Home Gardens - Tips, Tricks, Methods, and the Bounty

[bettyjoan]

We rebuilt our box two weekends ago, and I'm looking forward to planting again.  Anyone starting already and/or seeing any good seedlings around town?  Frager's last weekend didn't have much besides lettuces and herbs.

[DanielK]

I have several raised bed garden frames, free to a good home, for anyone that wants them. Pickup in Potomac, near Montrose/Falls/270.

[sandynva]

home depot had lettuce, kale, and broccoli about 2 weeks ago, 9 pak for $3.50. they looked pretty good, i bought kale and broccoli. they also had some rosemary and sage, but they were like 2.25 in pots for $3.50, not a great price.

i had ice lettuce for the first time and loved it so bought some seeds. has anyone grown this before and have any tips? or, as it's apparently some sort of iceplant, does anyone have tips on growing iceplants from seed? thanks!

[farmer john]

We rebuilt our box two weekends ago, and I'm looking forward to planting again.  Anyone starting already and/or seeing any good seedlings around town?  Frager's last weekend didn't have much besides lettuces and herbs.

Farmer's markets should all be getting going in the next few weeks. Vendors will have plenty of plants for the first month or so.

[weezy]

One of the vegetable vendors at Falls Church market came in with flats of seedlings last weekend that looked very healthy.  These folks have expensive vegetables generally, though, and their seedlings were not any bargain price.

[DanielK]

I have several raised bed garden frames, free to a good home, for anyone that wants them. Pickup in Potomac, near Montrose/Falls/270.

Claimed!

[sandynva]

fyi--park seed is having a sale on their annual plants, which includes some herbs. i haven't ordered herbs from them before but their tomatoes were a decent starter size, and in my experience they've been quite good about replacing plants that arrive in bad condition. i bought a 6 pack of arp rosemary for $11.86, and was tempted by, though ultimately did not get, a 6 pack of sage for $10. in addition if you order $40 worth of stuff shipping is free.

on a related note--my thyme and sage didn't survive the winter, even though they are supposed to be hardy. does anyone else have luck getting them to survive or are they just one of those things the labels claim are hardy but really aren't?

[farmer john]

thyme tends to be somewhat "semi-hardy" in our area. you will definitely lose some on occasion. common sage on the other hand tends to be pretty hardy. perhaps something other than temperature did them in- wet feet throughout a warm winter is hard on perennial herbs from drier climates as well.

[thistle]

Astrid,

 while all of my poms were decimated (by weather & squirrels), some of the ones I mailed to my sister in NC have survived-hope springs eternal!

[sandynva]

speaking of squirrels, does anyone have a good way to deter them? we've had small issues with them before (eating tomatoes) but this spring, possibly related to my  inadvertently removing a squirrel nest from my topsy turvy, they've/it's gone nuts. about every other day i come home to multiple plants and bulbs uprooted, all my dahlia bulbs have been eaten, and the little beasts have even dug up all my pots where i planted lettuce and chard. i may just get chicken wire to form cages, but i was hoping for something a little less visible. or, i was wondering, if i put out sunflower seeds for them to eat, will that satisfy them so they don't dig up stuff or just train them to associate my deck with food (and to continue digging stuff up)?

[farmer john]

I have a very reliable method for controlling squirrel damage but am afraid it does not translate well to areas which are not rural. I do not believe feeding them to be a solution to the digging as i don't think it is strictly food gathering behavior. 

[ktmoomau]

3 hours ago, sandynva said:

speaking of squirrels, does anyone have a good way to deter them? we've had small issues with them before (eating tomatoes) but this spring, possibly related to my  inadvertently removing a squirrel nest from my topsy turvy, they've/it's gone nuts. about every other day i come home to multiple plants and bulbs uprooted, all my dahlia bulbs have been eaten, and the little beasts have even dug up all my pots where i planted lettuce and chard. i may just get chicken wire to form cages, but i was hoping for something a little less visible. or, i was wondering, if i put out sunflower seeds for them to eat, will that satisfy them so they don't dig up stuff or just train them to associate my deck with food (and to continue digging stuff up)?

