Joao Winckler

Yeah the heat thing is real with runner beans. Mine did the same a couple summers ago, weeks of flowers and nothing setting, then as soon as we got a cooler spell they went mad. The misting idea is worth a go too, I've heard that before about them needing more humidity around the flowers to set properly.

The snowball effect M Ljin describes is how most of mine have happened too. Someone spots something unusual and asks about it, then you're wandering around for an hour explaining comfrey and fruit trees and before you know it you've done an impromptu tour. The informal ones often land better than anything planned because people ask what they're actually curious about rather than following a script.

The self-seeding is so hit or miss. I had a great crop one year, let it go to seed everywhere, and the following spring barely anything came up. Cleared the bed assuming it had failed, then got a flush of seedlings a month later once the soil warmed properly.

I started with 3 apple trees and quickly realised that wasn't going to cut it for a family of four, especially once you factor in the years when one of them barely produces. Ending up with a mix of early and late varieties made a big difference, so you're not bottlenecking everything through the same harvest window. Soft fruit like currants and gooseberries are worth having a few of just to fill gaps early in the season while the trees are still getting established.

Perennial veg is probably the most underrated advice for beginners. Once it's in you barely have to think about it. Comfrey, sorrel, perennial onions, good king henry — they just come back every year and are pretty hard to kill. Easier to stay motivated when you're not starting from scratch every spring.

Yeah for most of us making it in a burn barrel or rocket stove it's probably a mix of temperatures anyway so we're getting a bit of both. Not sure that's a bad thing. Immediate soil benefit plus some longer term carbon. I'll take it.

Moving from sandy coastal soil to a valley with heavier ground is a big shift. The tissue test suggestion is a good one, though it sounds like you've already got enough experience to know when something's off just from how the plants look. Moles causing disruption in the early years would have thrown things off too, compaction and drainage-wise. Sometimes it's worth just trialling one bed with a different approach and watching closely before going all in on a fix.

Rainwater collection seems like the obvious answer there, no chlorine issues and free. Even a basic barrel under a downspout fills up fast in PNW winters. The run-off problem is trickier though, burying the logs slightly or surrounding them with wood chip to slow drainage might help retain moisture a bit longer.

The sun and airflow angle is real. I've noticed black rot is always worse on the shaded interior growth where things stay damp longer. Aggressive thinning of the canopy mid-season made more difference than any spray for me, just keeping the clusters exposed.

Tried this last year with a big terracotta pot and some dried apple prunings. The moisture retention was noticeably better than my other pots through a dry spell, though I couldn't tell if it was the wood or the extra organic matter generally. Going to do a few more this season with proper rotted wood and see if there's a difference.