Hi Momma S, welcome to California! I think you'd be fine starting carrots now from seeds. Broccoli... I don't know but I'm planning on waiting till summer to set them out for fall. I think it's possible it's too late for broccoli, but truthfully I don't know. Your local nursery will tell you. Don't know anything about onions or potatoes. It says you're in the Tri Valley area? I just discovered Sloats in Danville... they may be able to tell you about timing for your area. Green beans... go for it now... either seedlings or seeds. They're gonna love our heat. I think most lettuces will be fine right now, and wouldn't mind some afternoon shade. Once the really hot weather is here, I think you'd have a hard time unless you have good shade in your yard. So in my garden I have them in a few places, with the intention of switching them out with a bush bean or carrot in a couple months. For Harvest Supreme, BDobs I think said he got his at Navlet's but I could never ever find it there under that label. (There are lots of things that have similar ingredients that will LOOK the same as harvest supreme, including one called "Bumper Crop"... but trust me that there's something in the harvest supreme that is really really rich and works so well.) There's a navlets in Pleasant Hill and Martinez. The other place I know that does stock it is Berkeley Horticulture in Berkeley... might be a trek for you but well worth it. They also have lots of fun organic starts, lots of heirloom varieties and stuff geared towards the bay area climate. Also Orchard Nursery in Lafayette does NOT stock Harvest Supreme (they have bumper crop and a great Dr. Earth potting soil) but they have a great mix of seedlings and a lot of knowledge about growing in our climate out here. Sorry to hear your container gardening experience isn't working so well for you. Good luck with SFGing. -k

I have formerly lived on the Florida, Mississippi & Texas Gulf coats and I have been through 5 hurricanes in my lifetime, oneof which while working as a deck hand on a long ranging 95ft shrimp boat that was about 140 miles from the storm center so based upon my personal experience I am not afraid, but I am not a fool either........My car is gased up and packed with our camping gear so we get jet out of here on a moments notice and head 100 miles north. Many ppl seem to be under the illusion that this is not a dangerous storm because it is only a category 1 hurricane, but ppl, do not let that category number fool you. This is an extremely dangerous storm because it is tracking very slow. One cannot deny that a cat.5 storm that is pushing susstained winds of 160mph+ is extremely dangerous, but in most instances those storms tend to track rather quickly so you are only confronted with the peak winds for 4 to 6 hours and most ppl have the good sense to evacuate low areas but when we get a cat. or cat.2 storm ppl tend to take it lightly as if its no big deal. In the case of IRENE it is proving to be a very big deal because this storm is tracking very slow and has not yet made a landfall to convince ppl of how dangerous it is. At the pace this storm is tracking it could and probably will cause sustained winds in excess of 75 to 100mph for perhaps 12 hours or more. Also keep in mind that while that is the sustained wind, there are also gust that will exceed 120 to 150mph not to mention that this is an extremely broad storm and tornadoes are extremely common in the feeder bands on the edge of the storm. Also, from my experience, if you think there is even the remotest possibility that you may have to evacuate, DO IT NOW!!!! Once the mass exodus begins all the interstates and highways rapidly become parking lots. Do not wait till the last minute and end up stuck on the highway in a traffic jam.

nice, very boho. i do not usually do paint.

We replaced our French patio door with a slider last year (here 27 years) and we are sorry we didn't do it much sooner. It is much easier to operate since the french door was so heavy and it was a pain to open and close as compared to the slider which operates beautifully. We didn't replace it with a French styled slider, ours has minimal casing to open-up the view. It gives our room a lift.