You can borrow my dog for a little bit?  He LOVES chasing squirrels, but could damage plants in the chasing and your neighbors might not love all the barking   Pellet gun?  (Joking, mostly) When I had our big community garden we used to mulch as much as we could to deter some of the digging, not a great solution, but it helped some.

[weezy]

sprinkling bone meal and cayenne around the plants helps some but needs to be reapplied.   

Judging from what I've seen in my neighborhood, I have a lot more squirrels in my yard (along with all their digging and such) when my neighbors set up birdfeeders in their yards.  My guess is you're having a bad year because there are new/more feeders around you.

 

[sandynva]

has anyone had luck growing honeyberries/haskaps in the area? i'm always on the hunt for plants that may fruit in shade, and the descriptions in gardening catalogs of these seem almost too good to be true--shade tolerant, fruit in a year or two, pest-free, etc. 

on another note i'm excited that i may get my first tomato of the year soon, a cluster of sungolds is ripening, and i've found that anise hyssop does well despite shade (it's like 3 ft high!) and tastes delicious in salads. 

[astrid]

I never tried haskaps.  My impression from years of online forum reading is that the yields are low even in optimal conditions.  They seem to be a poor substitute for northern people who can't grow blueberries.

Black currants and gooseberries are frequently recommended for shady areas.  The yield would be lower and they probably still need a decent amount of dappled light or some sun to do okay.  Ditto with rabbiteye blueberries, which i have seen yield okay in a rather shady spot.

[Al Dente]

My tomato plants are growing fast! But aphids have moved in.  

I'm trying to evict them with a spray bottle of soapy water. Any blight ideas out there?

[DonRocks]

1 hour ago, Al Dente said:

My tomato plants are growing fast! But aphids have moved in.  

I'm trying to evict them with a spray bottle of soapy water. Any blight ideas out there?

Get an aphid David, cur egg.

[astrid]

I would do nothing and wait it out. Aphids are pretty harmless for tomato plants and eventually an aphid predator will come along and gobble them up.  If they get bad, blast with a spray of water to knock them back a bit.  Nowadays, I only use insecticide on people and plants I bring indoors for winter.

[astrid]

Yes, I grow people outdoors during the summer, why do you ask?  

[astrid]

I was listening to a podcast yesterday that mentioned pawpaws as a candidate for growing in the shade.  Won't fruit as well as in the sun, but will fruit some and should keep to 10-15 feet or so.  This is backed by my observations on the C&O canal trail, where I see fruiting pawpaws in the shady understory.

Rhubarb would probably do okay in a shady spot with good moisture.  Some strains do better with the heat of DC area than others, but they are very pest proof for a *fruit*.

[farmer john]

Careful with the rhubarb in the moist areas. A warm wet winter is definitely its enemy in my experience. It will perform in shade- just very subject to rot if warm and wet when it would prefer to be frozen.

[astrid]

Interesting, so that's probably what killed off my fairly productive rhubarb patch.  It was in a relatively low spot and I thought they caught a late summer fungal disease and didn't recover next year.  I will have to try again in an elevated bed.  I have just the spot too, now that the local bunnies nibbled my newly planted epimediums and heucheras to nubs, despite generous doses of animal deterrent.

[farmer john]

43 minutes ago, astrid said:

Interesting, so that's probably what killed off my fairly productive rhubarb patch.  It was in a relatively low spot and I thought they caught a late summer fungal disease and didn't recover next year.  I will have to try again in an elevated bed.  I have just the spot too, now that the local bunnies nibbled my newly planted epimediums and heucheras to nubs, despite generous doses of animal deterrent.

I tend to lose my rhubarb every 5 years or so- we are so much on the fringe of its preferred climate that it no longer surprises me. I actually had decent luck growing it as an annual from seed a couple years ago- you just wind up with rhubarb out of "season". 

Bunnies= hasenpfeffer!

