Each time I go to the supermarket and see the rising prices, I want to add more food plants to my garden. This week, I’m thinking I need a blueberry patch.

Blueberries are native plants and were harvested by American Indians, who used them fresh and in many of the same ways we do today: to make pudding, cakes and breads. Not only do they taste great, they are good for us. And — if the soil is acidic — they are easy to grow.

I e-mailed Dr. Marvin Pritts, a professor at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in Ithaca, and asked him some questions about what it takes to grow blueberries.

Here’s what he e-mailed back.

Q: If you had an area about 50 by 50 feet with a pH around 4.8, how many plants could you grow?

A: In a 50-by-50-foot area, you could reasonable plant about 50 plants.

Q: What blueberry varieties would you choose and why?

A: Bluecrop is the most widely adapted of the blueberries. So I would go with this one as the major variety. However, berries are larger when there is a mixture of varieties — so including some others would help. My favorites for flavor are Herbert, Darrow and Coville.

Q: What could be expected in terms of pests?

A: Probably very few pests, other than weeds, and a good layer of sawdust or wood chip mulch under the plants will really help.

Q: What are the nutritional requirements for healthy plants?

A: Blueberries evolved in acidic soils where fertility is usually quite low.

Most nutrient problems in blueberries can be avoided by simply maintaining the soil pH between 4.0 and 5.0. Sulfur is the material of choice for acidifying soil, with the amount dependent on texture and current pH.

Q: How much work is involved in pruning?

A: Pruning them all [50 plants] will take a Saturday, but only when the plants are mature.

Q: How many berries can you expect from a bush?

A: When they are mature, you could reasonably expect at least 4 to 5 pounds per plant.

My parents have a patch about this size, and they diligently keep track of the amount they harvest. For the past several years, it’s been around 300 quarts.

Q: Is it true of all varieties that it takes 8 to 12 years to reach full production?

A: Yes — although you get fruit beginning in about the third year. Production just keeps increasing as the plants grow.

So the third year you have enough for cereal, the fourth year enough for pancakes and pies, too; then the fifth year you freeze some; the sixth year you can give some to the neighbors, then by the eighth year you may need to ask for help to pick them all.

Q: Is there a good Web site with more information for people interested in growing blueberries?

A: Here’s a Web site: http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/Berries/blueberry.html

Happy gardening.