Tom Wootton

This isn't rocks, it's chunks of concrete slab, but it's what I had (found actually, dumped along a dirt road near our house.)

A friend just gave me a dozen small strawberry plants, and I was thinking of planting them with my fig tree, just planted last June, about 4 feet tall. That bed already has a patch of french marigolds, and yarrow scattered around the edges, along with a few comfrey plants. Are there any compatibility issues anybody's aware of with that mix? I'm in north Florida, zone 8b.

I'm interested in planting a fig tree, but I'm getting some conflicting information. University of Florida lists several varieties including Alma, Black Spanish, Brown Turkey and Celeste, but elsewhere I read that some types don't self-pollinate and others don't produce fruit at all here. I've also read that they have high water requirements, which won't be a problem except for a few months in late spring. Anybody tried this in north or central Florida? Is it possible to plant just one, or will I need to find room for two?

TIA

Nick,

We're in North FL about 40 miles west of Gainesville, 1/2 mile east of Suwanee river. We're on 15 wooded acres, of which a little under an acre is cleared, just around the cabin. Just getting started, really: half a dozen blueberries, 2 apple trees, one peach, sweet potatoes and a small veggie plot. I have a couple of elevated wicking bins, and am building a larger one for some "no-bend" gardening. We plan to do more, including citrus, pomegranate, guava, strawberries, and guilds for the fruit trees. Also want to cover part of the acre in a low maintenance lawn. I'd like to do perennial peanut, but it's expensive. Second choice is centipede. Currently planted in white dutch clover and winter rye grass. We seeded centipede on part of it last year, but not much came up. Always looking for ideas, and sources for guild plants. Currently trying to locate some comfrey.

Thanks for the replies. I have two apple varieties: Anna, developed in Israel, and Dorsett Golden. Also a peach tree, Flordaking. All require less than 200 chill hours, suitable for my part of North Florida, or so I'm told.

I'm planning to plant a couple of apple trees in my yard, and one otherwise ideal spot gets a good 7 hours of sun 8-9 months of the year, but because of some tall trees to the south, is in dappled shade all day from mid November to February. I'm in north Florida. So: do deciduous trees need sun when they have no leaves?

Thanks for the responses. I was going to put the metal at the bottom of the pile, under the logs. As I mentioned, most of this stuff is almost completely oxidized, so I'm thinking any lead has likely already leeched into the soil of the forest. I'll take any cans that aren't completely rusted to recycle.

Hadn't thought of that. I can't find anything on zinc, but according to the linked story from 1993, some US cans still had lead seams as recently as 1991. This stuff is so rusted down it's almost unrecognizable, and crumbles to the touch. Now I'm wondering how best to dispose of it.

http://articles.latimes.com/1993-04-29/food/fo-28432_1_blood-lead-levels

Our land in north Florida is mostly wooded, and I've found several old trash heaps in the woods filled with rusted metal cans and bottles. From the bottles it's clear that some of these dump sites are 50 years old or more. I read somewhere about putting metal scraps in the bottom of a keyhole garden. I'm thinking of doing a Hugelkultur bed because we have a pretty good pile of logs left over from the clearing we made. The soil is sandy and somewhat acidic (5.5-6). I'm wondering what are the pros and cons are of putting rusted metal in the pile? I sure like the idea of cleaning up the woods without making several trips to the landfill.