[astrid]

I wonder how everyone else's vegetable garden is growing this year.  I think this might be my best year yet, thanks to a combination of relatively mild weather, generous rain, and the 18 cubic yards of compost that I spent 2 months hauling around my yard.  The tomatoes in particular have been terrific this year, with my best performer being a monstrous and healthy Juliet (F1 hybrid) tomato, currently with maybe 50 clusters of tomatoes (each with 5-10 tomatoes) in various stages of ripening. It's a decent snacking and cooking tomato and will be my default paste tomato going forward.  Out of about 10 varieties I planted, I can happily recommend Juliet, Momotaro (perfect tomatoes with good tast/texture and long shelf life), Pink Berkeley Tie Dye (best tasting), and Wapsipinicon Peach (great for eat out of hand like a stone fruit).  The only dog was Peacevines, poor taste and pesky to pick, I yanked them out even though the plant was still relatively healthy and had loads of green tomatoes and blooms on it.

The peppers and eggplants have also done very well so far. 

Meanwhile, my ornamental yard (almost a hundred roses and more than a hundred perennials/grasses/shrubs) are under constant attack by rabbits, woodchucks, squirrels, and chipmunks, with certain plants being literally nibbled to death.  The bunnies in particular have been incredibly pesky, eating supposedly poisonous plants such as rhubarb and hellebore into the ground.

[MC Horoscope]

The first part of the season we did well with our parsley, celery, and salad tomatoes. This year Cherokee Purples were incredible! Rutgers and Celebrity, not so much. I love picking a nice stalk or two of celery rather than buy a bunch with no flavor. There's no comparison with home grown!

The San Marzano tomatoes were really abundant this year. They must have liked the weather! And I did really well with chile de arbol. They look like cayenne peppers but they are half as hot on the Scoville scale.

Korean cucumbers did well, but we never had more than two at a time ripen together. Kind of hard to give them away under those circumstances.

It got too hot right at the wrong time for our green bell peppers. They hardly bore at all. I might try to find a different source for the plants next year. We haven't been successful lately. Too bad. Some years ago we froze our crop and it lasted until the next summer! It's a pleasure to have flavorful bell peppers in the winter time!

Not from our garden but the market down the street this year had wonderful corn and canteloupes, but the best of all were the Sugar Baby watermelons!

It's the earliest I've ever pulled up most of my plants and started prepping for next year! This season will go down as a strange one!

[astrid]

This year my tomato hybrids were about 1.5X as productive as open pollinated tomatoes.  The biggest difference was that the heirlooms had much more cracking and catfacing.  That's a problem for commercial growers since those cosmetic defects mean the tomatoes can only be sold as seconds or not at all, but not a big problem for home growers. 

Part of my comparative success is that I moved from a community garden in a close-in DC suburb to suburban central PA.  The daytime highs are often 5-10 degrees below DC and overnight lows are usually 10-20 degrees below DC.  The lower temperatures meant that I'm still picking a lot of kale from a spring planting (stem rot and white flies are taking their toll, so they will be pulled soon), whereas they would have expired by early July at the latest in DC.

[dcs]

Tree of 40 Fruit - A Frankenstein blend of science and art allows one tree to produce 40 different types of stone fruit, by Kerry Wolfe on atlasobscura.com.

[ktmoomau]

Anyone know of anywhere local- DMV- that has a selection of water plants?  Our friends who took us to China really were interested in some water pot plants, and I was trying to see if anywhere local had any selection.

[NolaCaine]

3 hours ago, ktmoomau said:

Anyone know of anywhere local- DMV- that has a selection of water plants?  Our friends who took us to China really were interested in some water pot plants, and I was trying to see if anywhere local had any selection.

Not sure but perhaps Eden Center?

[astrid]

Lilypons in Adamstown, MD?  

Definitely go see Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in late July, when the lotus and waterlilies are blooming.

[DonRocks]

2 hours ago, astrid said:

Lilypons in Adamstown, MD?  

Not sure where you pulled this one from, but you might be on to something - definitely call first, because it's a long drive. I was there once, maybe 25 years ago?

Here's their website - they're internet compatible.

