Richard Gorny

Did you experience temperatures above about 27–30°C / 80–86°F?

High temperatures reduce pollen viability.
If flowers are exposed to prolonged heat, they may still produce pods, but the embryos fail to develop, leaving the pods empty or containing only tiny undeveloped peas.

Another frequent cause is water stress. Peas need consistent moisture during flowering and pod filling. If the soil dries out at this stage, the plant may abort seed development to conserve resources. The pods continue to grow, giving the impression that they should contain peas, but they remain empty.

Chance Lunceford wrote:
What's your experience been with the ruthless pruning? I've been curious about this approach.

I have found a book on this topic years ago, I was very sceptic at the start, but it surely worked for me.
I wanted to have a few fruit trees close to the house, where small kids can pick up  fruits without using a ladder.
The book was: Grow a Little Fruit Tree by Ann Ralph

I have been planting these between 2013 and 2016. Today, none is still alive. Other trees, still live, heavily pruned, even at the knee height for the main trunk.

Currently, I use columnar trees only in containers, for short-lived setups.

Josie Bartlett wrote:I have an apple orchard under planted pretty heavily with comfrey. It worked well for the first couple years, but this past year I had too much calcium in my soil report. I plan to move a lot of the comfrey this year and I stopped mulching the orchard with it last year. Once this years soil test comes back I can see if I was relying too heavily on the comfrey.

Welcome to the forums! :)

It is very interesting, can you share how soil samples have been collected? The reason I ask is that usually what we observe with comfrey is that calcium levels can get higher in the upper few (2-6) inches of soil, but they stay pretty much constant deeper.

Just a note - by placing beds in line with uphill-downhill you are putting them at risk of increased soil erosion and drying out faster, since water will more readily flow downhill after each rain.
Aligning beds on contour is usually a better choice, unless you are in a very wet climate and you can actually benefit from less water.

Hello Veronica, welcome to Permies!

Where to start? There are many options.

Firstly, I would suggest to ask a local permaculture folks for assistance, San Francisco has some big names, perhaps someone will agree to help on-site.

If that turns out not to be an option, then one of the biggest permaculture wisdoms is "Start Small" - perhaps you can start with garden in pots? There is a great book on that topic, by Juliet Kemp. And since you mentioned that you do not have gardening experience, I strongly recommend to read Gaia Garden by late Toby Hemenway.

Last, but not least, perhaps in your community are people who would like to be involved, and luckily some of them might have a green thumb? Ask around, and if there are any similar projects in your vicinity, try to make friends with them.

This is my first tomato sowing of 2026, finished just now. Seeds broadcast onto a damp paper towel, placed inside a closed container. This round is meant to select for fast germinators. They have 7 days to sprout; those that don’t make it go to the compost. All seeds come from fruits harvested in 2025, grown in my own garden.

I will be starting to germinate first tomato seeds today and over the period of the next two days. That's what moon planting calendar says, and even if it doesn't help, it will certainly doesn't hurt :)

My seeds are divided into a couple of categories. Firstly, by tomato bush and fruit size. So, I will start with micro-dwarf that usually can go outside early, since I grow them in containers on the terrace, then dwarfs, and finally indeterminate cherry varieties followed by the indeterminate large fruit ones. I will be planting them all outside in the same order.

Then, there are common seeds, that I have plenty of them, collected from my own tomatoes, those I will just mix and toss on a wet paper towel, place the towel in a try with lid and I will be checking them daily. Each seed that shows a root will be planted into a tray filled with potting mix.

Last, but not least, there are "precious" seeds that I have a few - from seed exchange with other growers for instance. Those will be placed in a small container (like pizza / hot sauce), separated by variety, 2-5 seeds each, nothing inside just seeds and moisture. They will be checked daily and sprinkled with water if needed. They mustn't dry out, it kills them, but they mustn't stay submerged in water as well.

I will place all trays and containers in the warmest room in the house, which is bathroom. If temperature goes below 24 degrees Celsius consistently, I might consider using either heat mat or just heat the room more. I will give the seeds up to 7 days to germinate, no more. Usually it takes 3 to 5 days from the start to the moment when gernminating seed with a tiny root is being planted.