Sergey, Sorry for being so late with this post. The roses having been my focus so far; now I am turning to my fruit trees (It's pruning time!) Anyhow, I live in Santa Monica, about twenty blocks in from the ocean and have been growing peaches, apricots, figs, loquats, guavas, most of the citrus, blueberries, boysenberries and frais des bois for twenty years. Dave Wilson, as others have mentioned, is the single best resource both for trees and information. Armstrong's Nurseries carry their plants and will order anything they don't have on stock, but so will many of the smaller independent nurseries. I am also partial to Pacific Tree Farms down in Chula Vista and in addition have bought the odd tree at the Santa Monica Farmers Market, the Huntington Library Spring Sale and the Papaya Leaf Nursery out in Grenada Hills. Again, as others have suggested, the key is to plant trees with the right chill-hour needs for our area. The trees I planted twenty years ago, when there just weren't that many low-chill varieties around have been supplanted by varieties that sound much better to me. Mid-pride grows an enormous number of peaches which tend to ripen all in one week at the beginning of July each year. Some years they taste great, other years just bleh. I did use a weekly foliar spray of kelp this year and had a bonanza year of good tasting fruit on every plant. If you are starting from scratch I would seriously recommend Dave Wilson's suggestion to plant four different varieties in one hole to spread out your harvest time. All the details are on his website. About six years ago I put in a Goldkist apricot, which again I believe has been supplanted by better varieties (I have my eye on that Joe's Italian and also the white apricot being discussed on some stone fruit forums) but since it took forever for my apricot to bear (it doesn't get a lot of sun) I am reluctant to pull it. You will discover that on the coast that while we are certainly warmer than Russia, we don't get as much heat as some low-chill varieties need for good ripening. A lychee I bougth in Grenada Hills with fruit, refuses to bear down here. So talking to people in your area that have fruit trees is wise. If you find a club, I would love to know about it. I have been gardening solo since I left Hollywood and its wonderful community garden twenty-one years ago. But hey, you're in California now! Don't ignore the satsuma tangerines, the Meyer lemons, the figs and other trees you couldn't grow in Russia. And persimmons! I am trying to find room for one (or three) now. Good luck. Write back if you need more specific info. PS I am all organic if that matters to you.

Safaribabe, There's nothing wrong with wanting some quick advice. I've been on forums before where I just wanted some quick answers without investing a lot of time. We all have busy lives and different hobbies. I'm not from CA, and have no desire to go there (even to see the Safari babes) but I'll do my best to offer a few recommendations. Obviously, I'll defer to recommendations from a fruit growers who have actually lived there. For sweet apples, I recommend Fuji and Mutsu. I like Pink Lady as a sweet/tart. The above ripen later in the year. They are all susc. to the major apple diseases, but I doubt you have too much problem with that in CA. For Apricots, a lot of CA growers rave about Royal Blenheim. It probably blooms pretty early though. For a later blooming cot, try Harglow. Tomcot is also praised as an apricot that gives a more reliable crop, due to a long bloom period. Peaches. Most any should do well for you. Some that have ranked high in Dave Wilson taste tests include: O'Henry, Indian Free, Harken, Loring. Harken ripens midseason, around Redhaven. Loring a couple weeks later. O'Henry and Indian Free are very late season peaches. Fruitnut is really the one who needs to give you specific advice. He's lived out there and does a lot of container growing. He should be able to help you with varieties as well as good rootstocks for containers. If you want some good west coast mail order nurseries, I've ordered from Bay Laurel Nursery (CA), VanWell Nursery (WA), Burnt Ridge Nursery (WA), and Raintree Nursery (WA). I've also ordered from C & O Nursery (WA) but was a little disappointed that they tacked on a "packing charge" on the order. I've received good stock from all the above, and they all have Websites.

Actually... that's not entirely true. I feel like I have to step in here and make a correction. The number of chill hours is just a methodology to try to quantify something that is not so easily quantified. In reality, deciduous plants do not so much respond to the exact amount of chill hours, but rather, it would be more accurate to say, to the time period duration without elevated temperatures. Theoretically, a plant could be exposed to the "necessary" amount of chill hours but a few hot days interspaced in that period of time could ruin it. On the other hand, as long as the temperatures remain constantly cool throughout an extended period of time, the plant does not need any real "chill" at all. This is why oftentimes fruit trees located in more marine climates require less chill. To state it again, it's not the chill that makes that makes the plant meet its chill requirement, it's the absence of heat, continuously, over a length of time. On the other hand, the combination of heat and high humidity together are often deadly to cherry trees. The cherry tree will be prone to disease, or get attacked by insects. Native Black cherry (Prunus serotina) tends to be better adapted to these conditions than European cherry, though Black cherries are not as tasty for eating out of hand. At least in California, Royal Lee/Royal Minnie will certainly get enough chill hours in zone 9. They can also fruit in zone 10 but will tend to be a bit less productive. Cherries have difficulty handling the heat when the climate is too dry, or when it's too humid, but this has nothing to do with winter chill hours. Interestingly, if anyone bothered to do some research, there are not that many places in the world with a zone 10 climate that also do not have high/low humidity extremes.

j, worms can live fine on relatively small amounts of food - and bedding is food to them as well. So go ahead and give it a try. Once you've got it under way, you can likely find some stuff to add. My point before was, don't expect huge physical volumes of completed compost from worms for use in your yard, especially to start with. Since you have a small yard and are new, I'd suggest just buying in some soil amendment/mulch as needed to start. Keep your eyes open and you'll find some stuff in time within your budget (threads here have many examples, like getting wood chips from companies that trim around utility lines). Maybe you'll also meet neighbours and get some sense of what's feasible in your area. (I think a lot more people have got disappointed by trying to rush into composting all at once, it's not a race).