[ktmoomau]

Yeah, I saw that on Google, hoping there was something closer, but glad to know it is potentially a good option.

[ktmoomau]

So, I now have a good size balcony and patio that is ripe for some container planting (Only plants not for consumption can go in the superfund soil here).  I just bought pot a large shallow pot today for leaf lettuce, I have a large probably 10 gallon planter, that I am not sure what awaits it yet, and two 3 gallon planters and some herb pots.  I also think I am going to buy some small scale raised beds (like 12 gallon) or those planter sacks.  T  How big of a pot would cherry tomatoes need?  I loved some of the yellow varieties we had last year at the picnic, not sure if I could find such a plant locally, as I don't have the space to start them from seed (well I do, but Hubby would not be happy with me).  

[curls]

If your looking for herbs, tomato, pepper, etc. plants, DeBaggio herbs in Chantilly has any amazing selection. http://www.debaggioherbs.com/ Previous location was in the yard of a small home in Arlington. The father started the business and his son has continued it.

[astrid]

First, do you get at least 5 hours of direct sun in the patio area?  Anything less and fruiting plants will not yield well, though could still work for greens and herbs.  

Next.  Look up dwarf tomato project.  The plants are manageable and quite attractive compared to most tomato plants.  You can fit 2 to an 2 cubic foot capacity Earthbox and there are a number varieties yielding 1-2 oz fruits.  Maglia Rosa is another smaller indeterminate snacker with very good taste.  I brought several DTP fruits to the tomato tasting including Sweet Sue and Tasmanian Chocolate, both yielded very well grown in Earthbox (into October, far better than in ground, where most DTP plants succumbed to disease by August because of lack of air circulation).

The yellow cherry I brought to the tomato tasting is Sungold.  You might be able to grow one in a 2 cubic foot pot, but they are huge plants so you will need a substantial trellis or cage to support the plant.  If you are thinking of a yellow 2 oz fruit with a light fuzz, that's Garden Peach.  I did manage to grow one in half of an Earthbox and it yielded quite well, though the one in the ground probably yielded 3x as much.

I do recommend large size self watering containers (not necessarily Earthbox but something with at least 1 gallon water reservoir).  Otherwise it's daily watering, with Earthboxes I managed twice weekly watering during last summer during the drier weeks.  I followed tomatoville's recommendation and bought a bale of promix, added a cup of dolomite lime and 2 cups of Tomato Tone per Earthbox, and it worked pretty well.  I am reusing the promix this year with more fertilizer and lime added.

[astrid]

The downside is the DTP are still pretty rare in commerce, though you might luck into an enterprising Farmer's market vendor...  I heard good things about Patio series, they're also dwarf indeterminate but more commercially available.  Sungold plants will definitely be available to buy, people go gaga for Sungold.

If you want a very small tomato plant...

[DonRocks]

Thank you to all three of you - ktmoomau, curls, and astrid - for this information.

Kind regards,
Don

(Forum Host, anyone?)

[ktmoomau]

15 hours ago, astrid said:

First, do you get at least 5 hours of direct sun in the patio area?  Anything less and fruiting plants will not yield well, though could still work for greens and herbs.  

Yes, we get a good bit of sun as there are no trees of substance around us yet.

15 hours ago, astrid said:

Next.  Look up dwarf tomato project.  The plants are manageable and quite attractive compared to most tomato plants.  You can fit 2 to an 2 cubic foot capacity Earthbox and there are a number varieties yielding 1-2 oz fruits.  Maglia Rosa is another smaller indeterminate snacker with very good taste.  I brought several DTP fruits to the tomato tasting including Sweet Sue and Tasmanian Chocolate, both yielded very well grown in Earthbox (into October, far better than in ground, where most DTP plants succumbed to disease by August because of lack of air circulation).

The yellow cherry I brought to the tomato tasting is Sungold.  You might be able to grow one in a 2 cubic foot pot, but they are huge plants so you will need a substantial trellis or cage to support the plant. 

I have just the spot for that.

