Mary: Don't worry about the rototilling, concrete, or any disease issues either soil or airborne between veggies and fruit trees. The road salt might be a problem but probably not. So that leaves spacing which can be pretty close. With proper pruning you can hold a peach pretty small. Apples are even easier on M9 or M26 rootstock. I've grown both peaches and apples in 15 gallon pots. So even if you prune a lot of roots with the rototiller, you will still have 10 to 100 times more soil volume. The Fruitnut

Thanks, Mindy.

I put a free sign out by the street. Most goes that way. I also donate to the food shelf. I just got myself a freeze dryer so that I can store food without taking freezer or canning space. I planted about 60 crowns of asparagus a few years back, so I'm expecting a huge harvest season soon. I've heard that it freeze dries well, and when reconstituted, tastes as good as fresh. I'm eager to try it! I also have over 50 kinds of fruit growing on the property, so it will be nice to have that freeze dried for consumption through the winter. I have about 50 blueberry bushes alone...I had no idea how many blueberries that would translate to, so I invite friends to come pick. It's great because I see people I wouldn't necessarily otherwise see and they are thrilled to go home with gallons of blueberries for free. I'm thrilled because I didn't have to pick them all, and I get to see friends and catch up. We also have a town-wide community forum where people post things like lost cats, furniture for sale...whatever. When I become inundated with too much produce, I plan to post free/inexpensive offerings. I finally divided my rhubarb plant and made 14 more; I'm assuming that will be one of the things I'll have plenty to give away! I've got tons of herbs, too. How much sage can one person use?!

I have a Darlow's Enigma in mostly shade under various neighbors' trees and it thrives there. It has been a regular bloomer under those conditions and needs absolutely no care beyond carefully reaching in to prune out the small canes it sheds from time to time. If Compassion is happy, Darlow's Enigma should have no trouble. It is happy to grow toward the light and can be either a massive standalone bush or a large bush that sends some canes along a climbing structure. It's not really a climber in the sense of Compassion so don't expect it to climb an arch or something like that. Just don't plant it somewhere that you're going to be walking a lot. Its thorns are legendary and vicious with barbs on every conceivable part of the plant. It's rock solid hardy and disease free as far as I can tell from a safe distance :) The only issue about planting this time of year is getting it enough water to establish well, particularly given root competition from the maple tree. If you can get it regular water it may be fine to plant. Potting it up for a few weeks to acclimate to your climate is always a good thing and by the end of August hopefully the heat will decrease and water be more regular in rain. Cynthia