Thanks EG! It doesn't seem like a lot, but I figured why not try a little of the plants I REALLY like :-) As I said, the drip irrigation system worked really well and when I expand the garden next year, I plan on expanding that also. Although not as 'elegant' as the EB AWS or Raybo's, the water timer helps with the overflow since it only allows water to enter for about 15 mins 2 times per day. I thought about the nutrient leaching and so I did exactly what you suggested by placing the drip hose directly into the fill tube. The fertilizing...especially over the long-term, was problematic for me mostly because I really didn't think it through enough. The mix I add to the soil at the beginning of the season got the plants off to a great, sturdy start, but about half way through it, I knew I was in trouble. I'm thinking about burying a small, covered container at the same time I plant the veggies. Then about half way into the season, I'll push aside the large bulk mulch, remove the cover (which will be at ground level), place in a mixture of potting mix and another batch of fertilizer and then see what happens. I'm not sure it will work, but I much prefer adding the fertilizer to the soil rather than top-down watering. And since minerals are heavier than water, I don't think that a completely soluble fertilizer will give the plants all the extra nutrients they need as they head into their fruit production. The 'natural' fertilizer formula included in Ed Smith's book was a CRF so that may be all I need (in addition to the extra lime.) What do you think? Donna H.

Lisa Sorry, what I meant is that since zmat doesn't have clay soil, he/she doesn't need to worry about it. Clay drains very slowly. In areas with lots of moisture (rain or snow) it will sit in that 'clay bowl' for too long, keeping plant's roots wet for too long. It would act like a container without drainage hole. That's why I said that would be the worse solution... During winter, hardy plants do very well if under snow cover. But area like zmat has will heat up more on sunny days (even if it is quite cold otherwise) since there is a wall and also rocks & stones (creating a microclimate). I do not see that as a big problem at all, unless there is poor drainage: snow will melt while sunny, but water doesn't drain fast enough before it starts freezing again. This will kill many plants. Just the same as in containers with poor drainage. This is common problem with planting any perennials, trees, shrubs. If there is a 'bowl' - which ppl often create by digging a bigger hole in badly draining soil, then filling it with very good soil (compost, manure) - roots do not actually grow into surrounding soil, only into a 'good' soil. They end up filling this 'bowl' as they would a container, very often with roots circling. I have seen trees dying and when dug up, it was visible that roots didn't grow into native soil. (This is even worse if the root ball was very compacted and roots not spread). So it is best to add only very little or not any of 'good' soil and also mix it well with native soil, to encourage roots growing and spreading into native soil. Same problem happens if there is water filling that 'faux bowl' - either thaw&freeze cycle in winter, or roots sitting in a 'muck' after rains, for too long. They can't breathe and start dying. With clay soil, drainage is always problem. Adding lots of organic matter - I am talking about planting in ground - will help but needs to be done often to be of help (in a way, same as mixing lots of perlite with C&S soil - just a handful of perlite (or pumice or any gritty ingredient) will not improve drainage). If possible, planting on a slope would help a lot: grading the clay soil, than putting 'good' soil on top will provide drainage down the slope. In area with little moisture during the year, it may not be as much of a problem (?) - much less water accumulating, and there is no freeze. But any bowl - faux container created in ground or otherwise, should have drainage hole...I would not advice anyone to create a 'faux bowl' in ground, unless they want to grow bog plants.

I was always curious about medlar. Does it really taste like apple sauce when properly ripened? I will use my fruits fresh and juices, jams, and jellies mostly. All the plants are small now, but I hope i'll get good yields in the coming years. Rose hip makes delicious jam. I bought some rose hip jam from Croatia in the ethnic food section of my grocery store and it's amazing. I love rose hip jam on a english muffin with butter. MMM :) I have a big freezer so that helps. I like driving up to Michigan to pick grapes. Sometimes I get 10 5 gallon buckets full of delcious Niagara and Concord grapes for juice, fresh eating, and jelly. This year I might make wine as I've been researching it a lot lately.

How giant is giant? Do you know if there are any perennial fruits or vegetables? Raspberries are pretty obvious, but asparagus might pop up and surprise you. I agree with suppressing weeds. I'd suggest that you start by covering the vast majority of the garden with something--plastic, landscape fabric, newspaper, planters' paper, cardboard, something. This is assuming that there are no perennial fruits or vegetables growing; I'm not suggesting that you smother those. The idea is that this allows you to press the 'pause' button on most of the garden, so it won't slowly grow a weed jungle while you're getting your bearings. Ideally, this weed suppression covering will allow the rain to come through, especially if you're in an area that has summer droughts. So plastic, the cheapest and easiest option, isn't the best one. Another possibility, if you're working with a tiller, could be to till the whole thing and plant most of it with a green manure. (You can search for seeds/seed mixes for green manures.) But this means that you absolutely must get out there to till the green manure in at the right time. This is why I don't do this. (Well, plus I hate tillers. I don't disapprove of them, i just hate using them.) When the garden is 'paused', then I would suggest that you start with one modest-sized bit. In my garden, my bed size is 4' X 6', just because. That's a nice little bit of dirt to work--if the soil is reasonably moist but not too moist, I can get one bed weeded, forked (these days I use a broadfork, rather than a shovel, for bed preparation), amended, fertilized, and ready to plant in something between thirty minutes and three hours, depending the state of the soil and how many weeds there are. (Thirty minutes assumes that the bed is already in prime weed-free shape and just needs a little refreshing.) (If the soil is too dry, I generally have to presoak it several days ahead, but for me that's a summer strategy. If the soil is too wet, I either have to wait for a long enough gap betwen rains, or put a tarp down over a bed or three and, again, wait several days.) I'm babbling along at great length, aren't I? So. Put the garden on pause. Choose a nice little area not too much bigger than 4' X 6'. Buy a bag of organic fertilizer (for vegetables) and a bag of organic compost--you might end up having compost delivered by the truckload, but I'm suggesting a small-scale start. Dig or fork the area--there are probably any number of YouTube videos for that. Add fertilizer in the amount recommended by the bag, and add compost, and mix in. (I mix in with a smallish hula hoe, even though that's not what a hula hoe is for.). How much compost? When the soil is in decent shape, I add about two-thirds of cubic foot per 4' X 6' bed, per year. When the soil is bad, I might double that. Get some lettuce seed (or some lettuce seedlings, if you're entering shops in these nervous days) and some disease-resistant snap pea seed. Plant half the bed with each. Then prep the next bed. That's my starting advice.