Artisanal wood chips: September 2025

Spring is here and my thoughts are turning to the upcoming blueberry season, due to start around mid-December. A key part of preparing for the summer harvest is to ensure the blueberry bushes are well mulched to control weeds, retain moisture and keep the shallow roots of the bushes cool during those long hot days ahead.

I like to mulch my blueberry plants with a deep layer of eucalyptus wood chips that I make myself from local fallen timber. In think its essential to know exactly what I am adding to my blueberry beds to maintain the high quality of the fruit. A foundational layer of pure home-made eucalypt chips provides me with the reassurance that no nasties such as chemicals or weed-seeds are being introduced to my plants. The addition of this excellent carbon source feeds the soil fungus which, in turn, releases the nutrients essential for the microbes that surround the roots of the plants. These complex commensal relationships are the key to the success of each crop of luscious berries.

I start the process with sourcing the raw materials. Last year, I collected and chipped the small dead branches that surrounded the base of the large gum trees near the orchard. Of late, I have been harvesting timber rounds from a nearby pile of large logs that was the result of a huge tree splitting in two earlier this year. My small electric chainsaw can manage these monster logs only by rolling the logs over when half-way cut using a log roller. Once I get these heavy slabs on-board the trailer, I make my way home to start the next stages of the process; splitting, chipping and spreading.

Its amazing what an 18 ton log splitter can do to a big hunk of wood! I work my way around the edge of the large round of timber, splitting off chunks as I go. These large chunks are in turn further split down until they are around 50mm in diameter, a size that my wood chipper can handle. The chipping process further breaks down the timber into large pink chips, ready for transporting into the orchard in bins for spreading on the beds. Last year I spread chips on my south and centre beds and this year it was the turn of the north bed. The end result is a deep layer of wood chips, ready to feed and protect the blueberry plants for years to come.

The other day I was cutting up a large bough that the storm had brought down in Spring St. Keith Fletcher was walking by with his pup and we got to talking about what I was up to. I explained to Keith my preference for making my own chips, rather than buy-in a truck load from a commercial provider. I supposed Keith thought I was a bit mad but he immediately understood my fastidious approach.

Keith branded my perfectionist  product as "Artisanal Wood Chips” - and I reckon that is pretty much the ideal description!