Fruits and veggies?

[Subrosa]

Originally Posted by kvet

Dude. My parents have a few mulberry trees in their yard, holy crap they are delicious. We tried growing passion fruit as kids, but they never caught on for some reason, even though they should grow like weeds.

You should look into cherimoya.. they are are absolutely delicious, and I think might do well in your zone. I currently have a few I'm growing from seed, along with avocados and pineapples. The avocado and cherimoya are short-term houseplants with no expectations for fruits, and once they get too big I'll have to give them away; my HOA has "rules" on tree heights and my yard doesn't get enough sun. I plan to repot the pineapples in spring and move them outside, wish me luck for pineapples in 2021

I've been planning out my first "garden" in this new house, sadly I don't have much actual yard or sun. Apparently blueberries grow well in containers. They sell "low chill" varieties here in California, therefore as an experiment, I just planted a couple into self-watering pots. If they fruit, great! If not, hopefully they will survive and make a nice "privacy" barrier to my neighbor's kitchen window.

And lastly, in spring I'll plant veges in a variation of the double-bucket system: beans, calabrian chili peppers, cucumber, garlic, and tomatoes. Oh, I also picked up some alpine strawberry seeds (white and yellow), but I don't have high hopes, it may be borderline too warm where I live.

Seed investment is cheap, but the soil holy cow that stuff gets expensive!

If you want a fruit that produces well in the shade check out huckleberries. But not what's known as huckleberries on the west coast, Vaccinium ovatum. Check out members of the genus Gaylussacia, such as the box huckleberry G. brachycera, or the black huckleberry G. baccata. Boxes are a ground cover that won't even get 1' tall, and blacks get about 5' tall. They both spread out pretty nicely though.

[kvet]

DC: cherimoya fruit is similar in taste to soursop, if you've ever had that. Sometimes can be called custard apple. Some people are put off by the texture. I suggest you try one first

Compost bin - I've done a lot of research into it, and I'm not sure I'd be able to pull it off (I don't want to derail your topic here). Same research led me to vermicomposting, which I may considering giving a go.

I forgot to mention, I also have a pineapple guava (aka feijoa). I have a sentimental attachment to this fruit, having grown up with one in nearly every home, so I have to at least give it a try in the partial shade.

Subrosa: thanks for the recommendation, I'll take a look to see what they have at the nurseries, but a quick search shows the huckleberries top at zone 9; since I'm 10a coastal, it doesn't get quite as hot here as 10b, so maybe I could pull it off. Will see if I can even find it.

I also looked up vaccinium ovatum out of curiosity (zone 8 top end), and.. it looks exactly like the shrub in front of my house. Which is doing quite well, and even has berries on it.... don't worry, I won't try them.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by kvet

The avocado and cherimoya are short-term houseplants with no expectations for fruits, and once they get too big I'll have to give them away; my HOA has "rules" on tree heights and my yard doesn't get enough sun.

Avocados don't really need all that much sun. (Except for the very top, mine is really quite shaded and is very productive, the fruit is mostly in the shady parts) There are trees that are bred to stay container-size. If you can find one of those dwarf varieties that you can sneak past the HOA, a home-grown avocado is sooo much better than the store-bought ones that have had their ripening accelerated.

[kvet]

Originally Posted by Roberta

There are trees that are bred to stay container-size.

Cool, I'll keep that in mind and a look out for them. Half the avocados saplings grew from fruit gifted by a family acquaintance - you're right, home grown are so much better! All the seeds had sprouted in the fruit, so I couldn't just throw them out. Definitely no-ID

[Ray]

Up in PA, our yard contained nothing that could remotely be considered "soil", so I grew tomatoes in raised beds...for the deer. Later, it was strictly for herbs.

Down here, I don't have soil either, because I'm on a sandy barrier island, and my side was "reinforced" with dredging when they created the intracoastal waterway. It holds nutrients poorly, so regular feeding is a must. Herbs planted in the yard explode into growth. I planted a 6" pot of rosemary in the summer of 2017 and it's now a "bush" about 6' in diameter.

I have a couple of pineapple guavas as part of the landscaping - interesting fruit, but I don't know that I'm sold on them.

