I think this one sticks around so well, in large part, because it's what the pros do. A nicely amended double or triple excavated planting pit will usually give the trees and shrubs a great environment to get established in. After the roots try to move out of the backfill and into the native, can there be problems? Sure! But hey, a typical general landscape installation is guaranteed for 90 days for turf, shrubs and groundcover and 1 year for the trees. After that, everyone's been paid so you're on your own. Amended planting pit are cheap insurance for a quick establishment for architects, designers and contractors. From that point, most people think, "Well, if it's good enough for the pros, it's good enough for me". And one little correction for Dr. Chalker-Scott's piece. She states that the ideal organic content in the soil is 5% by volume. She meant to say 5% by dry weight. (Or she actually meant to say 'by volume' in which case she would be incorrect.)

I'm so curious about you having rhubarb in summer in CA. That's California, not Canada, right? Here in WA, my rhubarb is totally a spring crop; when the weather turns warmish it bolts to seed and the stalks become pretty much unusable. I've made rhubarb jelly on its own before and it is the most gorgeous pale pink color. Tastes good, too. Yours looks so good my mouth watered!

Back in the '40s, when we milked cows and took the milk to the cheese factory ... we called those smaller ones cream cans. I don't remember their capacity, but the milk cans held ten gallons, if I remember correctly. Again, if I remember correctly, 10 gallons of water weigh about a hundred pounds, so ten gallons of milk would be slightly less. ole joyful ... who hasn't milked in over 70 years

Well, I don't know eld. For those of us who don't do crafts, wine and good cheese or wine and other types of savory munchies can be terrific. Not to distract from the first post, it does look like they had plenty of fun.