
I usually leave pine needles under the pines, cause they recycle that as nutrient. Pines too need acidic soil.
Mississauga ? That is practically Toronto. Sudbury boasts with most sunny days in eastern Canada, but we are a lot colder than Mississauga - by far. What they grow in their open gardens we must grow behind the glass. Well, most of it anyway...
I would say that temp in Mississauga doesn't often dip below zero? Here is nothing unusual to have minus 30 - for days on end.
I know what you mean about picking blueberries? They are a bit too close to the ground for my liking also...
Regards,
Trot
