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I do. And so do many of the woodworkers in our area club. It's easier than dumping the chips and sawdust into the recycle stream. One of our guys has been using a no-till approach for some time now, and raves about it. He's a turner though, and there is somewhat lower dust content, and...

The pine will have little rot resistance. The hemlock modestly more. But if that's what you have, and it's cheap, you can get yourself five good years of raised beds, before you'll likely want to redo them. And five years from now, who knows what you'll have on hand? Or what life will be...

My raised beds are but 10" high, and that's plenty. They were started because the ground where the garden could go was covered with stones, from the former owner's dog kennel/yard. Serious rototilling and screening was not getting enough of the rocks out, so stern measures were called for...

Last year, everybody had challenges with tomatoes. Late cool weather, and rains that came late, screwed up a lot of plans. We were maybe 5 weeks late in planting, and paid for the cool days in reduced yields, too. This year, early. There should be water. BTW, I was born in Alameda. :D

Almost anything makes a decent raised bed, if it isn't toxic to you. Some folks use old tires, although I'd pass on that. The nice thing about starting now is that you can start doing your composting right in those beds. Google no till gardening. Just throw stuff in there, and let it...

five or six years ago, here in the SF East Bay area. Primarily for security, landscape, and somewhat for the fruit. And they are doing well. One, the Eureka lemon, is doing too well. They were supposed to be dwarf, because I didn't want to deal with ladders and the like, but the Eureka...

Well, there's a difference. SF has some sun issues, and cooler weather. So does the Peninsula, and some of Marin. But over in the East Bay, it's warmer and sunnier. And over the first range of (hills here, mountains elsewhere), the weather warms more, and the fog hangs out less, and the...

I'm in your neighborhood, Martinez, actually. We grow our herbs in containers, because that's where they fit. Each year, we use a bag of potting soil from the local garden center, the one that Buzz owns, and dump the old stuff into the raised bed veggie gardens. Those get compost and potting...

The rose lady here would likely kill me for giving rose advice. I am, in her words, for the roses at least, the unskilled labor. But we have over 100 of them on our suburban small lot in the Bay Area, and I haven't killed most of the valuable ones yet.:D I would prune them back, not as...

My grandparents used to grow them, in Point Arena, California. Out on the coast, where the ocean kept the temperature evened out out at 'mostly cool' all year, and there wasn't enough break from the fog for the tomatoes to grow well. They were perennials, about 3'-4', IIRC. My grandmother...

Our bell peppers, Yolo Wonder variety, have always done well, as have the other 6 or 8 varieties we put in. But this year, where I planted the bell peppers, they didn't do well. Small, thin skinned, some of that same rot/wilt. I think it's the soil in that grow box, though, because what was...

We had some volunteer butternut squash a few years ago. Where they came from, I don't know, but there were maybe 2 dozen of the fruits, and they were excellent. They did run all over the garden, though, and most of that space has now been converted to a modest lawn for the grandkids. I'll...

I'd try to find three or four varieties to plant, if you have the space. One, because they give you a defense against one variety failing. Two, because some of them are better for food than others. Three, because a variety of them make for better decorations than a single one. Colors...

Some of the grocery store garlic is supposedly treated to resist sprouting. I've had some that didn't, even after being ignored for weeks on the kitchen counter. The nursery lady recommended a natural foods grocer local to us for the plant stock they didn't have. It's waiting for me to clear...

I tore out some of the way past their prime tomato plants this afternoon, added to the soil, and went to plant the broccoli starts that I bought yesterday afternoon at the local nursery. Except they were Brussels sprouts. Oh well. One of the things I'm doing this year differently than before...