Thanks for all your replies. I was originally thinking of the 10' beds would be subdivided into 3, 3' beds, but you've all made me think that's not wise. That would rule out using the tractor and tiller mid season. Given that my tractor is 7' wide and tiller is 5' wide, I think I'm stuck with making the width of bed + walkway equal a total of 7' at least. Jay has given me some ideas for how the bed itself can be varied a bit, but ultimately the "pitch" of my beds (from one front edge to another) should stay at 7 or 7.5'. I'm definitely going to look into getting a bed shaper. I see that a close by equipment dealer has one for sale for $950. Maybe I can find an old cultivator and just get the bed shaping discs made for it? Chris

Bone meal and blood meals are not compost. Blood meal is very high in nitrogen. Bone meal is high in phosphorus. Blood meal will burn plants if not applied properly. You do not need all those many different forms of compost, you simply need compost. Is there any reason why you can't start making compost in own yard? Good soil and ammending it yearly with compost is really all thats need for good gardening production. Having a soil test done initially helps, with all the peat moss you guys have added to make Mels mix, the soil will be somewhat acidic, that is why in his original book he suggests adding lime. I am in zone 7 and have been growing my vegetables by square footing since 1983. Initially in my first house I went by the book, this house now that I've had for the past 10 years, I still grow my veggies by the square foot method, but did NOT buy all that peat moss and vermiculite, instead I just bought good old top soil, and the first year here we built compost bins and have been adding compost 2 times a year. In the summer I mulch the beds with a green grass clippings, not too thickly but enough to cover the soil so it helps on not having to water so much and also feeds the soil as it breaks down. I have 6 4x4 beds, 1 5x10 and 3 3x3 beds. No vermiculite, no peat, just good soil and home made compost. I hope that helps you some what. Alberta

When the inspection says the crawlspaces are not insulated properly, do they mean that the crawlspaces have vapor barriers that were not put in correctly (which, as hollysprings notes, may have caused other issues), or that they simply aren't insulated at all? The latter is super common in old houses (our 100-year-old crawlspace over dirt has no insulation or barriers, for instance, although our climate is not as cold as yours so we've had no real motivation to do it). These all sound like pretty typical old house issues to me, though. (Our house probably had 2/3 of them when we moved in!) The chimney/fireplace repointing is just something that has to be done every so often; ditto with replacing shakes, etc. Sometimes inspections will also call things that were okay when they were done but no longer accepted (e.g., our attic had loose insulation over knob-and-tube wiring, which is a big no-no today, but was permitted when it was installed by our local electric company as part of a weatherproofing program for seniors many years ago). Assuming your lender doesn't require any of this to close, I'd probably just ask for a price reduction/credit to address these--most of them aren't expensive and many can be DIYed if you feel like it. Then you can decide how/if you want to address them yourself. None of these would be dealbreakers for me, though, as an owner of a similarly old house. Good luck!

It occurs to me that I haven't been NEARLY effusive enough with my thanks and praise --- Squirrelheaven, thank you SOOOO much for all the time you've taken with this!!!! You have serious talent and I shudder to think what I would have come up with on my own if I hadn't gotten such great input here (I did come up with the idea of painting the brick and adding the portico but I don't think I would have executed nearly as well without the eyes and comments from GW). Leah (and Squirrel) -- wow! Love the front entrance. Right now I have to try to create as much impact as possible for as few dollars as possible -- but I am definitely saving that picture for when the finances permit. Anele -- I spent 13 years in Chicago (a variety of different northside neighborhoods) and you're right, I don't think anything like this exists there :) We moved about a year ago to the suburbs of a smaller city. Imagine what this house would be worth in Chicago (if such a thing even existed)!! As far as where I am right now, I still like the look of the 2/3 steps (Fri 21:08) and am also really liking the most recent pics with the brick (Sun 9:17) - I wasn't seriously considering the brick until I saw it photoshopped; I think I like it because it ties in to the chimney. I'm also still scouring the neighborhood and the web trying to find a way to do full-length steps without having to have an enormous landing (which just didn't look right to me). I'm definitely going to change the moldings to be more like Squirrel's and less like the architect's, and I'm going lantern shopping this week. I already have the paint for the front door but haven't wanted to take the door down while DH is out of town, so that will be happening soon too. And speaking of DH, I haven't showed him any of this, so I suppose I should give him a little input too. MM