Hi, John,

By any chance do you remember me? I was a part of the same group that splintered off David Blume's course in Half Moon Bay and followed Mollison and Pittman to Occidental. No offense if you don't. Most from that group, if they remember me at all, probably remember the funky colorful and patterned tights that I wore during those weeks.

It's good to know that you're also involved with CRFG. I'm involved with chapters in S CA. If there's a wonderful group of folks with great experience and knowledge to offer, it's them. Yes, they mostly grow fruit but many of the individual members don't limit themselves to fruits. As for Stephen Facciola's association with Steve Spangler, yes, I'm familiar with that too.

If you're serious about figuring out what perennial veggies will work where, I say do the background research properly and respectfully. Books will tell you some things, experience and observation will teach some more. When it comes to unfamiliar endemic plants and their uses, I suggest that folks talk with elders and indigenous folks whenever you can and give credit where credit is (over)due. If anyone is going to make a list of recommended perennial plants, whether it's 50 or 5000, match the needs of the plants with what the site provides. The soil types in CA and FL are different, as are the climates. The regional projections as to what we can expect due to global climate change can be readily found (though not so easily or calmly read) through Google searches.

Though the most adaptable weeds survive, I don't see anyone lining up in droves to munch on bermuda grass, pampas grass, Arundo donax, or Schinus spp. here in S. CA. Seriously though, adaptable weeds become next year's runaways if someone's not responsible about cultivation or knowledgeable enough to keep the plant in check and teach others to do the same. That has to be as much a part of the instruction as the list of plants themselves.

Regards,
Wendy Talaro, M.A.
Truffle in Paradise
http://www.truffleinparadise.com/
Divine delights with a social and environmental conscience

and
Sustainability Integration Specialist and Consultant
Fruits to Nuts
http://fruitstonuts.wordpress.com
Real solutions for real people for a sustainable post-carbon economy

Wendy Talaro is the principal designer and consultant behind Fruits to Nuts and she has the capacity to retrofit conventional gardens and landscapes for sustainability. The main geographic focus of her work as a designer and consultant is Southern California. Fruits to Nuts specializes in using both CA natives and/or edibles in garden design and applied ecological principles so that beauty, productivity, low water usage, and relatively low/easy maintenance are the results. Well-considered design and restored soils in turn helps plants thrive and stay healthy. In essence, as a designer Wendy practices a kind of ecological homeopathy, using the tools of nature to heal nature.