Hayward here (though now we're retired we spend a lot of time in Baja - no veggies there - just cactus!) First year garden at this location. I was late getting started because I had to till, bring in soil amendments, till, bring in sand and till some more - still not totally happy with the soil, but ran out of patience. First seedlings didn't get planted out until May 10th - but I ate my first squash yesterday (had to borrow a male flower from my neighbor to pollinate it)and will have bush beans and beet tops within a week. Tomatoes (17 varieties, 22 plants)are full of blossoms and seem to be setting fruit, as are the various cukes, peppers and eggplants. Snap peas are flowering, as are the potatoes (will pinch them off tomorrow), green onions are over a foot tall and Elephant garlic is similar. Have various lettuces growing in a Flowerhouse Seedhouse, along with some Chinese Cabbage. Multiple melons, mostly musk type, went in the ground today. Gonna try to train the little devils to climb - the cukes caught on quite quickly. Winter squash (Dumpling, Delicata, Spaghetti & Butternut) goes in tomorrow. So far the only 'dud' was the English Peas, they went in right before the 3 day heatwave last month and got crisped - got about 3 peas off each vine and they never got above 6 inches tall. Of course, since then we have had no heat at all and cold winds every day (which is why the melons only just graduated from the Seedhouse). From here on, it's just a daily battle between me and the multitude of bugs that want to beat me to the harvest and I am determined they will not win!

I second the Muir Woods suggestion; it's relatively close to SF and there are finally some decent places to eat in Larkspur, Tiburon and San Rafael. If you must eat Chinese food in SF, you are better off eating in the Richmond or Sunset neighborhoods, where enormous #s of Asians live (we did, for 17 yrs before moving across to the East Bay). For dim sum, Koi Palace in Daly City or Hong Kong Flower Lounge in San Mateo are cheaper and almost as good as the iconic Yank Sing, which has two locations, both OUTSIDE Chinatown: 101 Spear St. (Embarcadero) and 49 Stevenson (alley in the Financial District). Whatever you do or wherever you stay, try NOT to drive downtown! Take public transit instead. Parking is impossibly difficult; meters are now graduated rates according to time of day and accessibility. San Francisco is the pilot program for the Dept. of Transportation's new program to discourage urban drivers. Meter rates can vary from 50 cents to as high as $10/hr for the same parking space, depending on computerized availability during day and evening. Frankly, the best food in SF can be found in the smaller new bistros, such as Rich Table, State Bird Provisions, Quince/Cotogna, Benu, etc. Although if I were dining with an out-of-town foodie, I would pick Aziza, whose fusion cuisine has wandered far from its original Moroccan roots without disdaining them. Mourad Lahlou and his pastry chef Melissa Chou are both utterly brilliant, creative, and inspired. No other restaurant in Northern CA does the kind of cuisine Lahlou does. It is literally one-of-a-kind" -- never less than very good, and much of it 5-star greatness. Monterey/Carmel is a great area but there are not a lot of big public gardens. Carmel-by-the-sea has lovely courtyard gardens of beautiful container plantings hidden between buildings - check out the back courtyard of Anton & Michel's restaurant (but don't eat there, it's awful) for one of the prettiest, complete with splashing pool. Starting May 1st (tourist season officially begins) is the small-scale Secret Gardens of Old Monterey, which I linked below. Do try to reserve a tour at Tor House in Carmel, too - the little English garden is quite pretty, the setting absolutely superb, looking out over the Pacific. Website is http://www.torhouse.org/. Most people do the 17 mile drive, but don't realize that there's a coastal trail you can walk (weekdays are much less crowded than weekends!) leading to and from Asilomar State Beach, in Pacific Grove. You can actually start at the Monterey Bay Aquarium but I always find it very crowded with both tourists and locals. Almost everybody drops away after Lover's Point, where it's a level stretch to Asilomar Beach, walking along the Pacific's edge - absolutely gorgeous on a nice day! Here is a link that might be useful: May 1st: Secret Gardens of Monterey

viper75, I see you are doing avocados in Livermore. Those hardier Mexican varieties should easily survive your winters, as some of your other fruit trees and shrubs are not even that hardy. Mexicola tolerates at least 20f, which is like a once in a lifetime cold snap. The bigger challenge is the soil and heat. Also, if your cherries are not prolific, then that's a good sign that you microclimate isn't getting a ton of chill hours, which would bode well for the avos. When I was growing up in Walnut Creek, we had tons of cherries and stone fruit, benefiting somewhat from a dry creek bed behind our property that would funnel in cold air in the winter. After my parents moved to a property less than a mile away with some elevation, they had almost no frost anymore, and the stone fruit and cherries don't produce like they did at the other property. However, they can grow more tender things much better. Sounds like you might be in a similar spot which is probably pretty good all-around for a lot of different types of plants. Would love to see some pictures of your subtropical fruit trees.

GREAT! your photos convince me that you don't need grass. i have a small plot of land like you; and I need to work on filling it out!! Keep the photos coming...here in MN; we are looking at SNOW again tonight. the tulips are saying - "we came out for this!!?"