Jude: You're going to have challenges with warm weather crops if you're on the coast. Not that you can't, just compared to East County, production will be limited. You might want to call the master gardener's extension and ask them what varieties do well there or call Walter Andersens's in Point Loma. regarding the lacewings, I'm going to order online from rincon-vitova. I called City Farmer's Nursery(usually very helpful) and great organic product. And they said that they could order lacewings for me but then left me on hold so I just decided I'll get them online. Also, I had problems with ladybugs taking off also until this year-- they came to me! I attribute this to creating an environment for the adults to propagate by planting beneficial attracting flowering plants that flower at different times of the year. Research IPM(Integrated Pest Management) and you'll learn loads. I'll attach a link of some general plants you may want to plant. The cantaloupes -- a far amount is fruiting right now and have already picked about a half dozen. I just don't know if the plants are going to be able to hold out from the damage I exposed them to. Good luck. Kevin Here is a link that might be useful: benefical list This post was edited by woohooman on Sat, Jul 27, 13 at 18:08

Thanks, Chris! Some excellent points that made me realize I left some stuff out and need to consider some stuff I hadn't thought of much... Sinks - my software only gives me a double sink choice. I am leaning toward single bowls for both, or maybe a 1+1/2 for cleanup. Undecided. I tend to pop stuff in the dw immediately, too. Hate to have stuff taking up counter/sink space that doesn't need to be out anymore. Trash - I guess I could add a can under the cleanup sink. That is about our only option right now for the trash, and no one can get to it if someone is at the sink. So maybe we just have a couple of bins - one for prep, one for cleanup. We can put our kitchen scraps in our yard waste bin for the trash company to take for composting, so we actually have trash, recycle and scraps that we collect. I am still undecided on how to locate & handle all those. Right now we have our recycle bin in the mud room and it hasn't bothered me much. Frig landing space - I don't have this shown in the renderings, but I am thinking about putting in a type of flipper door appliance garage in the gap that would normally be between the base cabs and upper cabs in the stretch to the left of the frig. We'll keep the toaster, mixer and maybe coffee machine there. The doors can be left open to act as a landing for the frig, and then when we are entertaining and want it to look neat, we can close it all up. It won't be 24" deep, only 16-17. But I'm hoping that will be enough. I should have a couple feet next to the frig to use for that. Glass storage - It is a bit of a hike. I need to think about that. I think I am going to have filtered cold and hot water at the prep sink, so I've been planning to have the glasses on that side, but near the frig. I will have to do some testing in my current kitchen to see how the distance there feels. Seating area at bar - I do have it at about 2 feet right now. I have my dining table placed exactly where the counter/bar would be to see what it feels like. I had it at three, and it seemed like a waste of space because only one person can fit in that little "nook" where there is only two feet between bar and wall (so going behind that person isn't an issue). I do need to make sure that it doesn't get too close to the furniture we have in the family room, or make it feel like the kitchen is half way in the family room. Perhaps I will take some real pictures of the setup and see what people think. I love that you think we could dance in this kitchen. That is what I want! Roooooom! But that temptation to squeeze in ever more storage is strong, so it has been hard to balance the storage need with my desire for room and lots of windows as I've been considering layouts. Thanks!

Typical cat, lol! I never found the tape traps or vinegar traps to be of much use. 1/4 c rubbing alohol + TBsp dish soap (or baby shampoo) + water filled to the 25 oz. line in my spray bottle, applied every 3 days for 2 weeks, is my non-"chemical" go-to for most pests, fungus gnats, included. If I get a terrible mealybug infestation that won't go away with "natural" (read: bee-friendly) remedies, I do not hesitate to pull out the big guns (systemic imidacloprid). I always treat all my plants withthe systemic right after they are brought inside for the cold weather seasons. By the time it is warm enough to move them back outside for the warm seasons, the systemic is mostly "flushed" out.

this happened to me once ... and forever after.. i sterilized my media .... bleached out all the gizmos... tools.. etc .... and started operating room clean ... and quit loving them to death by over watering .... and never had the problem again ... and some things were able to grow to enough size that i could get them out.. and some trays i just threw out .... basically.. you need to get rid of that media ... and either bare root and move the seedlings .. if they are large enough .... but sometimes.. you just have to start over ... and if you can transplant them.. they need to be isolated from the old stuff ... perhaps in another room ... until all the old media is gone ... without knowing what your propagator is.. etc.. it is impossible to go much further ... the real catch 22 is that you have to water in .. the suggested remedies.. and crikey.. you dont need more water ... i was a big hockey fan when this happened ... and the light stand happened to be in the family room with the old type tv [not digital] .... on a good day i could barely follow the puck ... and it was no better.. with a swarm of gnats in front of the warm tv... lol .. it was maddening on many levels. ... lol ken http://tipnut.com/sterilize-soil/