Always glad to hear things working for folks, especially when I know it's been hard won...helps keep jealousy at bay. The Kids get SUCH a kick from fruit off the property don't they. Enjoy. I am convinced resident hawks(preferably with hungry chicks) are the solution to bird pressure, but I don't know how you can really get them other than luck. Netting would be the only other dependable choice. Although the blueberry farm down the road claims good success with 3 fold attack: mylar tape, recorded bird alarm calls, and the periodic propane cannon shots....it makes for a rather jarring pick your own experience, and wouldn't go over real well with close neighbors I suspect.

Fruitnut, don't be sure tunnels will be so perfect here in the humid northeast. There's an article in Goodfruit (mid-May) about cherries cracking under plastic just from water in the soil (seepage) in Michigan. The researcher who penned the article indicated that there are other complications as well and that success is reliant on more than just throwing up a hoop house. I think your idea is great, but like I keep saying, I'm addicted to the great out-doors. I hate the look of plastic and so far it seems if I select the right varieties and do a bit of extra spraying the fruit will be as good as I need it to be. A little fungicide is probably better for the environment than all that plastic. Still, I hope someone on this forum in my climate takes you up on your suggestion. It seems like the only way to go for organic production of nectarines here and I'd like someone else to do the pioneering for me.

This is my first year with an SFG also. I have 4 boxes, 3 with the 5 compost mix and one with a 2 compost mix. I'm thinking that the plants will decide. Most grow pretty well in plain old dirt, so anything better than that is an improvement. I have strawberries in the 2 compost mix box, and while it is early they are doing just fine. I plan on adding corn in that box as soon as it is warm enough (western Colorado). I'm interested to see if there is a difference in how my plants grow in the boxes and compare how the compost mixes do. I don't think you have to worry. Sunshine and water are just as important as the soil mix.

? ? ? ? ? I did not see any plant on the chart that bears 'all season' and don't see how I implied it in my post. The one that bears the longest on the entire chart is squash and it only bears for 3 months in her area according to the chart. What the chart does help with is figuring out what to plant and when so you can have a variety of things in your garden at all times. Even the chart isn't the answer to everything under the sun. As an example, my local ag. office says we can plant bush beans here from May 1 - Aug 15 in 2 week succession plantings with harvesting June 21 - Oct 15 (and even plant as early as April 1 using row covers). But if you look at the zone 7 chart (my area), it only shows planting May 15 - July 15 and harvesting July 1 - September 1. BUT, the chart is certainly better than nothing and I think the chart is a good start to figuring out what & when. Especially for a beginner like me who had no idea that broccoli should not be grown in the heat of July in my area. I am growing for immediate consumption, not for storing, so I also did not want gallons of bags of beans (or squash or tomatoes or whatever) ready at one time. I wanted a little bit of a bunch of different things ready each week. I did not want to have beans for dinner *every* night !! One thing I had to figure out was what was the recommended number of plants for 2 people to be able to consume the harvest. Also what plants are a once and done plant and what plants would be able to be harvested over a long period from one plant. For example, squash are harvested for a long period from one plant, but bush beans are for approx 2 weeks. Carrots, obviously, once you pull the carrot out, that plant is done ... no more producing carrots from that plant, LOL. So ... 1 or 2 squash plants might be enough for 2 people for the whole time squash produces. But 20-80 carrot plants (depending on how much you like carrots) split up into succession planting of 4-10 carrots every week from Feb 1 - Mar 1 would give you 4-10 carrots ready every week once they start producing, rather than 20-80 carrots all ready at one time. I also think 40sf is a good size. Our garden is 36sf (11 feet of that is trellised) and I have open squares that I am not using right now. But as soon as I am able to plant fall crops, I will have room to start them early without pulling a summer plant. Then as the summer plants are done I can start pulling them and planting more fall crops in those newly emptied squares to extend the harvest. The one thing I would like is a little more trellis for my summer plants (or I need to cut back on my tomatoes some!!). I would like to have some honeydew on the trellis and more cantaloupe, and maybe have moved my watermelon to the trellis(?). As it is now, my trellis is divided as follows ... each square is 1 plant per square except the cucumber ... 6 squares tomato (2 each of 3 kinds), 2 squares cantaloupe, 2 squares squash, 1 square cucumber (2 plants in 1 square). However, in the fall, the only thing I have planned that will be trellised is peas. I doubt I need 11 squares of peas !!! That being said, this is my first ever garden and I am very excited about it so far. I have read a lot on the internet, but I am not an expert ... I haven't even eaten my first veggie yet !!