I think it's a good idea, but there is some trade off As the tree grows, the vegetables will lose productivity as the tree takes up more light, and the plants will also be competing for resources in the soil. However, even if you are sacrificing some productivity from each individual plant, the total productivity from that area will be greater if you interplant, and the production will be more varied besides. I have a single Tam Kam asian persimmon, and it's still pretty small, so I can't say just how dense the shade will be in several years, but as of now, there's plenty of sun there to grow other plants. It's especially workable if you stick to cool weather vegetables, like lettuce and broccoli. I wouldn't expect to grow prize winning pumpkins or a bumper crop of tomatoes there. I'm in Eastern Pennsylvania, zone 6, so our climates are probably similar. Looking at my garden today, the buds are just swelling on the persimmon, but the chives are over a foot tall, and the volunteer miner's lettuce, which is great in salads, is already flowering. I have Good King Henry, a perennial leafy green for cooking, growing around the persimmon, and it already has a lot of growth too. Sorrel also does well in less than full sun, and is especially good in the spring. Just this spring I've planted ramps, which are another onion family plant with edible leaves and bulbs. They are a spring ephemeral, meaning they leaf out bloom, and the leaves die back before summer, like a daffodil does. Their natural habitat is under deciduous trees. If your priority is to grow the persimmon, absolutely underplant with vegetables. Even if they don't grow gangbusters, you'll get more veggies than if you don't underplant. If your priority is to grow heat and sun loving veggies in that spot, and you have no other place to grow them, then your decision is harder. I'd recommend reading about "forest gardening" for more ideas on this. The book "Edible Forest Gardens" by Dave Jacke is really good, and was written specifically for the Northeastern gardener.

I just moved to Tujunga/Sunland, close to you San Fernando folks. Currently, we have about 2 Japanese sweet potato vines, the tubers should be about ready to harvest. Just planted some mizuna, daikon and napa cabbage, along with other salad greens. In florida, I grew red shiso (perilla), malabar spinach (basella alba) and asian winged bean. The malabar spinach and shiso should do OK in this climate, but not sure about the asian winged bean, as I am up in the foothills and we get frosts up here. Would be happy to trade malabar spinach or winged bean seeds for other asian vegetables. If I get the shiso established, then I can trade those seeds too.

Reneesarah, I understand your situation completely. I'm new to SFG myself, so I started from scratch like you. I know when I first found out that a 6 inch board wasn't 6 inches, it was confusing. I actually built my beds from scratch with 3 2x6s high, or 16.5 inches high if I did the math right. For just over 130 SF of raised beds, the materials cost me almost $1,000 and I JUST put Mel's Mix in all the beds (6.5 c. yards worth), which I got a screaming deal on at $370ish, not including the sweat equity of mixing 6.5 yards of material and getting it to the beds. I had to really call around the Seattle area to find Steuber Distributing that had vermiculite and peat moss cheap. My local nursery wanted $28 a 3.5 c. ft. bag for vermiculite. I got it for $14.50 for 4 c. ft. If you want to see pics and read the whole story the link's below. Newgardenelf, I too had very skeptical help. My brother said he thought Mel's Mix would be good for seedlings but not for mature plants and was concerned that peat moss and vermiculite added nothing to the soil. Oh and they both do the same job to retain water and help drainage. I also heard the $500 tomato comment. If only I could convince him to read the book. hehe. And I have to agree, I hadn't thought about it, but it would be worth all this and more just for the enjoyment my kids get from it all, not to mention the fresh veggies we're all looking forward to. Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's gardening adventure

Well said justaguy2. I suggest not screwing and unscrewing if you don't have to. You'll increase longevity if you just leave as is. The frame won't be that heavy at all. As for holes, not sure, maybe someone will have a suggestion. Off the top of my head I'd say an ice pick or something that wouldn't turn into a "rip" if that would even happen, maybe Xs would be fine with a knife. If you do line with no bottom, consider corner drainage instead of directly in the bottom center area. Maybe you could even build the box, line the box, fill with soil, and then drill some holes in the sides along the bottom. Just an idea... Sounds like all you need to do is get started!