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Comment by whalesalad | Hacker News Reader

California has some of the best weather in the country to do stuff like this. It's a no brainer. So many wonderful crops can be grown year round. Growing up we had an avocado tree, kumquat, lemons, limes, tomatoes, cukes, apples, grapefruits, you name it. As a Michigander now, I miss this a lot. If you are on the fence about this idea - please do it on behalf of everyone in the midwest or colder climates who can only grow outdoors for a few months out of the year.

Having a lawn is a ridiculous waste of resources, anyway. It's a win-win.

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It's always worth checking out the native species that work best with your terrain, weather, and soil[0]. Though you may not be able to grow much food, you can grow a wonderfully rich, low maintenance garden with natives that will attract a diverse set of insects, birds, and animals. It in some ways might be more rewarding even than growing food, depending on your inclination.

My in-laws have an incredible native garden in California that is beautiful enough to have appeared in a couple of publications as an example (this is not some extravagant and rich family either, by any means). They rarely have to water their garden, compared with their neighbours who seem to have to hose/sprinkle their lawns every other day, practically.

0: https://www.canr.msu.edu/nativeplants/plant_facts/local_info...

But ... keep in mind it will attract insects, birds, and animals, and they may not be cute :). Be prepared for more insects in your house, more bird poop and more possums etc

All good things to have around your home. Possums eat insects =)

They’re almost* entirely harmless too. They’re not very photogenic but the most they do is hiss and show their teeth, and if that doesn’t work they… play dead.

* Possums spread fleas like nobody’s business

The big issue in much of California are rats. So many god damn rats.

I spent 25 years there and didn't see too many of those. Then again they don't really like to be seen. I wouldn't call it a nuisance though? They aren't an overwhelming threat, just a minor nuisance.

Bay Area - especially Palo Alto and San Jose - I’ve seen rats the size of small cats. And had to remediate multiple houses where they got into it and made a huge mess.

Only in areas with fruit trees though.

They’re fruit rats that like to live in trees so it’s pretty rare for them to make it inside the house - I’ve only had one rat make it into the walls in 20 years of living in a 100 year old house despite a dozen fruit trees surrounding the property. I’m in LA though so maybe the Bay Area winters drive them inside more often.

They absolutely ruin the harvest though. We manage to pick maybe a tenth of the pomelos and pomegranates that ripen before the rats get to them. I made a deal with one of my neighbors to tear down the fence and hedges separating our properties to prevent them from easily moving between trees on that side so at least the avocados are safe.

We’ve got rats in California but they’re a minor suburban nuisance, not a giant public health problem like in New York.

Literally had a dozen houses over the years with big problems in the Bay Area. Most people don’t notice until it gets really bad.

Or go into a crawl space or an attic - and then yikes.

LA does have a lot fewer of both of those though eh?

In my previous home (a rental in San Mateo) I planted a small avocado jungle, which was eventually thinned to 3 trees that started producing in about 8 years. Half a block away was an enormous avocado, its canopy about 35' diameter. The soil there was fantastic, you could drop in anything and it would thrive. I live across the Bay now and though the soil quality is difficult (clay) the house came with 5 different fruit trees (lemon, cherry, peach, apricot, pear) and I've added a feijoa, a lime, and a few culinary herbs.

I also have a front lawn, which I haven't watered in several years, but comes back with the rain. I want to smother it permanently in cardboard, but that in itself is quite a lot of work that I refuse to admit I need to hire someone to get it done.

A friend of mine had a HUGE avocado tree in his backyard. He would hand us paper grocery bags basically filled to the brim with them all the time, because otherwise they would just fall off and rot in his yard.

His dog ate them all the time too, absolutely spoiled!

Likewise when I lived in Hawaii, my girlfriends grandmother had a mango tree the size of Tennessee and she'd give me big paper bags full of mangos. Best I have ever had.

I do miss this about living in a warmer climate.

I have a friend in Michigan who grows a LOT of different foods in his yard, all the way up to PawPaw fruit. You're right that winter limits the growing season, but I was amazed at how diverse this guys food garden is.

It works during the summer for annual plants and hardy species that can withstand the winter but the number of frost days really limits what you can grow. They take a few extra years to fruit but trees like avocados really change the ratio of effort to edible produce but they’re sensitive to frost. In California the double growing season takes it up another level, at the expense of growing a small number of frost loving species like blueberries.

That said I had a very productive dacha north of Moscow so there’s plenty of stuff you can grow in colder climates, you just have to more creative with your choices.

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