Welcome Mastiff Mom

I would start with containers this year while you work on a good garden spot for next year. Watch for new landscapes going in and they will likely give your nursery pots as they empty them. They aren't pretty, but might get you through your first year while you prepare your garden.

Welcome Mastiff Mom!

If you're looking to incorporate edible plants into the landscaping around your house, I think blueberries would be a great choice. They'd fit in great with hollies or azaleas since they all prefer acidic soil, and now would be a great time to start amending soil before planting them in the fall or next spring. The variety I have is Berkeley (I plan to add several more next year), and I love it. The red fall color is especially attractive, and as blueberries go it's pretty tolerant of less than ideal conditions.

Good luck with your gardening! I'm curious to see how it all comes together.

Soonergrandmom, I am definitely interested in containers and will probably give a few a shot. Do you know if there are any particular tomatoes that do well in containers?

Miraje, thanks for the blueberry suggestion! I was thinking of buying a few bushes, so I appreciate the Berkeley recommendation. How large were your plants when you bought them, and how long did it take for them to produce?

Thanks so much!

~ MM

Mine came in a three gallon container from Lowes, so it was pretty good size already when I bought it. I think you might be able to get them cheaper as small bare-root plants if you want several. It actually started producing within a few months of being transplanted. I guess I was probably supposed to pinch off those first year blooms to allow it to get better established, but I didn't. I think it's on its third or fourth year in the ground here, and last spring was probably our best berry yield yet. I'd probably get even more fruit if I did a better job of pruning it.

My plan is to buy several different varieties that ripen at different points in the season so that we have a more continuous supply of fruit. I've read that they produce more when they can cross-pollinate with other varieties, too.

Mastiff Mom, Dawn recently answered my question concerning tomatoes for containers under the thread Too Eager. She recommended several varieties and gave sources. And welcome to the forum...and to Oklahoma. I take it you've moved here from another state?

I will go read the Too Eager thread. It's been a couple of months (due to the holidays) since I've visited here, so I have a little bit of catching up to do. Thank you for the direction, MulberryKnob.

We've actually lived in OK our whole lives; I reread my post, and it does sort of sound like we just moved here. We've always lived on the south side of OKC and just recently moved much further (to me) north. I feel like I'm still new to this whole adulthood thing, but now with two little kids, a house, a dog, and maybe a garden, I'm feeling more and more domesticated. Haha

~ MM

I agree with the Berkeley recommendation for blueberries here. I think it is my prettiest and has done well every single year. I don't see many of them for sale here, but if you can find them in containers you have a better chance of them thriving and producing earlier. If anyone sees Berkeleys at the retailers this spring let us know.

I assume you can probably order them online/mail order, but they would be more convenient to just pick up somewhere. I am definitely interested, so I will echo scott's request for anyone to let us know if they see some!

Also glad to hear it's pretty, as I'm thinking of using it in my normal flower garden areas, maybe...

Hello and welcome, Mastiff Mom.

Since you're interested in blueberries, I am going to link the OSU document on growing blueberries for you. Just click on the link to see it. Blueberries have very specific soil pH and drainage requirements, and need close attention to the water needs during periods of drought.

As far as edible landscaping, the acknowledged expert in the field is Rosalind Creasy and her most recent book on edible landscaping was published in 2010 and it is my favorite of all her books.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Blueberry Production For The Home Garden

Excellent, thank you, Dawn! I knew blueberries were picky about their soil requirements. I feel somewhat fortunate in that none of my landscaping is done, and I basically have a blank slate, so I can start from scratch. I have a good landscaper helping me, and she and I are on the same page about edibles.

I will definitely check out this book - I *love* to read, so if you have more recommendations, keep 'em coming. I've been going through Jerry Baker's books which I've found interesting and informative.

Thanks again!

You're welcome.

Sometime in the next couple of days we need to start a list of favorite gardening books. We do that just about every winter/spring and it helps us discover books others are reading that we haven't found yet.

Because I think Ms. Creasy's latest book is so wonderful, I'll link it below. Normally I link her website, but the last time I tried, it was having security issues and my computer kept blocking me from going to it, so I'll just link the book instead.

I have dozens of gardening books here on a bookshelf in the guestroom, but only a handful get to sit on my nightstand all the time, and this is one of them.

Dawn

The guy at the used book store told me Jerry Baker's books were some of his most requested. Well, I fell for it and bought a couple. It took me about 20 minutes to stick those away, never to be resurrected again.

I have about a half dozen that I read a lot and at the top of the list would be anything by Eliot Coleman. I'll have to pull out the rest and list them later.

MM,

Lowe's offers good size blueberry plants each year but the variety seems to change every time. Must be a case of whatever they got the best bulk deal on scenario. The good news is that they are reasonably priced compared to ordering online and they guarantee their perennial plants for 1 year from purchase (so save your receipt). It's a good way to get your feet wet growing BB's.

