Renegade Gardeners!

out of that list, i am seeing only avocado and citrus as things that grow well here in the immediate bay area. others require lots of heat and/or rain. some kinds of fruiting bananas will grow at some people's houses here. walnuts (black walnuts, especially) will grow, but they are allelopathic, so they limit the ability of other plants to grow under walnut trees. blackberries do great here. there is a kind of kiwi vine that a lot of people grow, not sure how well they produce. tree collards (perennial kale) will grow well here. some folks can grow apples. and there's always those crazy volunteer plums. yum! persimmons do pretty well here in berkeley. and pears. with some trees, like avocado, you may need to have one male and one female. or was it one or the other? i forget!


growing things along the road or right next to your house isn't the safest thing- there could be pollutants such as lead in the soil. fruit trees won't pass the lead on to you in fruit, but things like lettuce might. it doesn't cost too much to test your soil (google it).

check out pam peirce's book Golden Gate Gardening for more info about plants and trees that will grow here. craig's list has a great gardening forum, though most people there aren't focused on growing food. check out John Jeavons's book How to Grow More Vegetables (title is long) for info about how to grow lots of food more sustainably. check out websites like garden web (http://www.gardenweb.com/) visit your local community gardens to see what plants do well there. also google your county's Master Gardener (s). And of course, you could try growing things like mangos and let us know how that goes.