Amanda, If you want to have success with fruit trees look for those that were bred for Israel, I suggest Desert Gold peach as it is very prolific, hard to find but so good for here in the Valley. For apricot try to find a Blenheim and then plant a Santa Rosa plum near by, it help production. Apple varieties good for the area are( if I remember right) Golden Dorset and Anna, their pollen complements each other. For raspberries try Babba berries and plant them on the east side of the house, mine produced very well for me. Strawberries grow well but need protection from the afternoon sun. Sweet potatoes do well as do regular potatoes, plant sweet potatoes from slips you start in late April and regular potatoes in late January from eyes you sprout on the counter. Grapes are easy to start from cuttings but we have these lovely little critters called Grape Leaf Skeletonizers and as the name implies they turn all the leaves on you grape vine into skeletons. Fig trees do well here but some varieties are salt sensitive, Brown Turkey and Black Mission do good here. Compost everything you can to enrich your soil, stay away for pine product as they generally increase the salt in your soil which already has too much.
