Jilin blueberries take root in sandy soil, bearing new hope for prosperity
It is blueberry picking season once again, and the blueberry base by the roadside in Helong Village, Xiaoying Town, Yanji City, Jilin Province, welcomes one group of picking tourists after another, lively and warm. There is a tanned, thin, middle-aged man who takes it all in with joy in his heart. He is the person in charge of this blueberry base - Liang Changyou.
Liang Changyou's blueberry base was first established in early 2013, covering more than 70 mu. Of this, 40 mu is used to grow more than 10 varieties of blueberries including Reka and Black Pearl, with more than 100,000 mature blueberry trees and more than a million seedlings planted, growing vigorously and already achieving large-scale production. During the picking season, Liang Changyou's blueberry base sells nearly 150 kg of blueberries per day on average, with sales reaching as much as 1,000 kg at peak times. Yet few people know that this place was once barren sandy land, and that Liang Changyou paid an enormous amount of hardship and sweat to transform it into Yanbian's first blueberry base.
In 2013, carrying the blueberry-growing techniques he had accumulated over 6 years in Dalian, Liang Changyou returned to Yanji full of confidence and contracted this sandy land planted with corn, beginning his entrepreneurial journey. It was March, and the thick snow was over knee-deep. Every day before dawn, Liang Changyou would go out alone with a sickle to harvest the stalks. After working for a long time, he would straighten up, unable to tell whether it was melted snow or sweat running down.
To grow blueberries well, the soil is key. Liang Changyou took out 3 million yuan he had saved from doing business in earlier years and bought peat soil to improve the soil. Because the blueberry base is on a hillside and the subsoil is sandy, it is very difficult to retain water, so Liang Changyou dug a water storage pond on the hillside himself and channeled in water from a nearby river. In order to have enough pressure to pump the water up to irrigate the fields, he even used a fire hose.
To cultivate pollution-free blueberries, Liang Changyou also free-ranges more than 300 native chickens in the base. These chickens feed exclusively on insects in the blueberry tree plots, which amounts to an "ecological pest control" method, so the blueberries need no pesticides and do not suffer pest damage. After the native chickens grow up, he sells them at 80 yuan each, earning an extra 20,000 yuan in income each year, achieving two benefits at once.
Because of his outstanding techniques and meticulous care, Liang Changyou's blueberries achieved planting and fruiting in the same year. On June 16, 2013, Liang Changyou's Lvjian Agricultural Blueberry Cooperative officially opened its gates to visitors.
Since April 2015, Liang Changyou has not returned to his home in the city for a single day, living at the blueberry base every day and carefully tending every blueberry plant. Liang Changyou told reporters: Blueberries are rich in nutrients and are called the "king of berries," but to me, blueberries are like my own children, even closer than family. At this moment, Liang Changyou shed the fortitude of a man, his eyes full of love and expectation.
At present, in addition to growing blueberries, Liang Changyou's cooperative also grows 30 mu of various melons, fruits and vegetables including muskmelons, tomatoes, potatoes and green beans for tourists to pick, and has invested a large amount of money in building an outdoor "restaurant" to cook delicious dishes for tourists. Liang Changyou hopes that by creating a one-stop "farmhouse experience," he can provide tourists with a richer and healthier visit.