We grow melons (not watermelons) down here in an even cooler zone. Here's what it takes: 1. choose early ripening varieties developed to grow well in difficult cool weather areas (northern, coastal, or mountain) Â less than 75 days (which will usually turn out to 100+). e.g.: Ambrosia, Earlidew, Earliqueen, Early Hanover, Earlygold, Fastbreak, Flyer, Galia, Haogen, Jenny Lind, Minnesota Midget, Sweet 'n Early, Tropical Passport 2. 4-6 weeks prior to planting in the garden, put down clear (not black) polyethylene over the bed. 3. Use raised or mounded beds and lay drip irrigation lines or soaker hoses down the center of the beds. 4. Start seeds indoors in 2- to 4-inch peat pots in May and 5. Plant 3 seeds to each pot and when they have emerged, thin to the strongest seedling in each pot. Transplant the seedlings when they have two or three true leaves. 6. Keep the seedling plants growing vigorously; do not stress them (put them into "checked growth"). 7. Remove the clear plastic just before planting and replace black plastic sheeting. 8. Cut slits in the plastic 18 inches apart down the center of the beds and plant the seeds or seedlings. Make holes large enough so the young melons can be planted pots and all. 9. Remove the "lips" of the peat pots -- the rims that protrude above the soil surface. Cover the beds with floating row covers. Or cover with individual cloches or polyethylene tunnels Remove any covers as soon as daytime temperatures average 70 degrees. Also, remove the row covers when the plants begin to flower -- to permit pollination. Once the first fruit ripens, stop all watering. Be prepared to do some hand pollination. In cool climates, bees aren't necessarily as busy as they should be. Try this method with short-season watermelons. Joe

i live on the side of mt davidson a mile from west portal so that's my micro climate area usually foggy after 4th of july,i grow peapods kale collards garlic potatoes beets and bush beans if i can keep them warm, zuchinni, tomatoes only by trial and error, last year was a disaster, all the plants rotted with small green tomatoes on them , was it blight or just too foggy, don't know. this year i have the tomato plants covered with agri cloth, this is the first time trying the agricloth maybe it will keep it warmer. i also start my tomato plants from seeds. i just save the seeds from a good farmers market tomatoes and plant them the following year for bees and hummingbirds, i have fushias and lavender plants, to help pollinate 2 apple trees, also have meyers lemon tree, a lime tree in a pot and bay laurel in a pot. city college has two plant sales a year and i got the bay laurel there great to have fresh bay leaves for cooking. i have herbs too fresh oregano, thyme, french tarragon, flat leaf parsley and trying to get cilantro seeds to germinate. also scallions. i hope this gives you some ideas of what you can grow here in SF. good luck on the tomatoes this year. and now we finally have rain,

Well, Kathy you sure know how to plunk then :) I plunked a bunch of daylilies in last year and the heat got to some, I had to dig up and pot up to save them. Then there are the ones that just haven't put on much of a show for me but the one daylily that really showed it's pretty self was the one I plunked off to the side of the yard were it's not seen DUH. It's getting moved to the front bed this fall or sooner if the weather stays cool... You getting rain and cooling off down there? Wish we'd get some rain. It's neat to see the Rose of Sharon in your garden and doing so well. I lost part of one of the rose of sharons due to the high winds we had, it broke off half of it. I noticed today new sprouts from the root.. yeah.

Thanks, Chris and Ralph. Ralph- those are great and helpful pictures at your website. Do you have any of the pre-gunite stage? Chris, thanks for letting me know about your equipment. I'm doing OB so that I can afford the most state of the art equipment, though, like a variable speed pump. So, that being said, why did you choose the intelliflo? Any equipment recommendations you, Ralph or anyone else can make will be greatly appreciated. Regards, Deg