I would consider planting drought tolerant plants rather than investing an irrigation system. I planted my garden (the bulk of it) in 2002 after Georgia had been in a 5 year drought. I choose hardy drought tolerant plants and shrubs and I have watered the gardens with soaker hoses just twice since the water restrictions went into place. I don't think my garden has looked happier! Even little sprigs of lavender i stuck in the ground and walked away are thriving. Remember just because you have a system doesn't mean you can water to your hearts content. We all need to conserve right now. I don't know about everyone else but I'm sick of reading and hearing about how to keep the lawn alive - burmuda will be fine, the real ones that suffer are the large trees. Once trees start to decline there is almost no stopping it, and you can't just replace a 50 year old hardwood. Thanks for letting me vent!

Thank you Tamara. I still can't find this actual thread (I lost it, haha), but I found this in my profile. That's good to know about search; hopefully I'll get used to it and it will be more useful than annoying. I'm not one who takes change well, and I admit I lost my temper a little yesterday, but I will try to be more patient. I found a thread that mentioned the "first name" trick, which is how I have Rosecandy displayed. Am I correct in believing that other users can see all the recent threads I looked at? If so is there a way to stop that? I like my privacy. ...and now I found the thread, *whew!*

You mean it'll be a pony wall at the R end of the FP? The prep sink would work there on the kit side. From Sena's LO there'd be about 4' of prep space between it and the stove. I'd still use a shallow pantry on the wall of the laundry room at the end. (that'd also eliminate the deep lower corner cabinet area problem) I'd put in an EZreach upper cab on that corner to butt up to the shallow pantry. uppers usually run about 15" deep, don't they? I'd want a long area of prep space on the other side too instead of a deep pantry. Having the window side not so deep by the door and shallow on the stove side would make it more open at the doorway. Easier to see little ones coming in too. Having a prep area on both sides would be great when you have help in the kitchen by family/friends. On the window side, how about the fridge next to the dw? You could even move the sink/dw to the L maybe another foot - that'd give maybe 3' or so to the R of the fridge for the desk area. (before the doorway to the sunroom) Try putting this in the layout/or 3d pic and post here so we can see how it looks. I like the idea of the 6' between counters when a number of people will be working in that area - and possibly someone going out or coming in that laundry area door. Less congestion. The wall ovens - those are good for those who have problems bending down to the oven on a stove. Really tall people, those with a bad back... or those who often use oven and stove top at the same time. Many don't like standing at the stove top with the heat of the oven so close to them. I'd love to have one but I so seldom use the oven, it doesn't seem worth it for me. I probably don't use the oven 2x a month. Maybe once a month. btw, I tried bolding my '2x a month' above and it did. I didn't hit submit tho, so maybe it would bonk me if I did that. Or maybe it is the phone or just when editing a post? I'm gonna go ahead and click on submit so we'll know. Saving my post first tho...

It's all about averages. You can't argue with averages. As I've said several times, we tend to abide by the average date of last frost when we plant out, knowing full well that we might still get a frost after that date. Should we toss those frost dates in the trash because they might not be quite right? There is a nice explanation of the new map at https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2023/usda-unveils-updated-plant-hardiness-zone-map/.  Not at all clear that those maps are intended for trees. I guess it comes down to definitions. Maybe USDA should be more forthcoming about these maps not being appropriate for orchardists as opposed to "gardeners and growers". Let's face it, at least for a home gardener, for crops that aren't trees or large aged vines, it's all about protection. What are the chances that you'll need protection to preserve your crop? When my temperatures dipped a zone or two below my own in the last few years, it just took a tarp or two to protect. Same with when I get an unexpected frost after planting out frost-intolerant summer veggies. That's because the cold snaps were sudden, and over soil that was a lot warmer. Certainly, if you have weeks of intolerable cold, you have a real problem with survival. For those with acres of crops, yep, you just lose the crop. But there are many reasons why you might lose a crop, and abiding by zones is just playing the odds of averages. Farmers are always playing odds. As noted in the explanation I pointed to above, the USDA Risk Management Agency refers to the map’s plant hardiness zone designations to set certain crop insurance standards. The risk here is assumed to be one year for one crop rather than many years for survival of an entire tree. But yes, the word "thrive" here applies to a yearly crop, and not to long term survival of trees.