I have a small (4 by 12 foot) veggie garden here in Huntington Beach. We're about a mile, mile and a half maybe, from the beach, as the crow flies. I feel ya when you talk about the June Gloom, but the last two mornings of sun have given me some hope! I put in two tomato plants in early March, an Early Girl and a San Diego. Both have now outgrown their cages (I should know better than to use those scrawny things, oh well!). The things were growing so much that I just couldn't keep them stuffed inside the cages, and I'm not a pruner, so really they're just sprawling now. They have many fruit set and have many more blossoms, although the San Diego has more than the Early Girl; I expected it to be the other way around. I suspect that the June Gloom has contributed to the bit of blossom drop I've had, but the plants are putting out so much new growth and new blossoms that I'm not worried about it. Now, I'm just waiting for some sunnier mornings to help that fruit ripen. I had sown some seeds of carrots and green onions when I planted the tomatoes, but those have been overrun by the toms. I also put in a bell pepper plant in early May, also overtaken now. I have a few stalks of corn as well (I hand-pollinate), which so far the tomatoes haven't reached. Oh, and my four little cucumber plants (2 Straight Eights, 2 Lemon) are struggling to get started next to the tomatoes, which I have cut back some to keep them out of the makeshift cucumber trellis. To tell the truth, I'd rather have the tomatoes, so I'm just pretty much letting them go where they want to! So far, I've avoided powdery mildew, which plagued me the first time I tried growing tomatoes here, so I'm happy! Had a few holes chewed in some leaves, probably by cabbage loopers or maybe hornworms, but so far the sparrows have kept that in check, and with so much foliage, I'm not too concerned. Haven't had to break out the BT yet, and I hope I don't have to! I agree Bejay, that I prefer this forum to the California one. California has SO MANY different zones, climates, and growing conditions that it just doesn't really help. You really have to clarify an adviser's location, as someone's experience with their gardens in, say, Riverside, San Francisco, or Bakersfield doesn't help me as much as someone's in coastal Orange County. While California does differ greatly from the rest of the US in that we have a long, if not never-ending, growing season in many areas, I think forums for each major zone would be more helpful to those of us living here!

Hi Packerfan, We are new to this, also in So Cal, and just posted our new pool build stats with some questions today; (North County San Diego pool + putting green). I'd love to see more pictures and any helpful websites you found in the process of building your beautiful pool! Nancy

That Jolly Gardner Fast Acting Lime sounds to me more like hydrated lime which is not an acceptable product for an organic lawn. Just plain ground limestone will do the same thing and maybe at less expense. Dolomitic limestone will have magnesium as well as calcium and would be a much better choice since you need both. Working any organic material into the soil, whether 2 inches deep or more, can bring up "weed" seeds and while that may incorporate the OM into the soil somewhat faster may not be necessary of there is an active Soil Food Web. What kind of life is in the soil now? Triple Super Phosphate is not an acceptable organic product. The numbers above, with the exception of soil pH, mean little without knowing if they are expressed as pounds per acre or parts per million, or something else. Do not seed and then spread compost, instead spread the compost and then seed. The best time to add soil amendments is in the fall so the Soil Food Web has time to work them and make the nutrients they contain available to the plants that will be growing there. Spring is not a good time since any nutrients put down then may not be available until late summer. Spending you money on something called humates is probably a major waste since adding adequate amounts of organic material to the soil will put the humates there. Some studies, a number of years ago, found that some products being sold as humates were in reality coal dust. Simply putting enough organic material on that soil may well provide all the nutrients necessary. Many of us found years ago that often spending our money on rock dusts was largely unnecessary and a waste of our money. kimmq is kimmsr

There are only three types of Redwoods: Coastal Redwood, Sequoia, Chinese Dawn Redwood. There is no "best" redwood, they all have advantages and disadvantages. Redwoods are beautiful trees, but they take up a lot of space to grow because of their roots. Redwoods can grow in Southern California but they require a lot of water or they'll turn brown and die. It only takes two years of neglect to kill them. Drought can also make them susceptible to insect infestation and disease, to which they may not recover and will eventually die, so even one year of neglect (not watering) can be fatal. One of the biggest issues is that they'll keep on growing and growing, and growing. In 20 years from now they may be far too big for a small yard, and can be very expensive to remove because of all the roots that have grown out near surface level. These roots can stretch out 20 feet, much more than that for large older trees, leading to issues. You have to really like redwoods and be prepared to deal with a lot of yard issues (or spend a lot of money) to have a redwood, unless you have a big yard. Oh, and be resigned to have a really tall tree. You can not, or should not, top a redwood to make it shorter. It would lead to safety hazard issues later, as the branches that will grow out of the top cut will be at risk of snapping off and falling as they grow too heavy.