I consider myself one step above my previous "wet behind the ears" gardener status but blueberries have proven to be my undoing. I've tried three different rounds of plants without success. Am I giving up yet? No, I'm more stubborn than smart apparently. I keep trying different things each round hoping to stumble on the 'magic' formula. If you figure it out.... please end my suffering!

I think we've unofficially voted Scott as the resident expert of all things blueberry in Oklahoma (sort of the E.F. Hutton scenario.... did I just date myself?!?). He's had great success with a large crop of bushes.

Good luck and welcome to the forum!

Is $6.50 a gallon a good price for a blueberry bush?

MastiffMom - HIYA and glad you're joining us! Wow- a totally barren canvas on which to plant???? I'm "green" with envy! But please BEWARE of planting ANY bermuda sod where you think you might EVEN want to grow something else in the future. Bermuda is EVIL!!! Also, happy to hear of another former "south-sider"! I'm originally from the 89th & S. Penn area but transplanted to the back-woods of rural NE Norman. Man....I sure miss the convenience of the stores sometimes...until I walk outside at night and I can see ALL the stars.

At Scott's recommendation (a couple of years ago), I purchased BlueRay blueberries. You'll just have to research what does best in your soil to find what would do best up in your area. I have six bushes and this year (the 3rd in my soil) I was able to pick a full 2 cups of berries!!! Some were eaten before the measurable amount by deer...and by a few 2-legged critters known as me & g-kids. They take time..and patience...and water...and pecan hull mulch, but are well worth it.

Seedmama - I paid less than $5 per 2 gal container for mine. I got them at an end-of-season close-out at Lowes (again, that was 2 or 3 years ago). But that might mean more time in monitoring the price than you want to spend so if that's the case, go for it. What kind are the ones you found? I also found that Mason's in Norman off of Hwy 9 is the best place to get pecan mulch for them.

yikes...maybe I should have posted this on the new blueberry thread but I wanted to welcome MM.

Paula

Paula,

I'm using my farm account to talk to wholesalers about a volume purchase. That was the first nibble. They would be straight from the grower, any of 12 varieties. Still shopping.

I said I'd link Rosalind Creasy's book and thought I did it, but it isn't there, so I'll try again.

I am not a Jerry Baker fan either. I bought one book or his, started to read it and then tossed it. Eliot Coleman's books are at the top of my list too, and I got a new veggie book last year that I thought was wonderful and it is the book I wish I'd had years ago....not that I can think of the title of it now, but I'll dig it out of the pile of garden books on my nightstand later today and post its title.

Seedmama, When I see blueberry plants at Lowe's in late winter, I think they usually are about $9.99.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Rosalind Creasy's Edible Landscaping Book

The plants I purchased at Lowe's were 1 year old plants (I called the grower in eastern OK to verify their age) growing in 1 gallon containers. Their original price was $8 per plant but I purchased mine later in the season when they were marked down to two plants for $8.

I picked up Rosalind Creasy's Edible Landscaping and Herbs books at my library yesterday, along with one about container veggies. I am thoroughly enjoying the landscaping book in particular and have already had a couple of eureka! moments. Thanks so much for the suggestions!

Paula, we lived over by Southmoore HS, and I went to OU, so I know the area of Norman you mean. I love Norman!

I'm going now to read the blueberry thread. :)

~ MM

The Veggie book I bought last year and which I really, really like is from the Creative Homeowner line, and is called "Homegrown Vegetables, Fruits and Herbs". Its author is Jim Wilson (of Victory Garden South fame) and his photographer and cohort is Walter Chandoha. Between them they have over 100 years of gardening experience and came out of retirement to write this book. I love it, love it, love it. It is the most thorough and well-written book on veggie, fruit and herb gardening to come out in years.

I've linked it below.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Homegrown Vegetables, Fruits and Herbs....

Dawn, I got that book from the Library last year and loved it too. Thought it was the easiest to use of the dozens of books I'd borrowed and perused.

Mastiffmom - welcome! Until last year, the only veggie gardening I did was interspersed in my perennial borders - a tomato plant or three, a bell pepper plant or two, some rosemary, a few pots of herbs (I didn't do well at potted herbs, I don't know why). We may end up doing something similar this year as we just moved a few weeks ago and left my great big, new veggie plot behind. I don't want to do potted tomatoes or peppers as with last summer's scorching heat, I've heard they were nearly impossible to keep irrigated in pots. So interplanting into existing perennial borders might be my solution until we can dig a big garden.

There are also existing fruit trees and many unknown plants in my new landscape, including either blueberry or blackberry plants, can't remember what the seller told me, so I'll be posting pics and asking questions of the group soon! The forum is great for help, advice and support - you will love it here!