Celtic, you might want to start your own thread so more people will see your request. Unfortunately my little 'boo grove is still too small to harvest any decent canes. You might want to put an ad in craigslist.com for someone local to your area? Rfgpitt, hmm, I didn't know that about them. :) Hopefully in a few years they will be big enough to create their own shade. I've had them since 2002 or so and they are still small, during bad winters the culms die back totally, but new ones come back in late spring. I think the grove is about oh, maybe 10 feet long total. I might grow yellow groove this year, it's hardy to -15 or something. :)

LG LCE30845 induction cooktop (since 2008). It replaced a Jenn-Air induction cooktop that we purchased in 1999, so we are almost a third of the way into our second decade of induction cooking. Pros: o Exceptionally skinny under the countertop, even slimmer than our former Jenn-Air; we keep all of our spoons, spatulas, etc. in a drawer immediately under the cooktop. o Relatively low current draw: rated at 32 amps, which gives an extra margin of safety for our 40 amp wiring. o Relatively quiet, and the cooling fan vent is above the counter and does not vent into the space below the counter. o Inexpensive (relative to the "my cooktop can whip "your cooktop" bragging rights brands) and inobtrusive (no "styling" gimcracks to call attention to itself). o True bridge burner: a third element activates between two round elements to make a continuous large oblong element for a griddle long enough to cook bacon without bending the slices. o More than ample power for any task we ever have thrown at it. Cons: o Cooling fan on/off is related to whether an element is on or off, not according to the actual temperature (that is, it is not thermostat-controlled). So far, this design decision has had no adverse impact. o Liquid spills onto the touch control ares confuse the cooktop's logic, requiring a power off/on cycle. o Steps between power settings on the burners seem to fall short of full linearity: that is, the step between, say, the 3 setting and the 3-1/2 setting seems to be a slightly larger increment than the step between the 3-1/2 setting and the 4 setting. (But that is a difficult matter to test objectively.) o It's an LG, which means that if the cooktop ever needs to be serviced, Lord help us; LG customer service is nonexistent. (We have been lucky so far.) BOSCH convection wall oven (circa 2000 vintage) mounted under-counter in a standard counter cabinet. Pros: o Short vertical dimension allows us to have a shallow drawer underneath the oven for spare oven racks, cookie sheets, etc. o Analogue controls. Personal preference: we prefer visually assessing settings from the position of dial pointers to reading digital settings and we prefer turning dials to fingering touch-pads. o Concealed bottom element under the oven floor so inside-oven drips land on easy-to-clean floor instead of on or under the heating element. Cons: o None.

Thanks for the great feedback so far! Keep it coming!! The original island was 8'x3'8'. The new version is 4'6x8'. It was initially supposed to be a workspace/table combo, but I realized to Lisa's point that it will really be only used as a table if we keep it like that. I also had the concerns about more appliances than storage, and that's part of why I started modifying the island. If we were to use the architect's design as is, we would add an additional workspace, much like you did. We were thinking something less fixed, like this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/architectural-portfolio-eclectic-kitchen-portland-phvw-vp~2936999) [Eclectic Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2104) by Vancouver Photographers Shawn St.Peter Photography However, our concern is that with 2 islands and the corner nook, it starts to get very cluttered and busy. That led me to want to move the dining area to the nook and use the island as a work station w/ more storage. There are only 2 of us for now, but with house guests and entertaining, we would want to be able to seat 4-5 regularly and 6+ for special occasions. You make a good point about the limited side seating, so we will remove it. I'm glad you all pointed out the issue with the dinnerware being so far from the dishwasher. My concern is that if we move the sink/DW back to the corner, there's not really any more storage over there, and then the sink is really far from the fridge. We could put the dinnerware and glassware in the uppers over the DW in my layout to resolve the issue, and then would just need a place for the flatware - either over the tupperware or back in the corner by the ovens. I could also probably get 18-20" of drawers next to the DW if I cut the tupperware/wraps drawers in half and take the extra 6" from the drawers on the other end (which would also put more counter space between the sink and ovens). OR the dinnerware/flatware could go in the drawers on the end of the island. So let's assume we can solve the storage location issue - would you still move the sink? (I don't think we could do a second sink because of the costs, so let's assume only 1.) How does the pantry on the left allow more space for the fridge doors? We would have french doors on the fridge, so I assumed it wouldn't matter which side. I actually wanted the left originally so I could put stuff from the fridge directly on the counter to the right, but since the laundry and pantry are paneled it looks better to flank the fridge with them. I guess if we kept all cabs the same color, it wouldn't matter as much. We put the fridge and pantry at the same depth as the laundry for 3 reasons: 1. a 36" deep fridge would look built-in without built-in prices 2. deeper pantry = more storage and 3. if we put the "tall things" in a contrasting color to the other cabinets, we would want them all flush so they form a wall. We haven't seen the ovens under the counter in person. We are planning on using the new Bosch swing door ovens, so hopefully that helps with some of the bending issues (only down vs. down and over). It does mean that we would want 30" clearance on either side, though, for the door to swing out. There is also a chance we may not be able to use both ovens because we only have 100 AMPs and it would be very $$$ to upgrade, so we could reduce to a double wall oven or just a single. I'm not a huge fan of the double wall oven because it seems like the top oven is too high to easily see and reach inside. However, I don't have personal experience using them so maybe it's not really an issue? Here is the link to my other post for reference: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/remodel/msg0812432221051.html I plan to add an update as soon as we make a final decision on the contractor!

I chose my fruit trees for fruit that is neither sweet of sour. My favorite Apple is the Arkansas Blacking. Not sweet, not tart, but packed with flavors that I have no words but that I like them. I had a mill sweet lemon. Same as above. I now have a New Zealand lemonade tree from pip that should fill the plate very nicely. I have 14 seed grown red haven peach trees. I like to pick the peaches when they have color but are hard. Nothing beets a crisp crunchy mildly sweet free stone peach. My hardy Chicago fig has been a real success beyond my wildest expectations. They taste very good with their mildly sweet flavor. I don't eat snickers or any other candy or pop. the juice of the lemon will dissolve the enamel off your teeth faster than a snickers bar will. Here on the garden web's snickers forum every one seems to be buying the trees that produce the sweetest mandarins/oranges or the most acid lemons/lines. My portfolio is complete with 2 Fukushu, 1 Meiwa, 2 New Zealand lemonade, and 9 Hardy Chicago fruit trees. Tine to lean back and kick up my feet. The fukushu fruits can be squeezed for baking Fukushu meringue pies and the remaining peal and flesh should prove to be mildly sweet.