Gardening hivemind question: Our backyard is a little sandy and dismal (and grey and foggy), but I'd love to do something to mend the soil and get things actually growing. Food plants would be awesome, but really anything green and moderately cheerful would be great. I know that the yard used to be overrun with blackberry bushes (torn out by landlady many years ago, but I don't think she'd bother to come out and do it again), so obviously those will grow happily. Any other suggestions for something hardy and grey-weather-resistant?

And sub-questions - will rosemary grow from cuttings? And what would we need to mix in to make the soil actually soily instead of sandy?

Put on a musical hil, and convert the dance to one that can be done on the sofa.

I'm trying this with Hairspray. Maybe just the arm movements, and moving my legs without putting any weight on them, will be enough.

I need to get more musical DVDs. I think that I've just got Pal Joey left, and then I'll have watched all the ones I own, in the past week.

3.7, one of several in the same spot off the coast of Santa Monica. I hope it's Godzilla.

JZ, excellent questions. One thing that does seem super hardy along with the aforementioned rosemary: geraniums. Some geraniums end up looking too "woody" but there are better strains now, that are more leafy. They're impossible to kill!

I had a a terrible time finding anything that worked in San Bruno because of the wind and fog. It's seriously a LOT of the reason for my move to the Oakland.

Oh, look! A tantrum in my living room complete with stompy feet, lying prone, and screachy-screaming.

Hitting mommy with comb = No Dessert. Sorry kiddo. Scream all you want.

Yes, you can grow rosemary from cuttings and it should do well there, considering that the one Deb has is the size of a Buick. Your best bet is raised beds, which you can make simply by piling on extra soil or by edging the beds with anything you can get cheap like scrap wood and broken concrete. One friend used beer bottles with the tops stuck in the ground. Your main concern in amending the soil is organic matter. Here a soil amendment that's made from ground up pine bark works well and is reasonably priced, but you may be able to get free compost from the city or there may be some other agricultural product available there. Compost or other organic matter will help the sand hold water.

JZ, add humus or see if the city will give you compost. This isn't a bad overview on amending soil: [link]

My stepmother-in-law on the other side of the bay has an amazing backyard garden, mostly edibles. Along with rosemary, she has sage, nasturtium, sweet peas, and things that seem to grow anywhere, like tomato and squash.

I'd bet hechura and hostas would grow there also.

I also know there is a San Francisco tomato --bred to grow in the fog.

Parsley cilantro worth trying. Lots of grasses will grow

I'd try thyme too

3 tasks down 4 added

That's why I put off doing tasks -- I see other things that have to be done. Now.

I think the inner sunset gets more sun than I did in San Bruno.

I'd never heard of hummus used in gardens--good idea! What about coffee grinds?

Humus as in topsoil, not hummus as in chickpea puree! Although I can attest that the latter is extra-tasty when eaten in the garden.