Back in late March, Florence Nishida, Founder of LAGG and Master Gardener, had a nice email exchange from a fellow-gardener from Spain:

"I have my own 2.5 acre garden in Alicante, Spain which has pretty much the same climate as Southern California. I accidentally found your website and thought it would be great to get in touch. I am far away but knowledge sharing over the Internet is possible. In my garden I have the full range of citrus trees, fig, pomegranate and many more and 100% bio gardening, strictly no pesticides and using advanced computer aided irrigation system. Also If some of your members travel to Alicante, Spain they are more than welcomed for a visit my garden. Kind regards. Zsolt"

"Thanks for reaching out to us.  Always nice to find a kindred spirit.  

"Our current focus is on our teaching garden.  Our little orchard consists of Guava, Pineapple guava, Meyer Lemon, Loquat, Fig, Pomegranate trees bordered with lavender with a large bed of artichokes on one end.  Along the street side, by the pavement are planted California native plants - drought resistant, pollinator attracting.  I've also planted native sages - recently the migrating Painted Lady butterflies have landed on them (they are flying from the California desert in the south to the northern states of Oregon and Washington).

"The other day, I found an edible mushroom in the garden. The woody mulch that we spread on the garden paths has encouraged occasional mushrooms.

"Have you grown the Japanese Purple Mustard?  I'm sending a photo.  Beautiful plant, grows through spring and summer, has a very zesty, hot taste when raw (good for sandwiches and salad), but mild in a stir-fry dish.  

"Have a good growing season!
Florence"