If you are thinking of a yellow 2 oz fruit with a light fuzz, that's Garden Peach.  I did manage to grow one in half of an Earthbox and it yielded quite well, though the one in the ground probably yielded 3x as much.

I do recommend large size self watering containers (not necessarily Earthbox but something with at least 1 gallon water reservoir).  Otherwise it's daily watering, with Earthboxes I managed twice weekly watering during last summer during the drier weeks.  I followed tomatoville's recommendation and bought a bale of promix, added a cup of dolomite lime and 2 cups of Tomato Tone per Earthbox, and it worked pretty well.  I am reusing the promix this year with more fertilizer and lime added.

Great, thanks!

[ktmoomau]

I ordered some leaf lettuce, spinach (likely saving for fall) and dwarf kale seeds from burpee.  We eat so many greens, having them right outside will be good.

Will contemplate plant life for the next couple weeks... I will definitely do tomatoes on the patio, will look for the sungolds! 

I am trying to make a list of things I want the most. What things do you notice you taste the most difference with?  For me tomatoes and hot peppers are on that list?

[astrid]

I find Burpee on the expensive side, though no complaints about quality.  I really like Pinetree, Fedco, Sample Seeds, and Renee's for generalists.  Fedco is particularly good for greens since they are cheap (especially if you buy a larger size and store leftovers in a Ziploc bag in the fridge, I have good germination even from onions and okra after 4-5 years) and have lots of hybrid and non-hybrid options.  Southern Exposure Seed Company is regional to the upper South and their seeds consistently do very well for me.  

Now is the perfect time for cool season greens such as spinach, turnip, kale, arugula, lettuce, and Swiss chard.  Another fun cool season crop is mache.  Let a couple go to seed every year and it will keep you in winter salads forever.  I think you are probably in zone 8A, so you can probably grow and harvest.  Ditto arugula, come to think of it, plus arugula germinates reliably and grows fast.  And kale if I ever dare let it go to seed.

Depending on your patio set up, larger volume grow bags might be a quick economical option, though they will likely dry out faster than self watering pots.

[astrid]

I would say tomatoes followed by kale.  But a lot of it comes down to the diversity of options when I grow it myself, rather than better quality than what I can buy from a farm stand or Farmer's market.  There are a lot of varieties that you can't buy even from Farmer's market or are ridiculously expensive, like $5 for a pint of Sungolds (they split easily and are then not saleable, but plenty eatable) when one plant will keep a family sated.

Greens are all great returns on the space investment and often tastier than store options.

Herbs are also great to have.  A couple basils, chive, Fernleaf dill, and some cilantro seeds every few weeks.  Maybe a mint plant in its own pot where it won't bully others.  

[astrid]

Hot peppers grow well in pots, but unless you want to grow superhots or unusual varieties, I don't think they are worth the bother since they ship well.  Cukes, broccoli, cauliflowers, sweet corn, melons, squash, and carrots are other veggies that aren't worth the bother due to space, finickiness with weather, or disease pressure.

[Sundae in the Park]

My folks have puttered in our garden since they've come to visit and now we have some basic Chinese greens  that, with very little effort, we probably won't have to buy ever again.  Scallions, chives, Chinese cabbage, and the Japanese and Chinese varieties of mugwort (? we think, based on some translation sleuthing) grow well in our area, though note that we are in Southern California.  The scallions, in particular, should work everywhere, and my mom started it in water from the bulb of a bunch we had laying around after cooking the tops.  It seems to be super hardy and it's handy to have fresh stalks available whenever we need them.

Also, our neighbors have a small grove of what we've always considered to be ornamental loquat trees. My folks have been greedily eating the fruit right off the trees from the overhang into our yard and they taste pretty good!  A truly free find since we don't even have to pay to water the trees. Our orange tree produces really lovely tart yet sweet fruit that ends up being the most expensive "free" fruit ever when you add in irrigation costs.  

[ktmoomau]

Hubby ordered some garden boxes to screen our AC unit, and some parts to make them self-watering.  This weekend, I mixed soils and got some pots other ready, seeds should be in my mailbox today, so I will do that this week.  

