There is nothing wrong with your idea. There will though as with any project be things that come up that will need attention such as I see a possible headache for you if a tenant decides to take back a plot that another is using our community garden does 10 x 10 foot plots and you may consider doing the same. Also you will need a couple compost bins and our garden and my home one is made of simple pallets. Will you provide a shed for tools? Will you have a hose for dry spells? Look for rules for a community garden and consider having a contract for use of your plots as neglected plots can become an eye sore that you will end up having to care for yourself. I am not trying to discourage you as it would be wonderful for you to allow gardening and it would only improve your land. You will also want to consider if you want to allow perennials as some are quite aggressive and will take over, run out of control and even can kill other plants. Mint is one that I would not plant again myself. If your not sure you may require special permission or avoid them all together.

18" trash pullouts are from rev-a-shelf. rev-a-shelf has two measurements; what it's called, 21" double trash for instance, and what is the minimum sized opening. A 21" rev-a-shelf thing fits in a 21" framed cabinet but also sometimes in an 18" frameless cabinet and sometimes not. I'd advise being cautious and double-checking if in doubt. The other easy "trash pullout" is just to get the high drawer that fits for the size cabinet and drill the back of a door for the drawer attachment brackets. Stick a store bought trash can in it. Other 3rd party trash pullout units work just fine. Instant cubbies are called expedit shelves. They have all manner of containers available separately that fit into the cubbies. Plus some drawer and door inserts. You can use it in just about any orientation. For instance, an expedit 72" tall unit with a single column of cubbies, laid on its side and a cushion on top is called "bench with 5 cubbies". You can also look at the closet systems - PAX. They come in two depths and two widths. Fixed shelves at the top or bottom for cubbie space and some room for hanging clothes or hockey sticks. They can also have drawers and various attachments.

You have a lot of space, it's just not working very well, esp those little lips that pass for work spaces. If you could really re-do the entire space cost effectively, that would be best, not only for now but for longterm. Can you give us a good idea of what you have in budget and how much DIY you can expend? And where you are in the nation--climate, costs, labor, etc? One problem with planning on finding antiques and useful castoffs is that you will find them a week after you quit your search and commit to a plan B. Doesn't sound as if you have the luxury of time to collect useful stuff. I like to think that our G-shaped kitchen is somewhat like a farm kitchen. We can have 4 working cooks inside without saying "excuse me." We got new oak "shaker" cabinetry by a local guy at $8,000-10,000 and $3500 for finish and installation--you can avoid much of this if you re-use your oldies and work in some additional ones or perhaps just doors, trims, etc. We had to put in new floor and walls and plumbing and electrical fittings and had to marry three wood floors and accompanying walls, which was a big expenditure in time and money. You're in a better position--not making new spaces. As you note, you don't need to follow all the fanciest choices--we sure didn't for much of our project. I like the idea of Ikea butcherblock (we have two hunks of this in beech) but don't discount the new laminate countertops either. Don't feel the need to buy new appliances right now--you can leave standard spaces and swap out your stuff later. That's what we did--hard to trash or sell a 4 yr old Energy Star refrig so we didn't put it into a custom housing. When it dies or someone decides to trade it out, it can go. We have very modest appliances; affordable white enamel in sinks and appliances. If the old cabs are salvageable, it's possible to get doors to match new units. Or give your plain slab fronts a custom paint treatment, perhaps paint with one color and add a distinctive recurrent stencil motif along the bottoms of doors or such in a complimentary color. Then if the other new unit doors are similar, the motif can be used to make them match more. It's very important to plan for the young people when they become adults, or at least adult in physical presence. What will grown up women feel like in the space--you and a subordinate or co-cook? That collision potential was the worst aspect of our old kitchen and the best part of our better planned new space. I actually like other people better in an efficient kitchen than in an inefficient kitchen, or put it another way, my old kitchen made me dislike my own family sometimes. On one of my constant tirade topics, I recommend pullout breadboards/cutting boards to expand work surfaces and plunk space. Are your countertops less than 24 inches at present or do they just seem narrow? Eliminating the 1-inch backsplash at back give you another inch of room on counter. What amp electrical service do you have and how extensive will the work be to bring everything to code if it's not there already? Will you be opening up any exterior walls? If so, insulate, insulate, insulate. Even if it costs. Since you have marked that you are moving the sink, give yourself permission to really redo the room arrangement--you're committed to plumbing costs already. Strongly urge you to visit the paint counter each time you are in a store--ask about "mistake paint." One of our vendors gives it away; others ask $5 per gallon. This stuff might give you the freedom to paint insides of cabs & closets, clean up stained areas, etc. You can try some experiments with it too. Consider a movable work/island cart as a way to expand efficiency. If the floor cleans up but still looks sad, consider stencil painting a design on it, perhaps in a classic folk motif if that's your taste. Or just checks, stripes, rectangles for rugs, whatever. There are a lot of examples to look at and a wise pattern can reinforce or define a room's visual layout--walkpaths, work zones, etc.

I'm not on here often but I have a few suggestions that I think will work for you. Good for you for wanting to start a cottage garden! Cottage gardens started out as gardens of everyday rural people that were kept close to their homes for accessibility and to keep them safe from livestock and wildlife. Most of what was planted was either useful or it was something that would be easy (often native) to grow and attractive to cheer the homeowner. While improving the soil is a time-honored skill, there were limits to what they could do. Also, they were busy people that had to make a living so none of these were fussy plants. If you wish to improve your soil, simple is better than expensive and complicated. Collect your leaves this fall. chop them up a bit and put them into your soil or things like coffee grounds that are unlikely to be offensive to your neighbors. Just remember that soil improvement isn't a one time thing and this one will take time. Organic matter will loosen up the soil to improve drainage if that's a problem and make it arable. As far as changing the ph- you are far better off choosing plants that will appreciate or at least tolerate your soil's ph. Then walk through your neighborhood on a regular basis for about a year. See what's already growing there in conditions like your new garden and doing well and is something you like. If you can, ask the homeowner about it. Ask them where they got it. A lot of plants need to be regularly divided (like daylilies and iris) and the homeowner might be happy to give you a start or two. Some can be easily rooted, even some shrubs, and they might be willing to give you a cutting or a sucker. Others self-seed and they might be willing to share that with you, too. Don't take anything that requires special care or that requires constant spraying and/or fertilizing to succeed. So, free plants! And plants that are likely to be successful and easy care for you, too! They'll be the backbone of your garden. Until your plants get big enough to out-compete your weeds, you can put down several layers of newspaper topped with whatever you're using as mulch. Keep the newspaper away from the roots of your plants and only use a little mulch around the roots of your plants. You'll need to make sure that your plants' roots can get water and air. You can use chopped leaves as mulch if you need to economize. Hope this gets you started.