"In my experience, many Romano varieties, even bush varieties, do not do well in high heat." If you are referring to many of the modern flat-podded types as "romanos", I would tend to agree. But some of the older heirloom types are adapted to Mediterranean climate, which is very similar to SoCal. I have two heirloom Romano-types that have proven to do well in my Midwest mid-summer heat, when most snaps will not set pods - "Garafal Oro" and "Champagne". "Garafal Oro" is highly disease-resistant, so it will also weather the "June gloom" well. "Champagne" continued to set pods in huge numbers even during a 90-degree heat spell. Either would, I believe, do well in SoCal. If you would like to try either of these, Greenwitch, PM your address to me through my Member Page, I'll send some out to you. By the way, I never commented on your choice of "Fortex". It is highly disease-resistant, and also cool-soil tolerant, so you can plant it earlier than most. It is also one of the best for quality, either eaten fresh, or frozen (it's really good raw). "Fortex" is one of my all-time personal favorites. But "Fortex" does have one drawback... it's highly sensitive to wind bruising. If you tend to get strong winds in your location, you might want to shelter it from the wind for best results, either by planting it behind a structure, or shielding it with other tall crops (which is what I do). If left unprotected, the very long pods can twist & bruise severely, and there will be periods where the quality will be very poor. I once saw this twisting portrayed on a SoCal farm website as a "virus"... but it is caused by wind bruising. If you are interested in dry beans, you might look into tepary beans, which are a bean species well adapted to the Southwest. They require much less water than other beans. Native Seeds/SEARCH has a good selection; I have provided a link below. They have many other beans (common & lima as well) that are well adapted to low-desert conditions. Here is a link that might be useful: Tepary beans

Hi BlueKitObsessed! We are going with a fabricator in Vta (805 area code). We will be demo'ing in about 2-3 weeks, so don't have the granite installed yet. Our sleepy town now has a brand new showroom (West Coast Marble & Granite 805-384-2700 or 818-765-8921). His work looks a cut above several others we have researched in the area. He also has a granite yard, showroom, and factory in the Sun Valley area. Been in the business for 15 years. BTW do you have pictures of your granite in another thread? Would love to see it.

To all Southern California members, please recommend an authorized fabricator and/or installer of Caesarstone. Also, if anyone has the white ash color, I would love to hear from you. thanks!!

I've known Andy Graves at Olive Mill for many years. When his son was in elementary school, I mailed him a postcard for a school assignment. They do good work.