Two of the grow boxes will be fairly shady as they are under part of our stairs, so one might be some greens, depending on when they arrive, the other might just end up with ferns or other shade loving plants that would make a nice pretty looking screen back there, so it isn't too rag tag looking.  The front box gets a lot more sun and we are going to trellis the back of it, one is going to get the Sungolds and if there is room maybe a basil and marigold so it looks a tad pretty, I am not quite sure what the size of the box is.  Still need to decide the fate of the other.  It could get more tomatoes, or some beans, I loved growing the chinese long beans.

I am excited about the greens and tomatoes because we eat a lot of them, I too think they taste differently home grown, and they are somewhat expensive at the Farmer's Market (to me).  I also think potatoes taste very different home grown, and might consider that next year.  I consistently buy a lot of peppers, which is why I thought about growing them, they also could fit in the somewhat smaller pots.  I also like my peppers hotter than the normal store bought ones, Jalapenos and serranos for instance.  So that is still a maybe. (We eat a ton of squash, but it is also just so cheap and there is no real difference in taste to me.) 

I want to get a cocktail tree for the balcony, that I can move indoors in the winter.  I made a mistake of not having self watering pots for the palm I just planted in big planters for up there, I really don't want to replant them, but I also really don't want to have to worry about watering them as often.  So I might re-pot, and make another self-water pot for the cocktail tree (by me, I mean Hubby, he is pretty handy at projects like that). I REALLY would like to have a dwarf blueberry bush on the balcony, but am a bit worried that then birds would eat them and I would have blue droppings on my balcony.  And netting just isn't very attractive.  We had a mulberry tree that was just not pleasant at home for that reason.  Also, Hubby doesn't like blueberries, but I do!!!  He would be interested in a miniature/dwarf citrus tree, like a mandarin.  Those I need to research more though, I have never grown something like that.  His Mother grew a pineapple and that was just fun to watch, that might be a cute/fun project.

[astrid]

I don't think blueberries are worth the effort for the reasons you've stated, plus all soft fruit ripening after midsummer are at risk from spotted wing fruit flies.   They're doable in pots but going to a  PYO gets fruit of similar quality without the hassle.  Definite down on mulberries, they're weed trees and the berry stained bird poop will stain everything.  

Meyer lemon and kumquats are good for small manageable citrus trees.  Meyer lemon flower and fruit throughout the year, so you get a spreading harvest.  Bay leaf, scented geraniums, and rosemary are also good balcony plants.  Don't get a traditional multigraft fruit cocktail tree, they don't work as potted plants at all for many reasons (chill hours, root mass, spraying, disease, pruning for balanced shape).  Most fruit trees take way to much spraying and coddling to fruit in the East, even in the ground.  If you want something fruity, mara de bois and pineberry plants might be the way to go for something relatively small and low maintenance, but unusual and tasty.

You can grow pineapples from the tops of store pineapples, takes about 2 years to harvest.

Nasturtiums are a pretty edible.  When well watered, they flower from June to frost for me.  You could grow the trailing variety and have them drape over your balcony.

Be careful of the plantings close to the AC, it might get quite hot there in the summer, hotter than a lot of plants like.  Would be good for peppers and eggplants.  For peppers, check out aji dulce (and other habanero lookalikes with minimal heat) and aji Limon. Very productive and decorative, and not freely available in supermarkets.

[Bart]

I feel just the opposite about blueberries.  Once you get them established they require very little care.  I have to cover mine in netting or the birds would get them all.

It's getting a little late, but you can still order and start tomato seeds.  Don't know if you've heard about the Dwarf Tomato Project (I thought it was mentioned in this thread, but I didn't see it on a very quick scan).  Anyhow, a bunch of hobbyists and growers have been breeding dwarf varieties of great tasting tomatoes.  They are all open pollinated (aka modern heirlooms) which means you can save the seeds and replant next year and get the same exact tomato again.  Victory Seeds has tons:

https://www.victoryseeds.com/dwarf-tomato-project.html

Another favorite seed source of mine is Baker Creek.  They have all sorts of "weird" varieties from all over the world.  The catalog is huge and beautiful.....worth it to have just to flip through and dream.  https://www.rareseeds.com/

 

[ktmoomau]

3 hours ago, Bart said:

I feel just the opposite about blueberries.  Once you get them established they require very little care.  I have to cover mine in netting or the birds would get them all.

