MARY- Like Lisa Rose, my wife and I live in California out west where the drought has been. We live in the Sierra Nevada mountains where it can get up to 90 degrees in summer but usually in the high 70's to high 80's - good for growing. Although the drought has hit us- we have our vegetable gardens on drip systems mostly and we water pretty deeply at least every 3 to 4 days so it goes deep.
My son Flipper Jr. taught us quite a lot as he graduated from a permaculture gardening college course and has a degree in permaculture. WE took out some medium sized oak trees that were blocking sunlight from the garden and it helped tremendously as we've had a banner year for Zucchini squash, cherry tomatoes ( the one cherry tomato bush is about 8 feet tall ! ) Valencia tomatoes, black krim tomatoes, we had in early summer a great strawberry, blueberry, and huge raspberry crop as well. WE have a small peach tree we planted in April which is doing well and a volunteer nectarine tree as well, also a plum tree.
The key my son taught me is a proper mix in the soil of compost and the natural dirt and adding some horse, bat, or chicken manure to the mix, not too much. But about maybe 30 % to your compost and natural dirt, once you get that mixed in deep about 2 feet or so- then you have a proper PH in the soil to grow things- at least out here in California. We used chicken manure this year. Having great soil is a HUGE part of it I'm told by Flipper Jr. Many parts of the planet have crappy soil, so it requires preparation and hard work- but believe me the fruitage and vegetables are worth it when harvest comes. And for certain vegetables to grow they need a lot of sunlight as well. Some more than others- like squash, tomatoes - but onions, chard, lettuce, kale can't handle TOO much sun as they wilt. Those tend to be fall winter into spring crops anyway, where tomatoes and squash are summer crops.
So yeah, have fun ! Gardening is cool , a fun hobby and you save money growing your own fruits and vegetables ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper
