Joao Winckler

The St John's figs timing is a lovely one. Around here solstice is roughly when I do a proper walk around all the fruit trees and take stock of what's set fruit and what hasn't, which ones need attention before summer really kicks in. More of a habit than a ritual but it does feel right to do it at that turning point in the year.

Copper spray in late autumn after leaf drop has made more difference than anything else for my plums, keeps the bacterial canker in check at least. Never felt the need to spray during the season though, and the trees have been fine. I think the folks insisting on regular fungicide treatments are mostly managing commercial-style orchards where any blemish is unacceptable, not backyard trees where a bit of scab doesn't really matter.

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.