It's getting a little late, but you can still order and start tomato seeds.  Don't know if you've heard about the Dwarf Tomato Project (I thought it was mentioned in this thread, but I didn't see it on a very quick scan).  Anyhow, a bunch of hobbyists and growers have been breeding dwarf varieties of great tasting tomatoes.  They are all open pollinated (aka modern heirlooms) which means you can save the seeds and replant next year and get the same exact tomato again.  Victory Seeds has tons:

https://www.victoryseeds.com/dwarf-tomato-project.html

Another favorite seed source of mine is Baker Creek.  They have all sorts of "weird" varieties from all over the world.  The catalog is huge and beautiful.....worth it to have just to flip through and dream.  https://www.rareseeds.com/

 

Thanks for this, you did mention the project, but I couldn't see where you bought the seeds, thank you!

My husband will kill me if I start seeds indoors as we really don't have a good space for that.  BUT luckily I am starting some garden volunteer work, and I have a few friends who can start seeds and maybe I will see if I can use a little space!

[ktmoomau]

3 hours ago, Bart said:

I feel just the opposite about blueberries.  Once you get them established they require very little care.  I have to cover mine in netting or the birds would get them all.

I think my blueberry obsession stems from the fact we had bushes growing up and then my Aunt and Uncle had them.  Fresh blueberries for cereal, pancakes or when they were plentiful- pie was a good time.  Blueberries hold good memories for me.  I also used to enjoy when we would find potato plants growing in the compost.

[astrid]

Blueberry in pot in zone 8 means figuring out a winter storage solution and also she doesn't want netting, so definite bird and rodent concerns.  They don't get much leaf disease, but are vulnerable to spotted wing fruit flies after midsummer, finicky about drainage and moisture, and need soil acidity maintenance ( though pot culture is easier in that respect).  It also takes 2-4 years to really establish a productive plant structure and then you need to maintenance prune for production. it's easy compared to growing a fire blight magnet pear or a sweet cherry, but I think pretty daunting for a beginner.  If I wanted one in a pot, a dwarf southern high bush is probably the way to go, since they are more tolerant of nonacidic soil and better fit for the climate.

She specifically said she didn't want to start plants from seeds, so it has to be commercially available varieties and I haven't seen any DTP plant options yet.  The Patio series might work as they are also dwarf indeterminate with wider distribution.  I'd offer her my extra starts, but it sounds like she was happy with 1 Sungold.  I have used DTP seeds from Sample Seeds, Heritage Seed Market, and Victory Seeds (all of the owners are closely associated with the project).  They are all good vendors with true to name seeds.  HSM is probably the best option since they have some $1 sample packs available

Bear Creek is hit and miss for me.  The varieties are interesting but not well tested and I get enough off types and poor germination that I can't wholeheartedly recommend them.

[ktmoomau]

As an update:

On my patio (which gets less light) my boxes have kale, leaf lettuce and spinach coming up from the seed I planted.  Hubby set up a little irrigation system that works really well for watering.  It is smart and tracks the soil moisture and weather.  My herbs are going nuts, my parsley is happy as can be, I have been using lots of fresh parsley.  

On the balcony, tomatillo, hungarian and bell peppers have been planted and are doing well.  I am going to the Spring preview at Mount Vernon this weekend and am hoping to pick up a few things, if not I am sending Hubby to the Green Spring sale we used to go to.  We need to set up the irrigation system up there this weekend. So if anyone is looking for plants from heritage seed, Mount Vernon Garden sale this weekend.

I also repotted two of my orchids, their new home isn't as sunny as their old home, so I am going to move them up to the 4th floor which gets much more light and is hotter.  I won't see them as often, but they will like it better.