[SaraJean]

I struggle with stuff like this. Herbs in particular. They seem to do ok for me March through early June, but as soon as that humidity rolls in with the rainy season, poof... all gone. All I’m left with are pots of rotting, moldy mess and I’m back to spending too much money on herbs at the grocery store. Strawberries do ok as long as they are in a hanging basket (although strawberry season is depressingly short, maybe 2 or 3 weeks?) and my blueberries never really took off. I know that there are some more heat tolerant/mild winter blueberry strains, I just need to find some. One of my friends has a Dorset Gold Apple tree that does very well, even with the mildest of winters. One of these days I will move into a place with an actual yard and plant some huckleberry and mulberry bushes, those were always two of my favorites. I too am one of the a$$hats that can grow citrus A dwarf lemon and kaffir lime were the two first potted plants that I bought when I moved to New Orleans.

Raised beds seem to be a must for veggies down here along with some sort of afternoon shading. I’ve been able to grow cauliflower, broccoli, eggplant and snap peas in containers. My neighbor also just put a mirliton vine (yay!!!) along our balcony so I am really looking forward to that. Oh, and hot peppers. Sooooo easy in containers. I’m actually putting a few of those in my balcony baskets this upcoming year. Those seem to take off in the heat and are one of the few things that can thrive in the blasting sun. I’m going to be up to my ears in homemade hot sauce next year

There are few things better than growing your own stuff. Just wish I had more space to do it. That’s actually the only way I have been able to convince my strictly meat-and-potatoes husband to try a few different things, lol

[DirtyCoconuts]

Sara Jean - what a great write up.

Herbs are so hard, man! I can only keep rosemary and some basils but even the basil all “reach” eventually and start flowering until the plant bitters.

I love to grow peppers but I don’t eat them much so I have tapered back. One thing that’s cool/annoying depending on your tastes, pepper plants can make neighboring fruit and veggies become spicy! I used to have a container of basil and I put a scotch bonnet plant in the corner. About a year later that basil was hotter than most jalapeños! Lol

You should check the university of Florida dept of ag. - you are in almost the same zone and they have great breakdowns of almost every specie and how they do here or how to improve the area to give them a chance

[SaraJean]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

pepper plants can make neighboring fruit and veggies become spicy! I used to have a container of basil and I put a scotch bonnet plant in the corner. About a year later that basil was hotter than most jalapeños! Lol

And that is exactly why they are going in my balcony baskets this year!

I’m glad I’m not the only one who struggles with herbs. They grew like mad when I lived in California for a few years and I wanted to cry when moved to the south. I’ll definitely check out U of F ag for some more tips. I’ve been getting better at checking out LSU’s ag department for recommendations but it’s always god to have more info. The thing I struggled with the most was just figuring out WHEN to plant things. I grew up in northern Ohio and we always had little veggie and flower gardens. For some reason, I just assumed you started your seeds and did your planting around the same time- end of Spring. Nope, big mistake. I forgot that the “end” of spring for New Orleans is the dead of winter for Ohio. I wasted a lot of money on roses and veggies that year when I tried to plant them in late May Now if I’m getting a rose, those get planted in January and spring veggies go in the pots the first week of March, much better results with that, lol

[OrchidBro]

Living in a townhouse I don't really have much of a yard, just a little patch of earth about 6' x 18' that has bushes and a crape and myrtle tree. I had planted some pineapple in that patch but this year the HoA pressure washed the sidewalks with bleach water and it killed my pineapple (and my epidendrum radicans). I do grow mint, basil, thyme, oregano, cilantro, and parsley in some hanging baskets on my patio. My in laws who live just down the road grow pineapple (where I got mine from - and not the same pineapple you would buy in the stores), papaya, key limes, bananas, mangoes, and jackfruit.

[kvet]

Originally Posted by SaraJean

my blueberries never really took off. I know that there are some more heat tolerant/mild winter blueberry strains, I just need to find some.

I recently completed a lot of blueberry research, and am happy to share some of what I learned if you are interested. Although not in your neighborhood, here's a fairly comprehensive list which includes a number of low-chill varieties that might help you while keeping an eye out for them:
Dave Wilson Nursery

EDIT: I just recalled in my research I had come across some articles from LSU about growing blueberries, they listed several test varieties with their results. I'm not having luck finding the specific article, and it seems like you've already used them as a resource, so.. I'm sure you know what you are doing
/EDIT

I've had very little luck growing herbs outside here in southern california because they get infested with various bugs and spiders shortly after discovery. I have best luck growing the basic herbs indoors hydroponically.