Tim Kivi

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:I wonder about those tree roots. Sure, you can cut them back; but I find they come back with double vigour. Disturbed soil equals opportunity. Unless you have a hard barrier, they will suck all the life out of your new bed. My 2c.

I wouldn’t be surprised. Nothing was ever able to grow there so this won’t be a loss anyway. Maybe I’d need to keep cutting the roots back every year?

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:It looks pretty shaded. Does it get enough hours of sunlight for vegetables?

This would be a good candidate for a double dig -- mixing the subsoil with a ton of rough organic matter. You've already done half the work.

It gets too much sunlight: afternoon Mediterranean climate sun is scorching. Here, about four hours of morning sun is enough.

Nothing grew there for years so I dug all the soil out, removed roots from nearby trees and plants, and gave it away. Now, I have a big hole for a veggie bed and access to a lot of free manure and leaves. What would you do with this space?

You could do the opposite and plant a Japanese heartnut tree. They’re also juglans but different to walnut. You could grow everyone else in raised beds.

How long’s it been since you laid down the mulch? Probably with time they’ll go away. When I first had arborist chips in my yard I also noticed more earwigs (though not out of control). Later I noticed heaps of non-venemous spiders under the mulch and few earwigs. Giving it time should probably sort it all out. Nature takes time sometimes; this year I don’t have any vegetables growing in my soil when usually my yard’s all green at this time. It’s because I buried lots of wood chips under the soil to break up the clay. So far nothing’s growing but with time it should improve a lot.

Amy Francis wrote:The 2nd photo is my front garden.  The red valerian (garden escape) also spring up from the concrete and very welcome they are too.

Red valerian (I also have a white flowered one) is one of the only plants that survive my extremely hot, rainless, non-humid summers, even without any watering. Every year they drop tiny seeds (I’ve never even noticed them) to produce lots of new plants every spring. In kinder climates it can be called a weed but in my case it barely spreads at all (just as with mint).

Fragrant rose petals are used in Persian cooking. They’re used in sweet and savoury dishes.

Rose petals also make rose water, which is essential to many middle-eastern and North Indian recipes.

Julianna Bolles-Morrison wrote:We have the same exact situation with our 20+year old fig tree. The figs are beautiful the tree is plentiful and the tree is healthy. But the the fruit inside is dried out and inedible. I am finally ready to do something about it and was hoping there was a solution out there. I’m wondering if anyone has had success with grafting? Thanks for any feedback

I’ve never bothered grafting because the cutting could just as easily be put in some soil and it’ll grow into a new tree. If you have the space, you might like to consider planting some connoisseur Smyrna fig trees (the ones requiring a pollinator) next to your male fig tree. But check to see that you have fig wasps buzzing around your male fruit to ensure your area actually has the wasp.

Milk kefir grows in size and strength with each batch. Soon you end up with way too many kefir grains and try find ways to get rid of them because they work too fast. Does the same happen with water kefir?

It was very easy to separate. I didn’t unpot and only planned to remove one stalk, yet a second one fell off by itself. So now I have three palms (assuming they survive)! Two more are falling over on the mother plant, so if these survive I’ll remove the other two to make five palms from one single mother palm. Amazing if it works.