Sage Lover, You didn't mention whether or not deer were a problem, if they are then I'm not sure my info will be of help. I'm in Northern Dutchess County in NY, zone 5. We've had a problem with hemlock wooly adelgids killing off hemlocks. But it doesn't sound like that is your problem. Almost all evergreens need well-drained soil, they don't like wet feet. I know in my area that there has been a drought this summer with limited rain, but evergreens still have a problem with compacted soil. i have some compacted soil. Basically this soil does not allow the water that does arrive to drain through the soil. The water tends to accumulate just below the surface and rot the roots of a plant. I've had to plant things that can deal with wet feet in my compacted soil-- black-eyed susans, liatris, red twig dogwood, solidago. If you want to grow evergreens on top of compacted soil then your best bet is to create some type of berm or mound at least 2 feet tall of good soil to provide drainage. Yews, Ilex, Pieris and rhodos are examples of shade-tolerant evergreens. Hemlocks should also work provided that the adelgid bug hasn't reached your area. For me personally, if I had known that I had compacted soils and the associated planting problems associated with it i would have had someone come in with a bulldozer and dredge out at least 2 feet of the compacted area and add new topsoil.

It sounds like it should be good enough for a 1+ pound tomato to me. Delicious has never done all that well for me, others have done much better. I am also under the impression that watering every day encourages shallow root growth which causes them to dry out fast and not go deep searching for the moisture and nutrients like they should. I do not know if this will work or not, but here is what I have done. Two soil tests this spring said that my soil is in excellent shape basically, with only a couple of elements like zinc being a little low. From ammending heavily over some years, the clay beneath my topsoil has become conditioned so that I am convinced that it holds nutrients and moisture much better than it did in the beginning, and that roots can go deep into it. I recently obtained a trailer load of premium aged, composted and have spread an inch or so on the surface of my . I then opened a deep furrow with my plow and put strowed a generous strip of the horse manure in it, followed by an equal amount of my good home made compost made of many diverse fruits, veggies, shredded leaves and kitchen scraps, along with a strip of fine some handfulls of epsom salts and some powdered all purpose fertilizer like you put in a hose end sprayer. I then covered the row and soaked it down good to settle and work until my little are big enough to transplant. I am running late with them, health reasons delayed my getting them started, but by the time they are ready the ground should be good and warm and the danger of frost past. I have a number of the varieties that have the genetics to make big tomatoes, including Big Zac, Mortgage Lifter, Big Beefsteak, Neves Azorean Red, Burpee's Porterhouse Beefsteak, Supersteak, Box Car Willie, Amish Big Rain Bow, Cherokee Purple, Aunt Gerties Gold and a few others. I grow as a hobby for taste, and productivity but have not tried anything extra for a big tomato like pinching blooms, pruning etc. thus far. I may devote one or two plants of a couple varieties for that this year, to see if some will beat this that I grew last year. I had several others of similar size. I do use soak hoses and lots of good shredded oak leaves for mulch and deep soak my rows when needed. If I get anything worth bragging on, I will come back and post a picture. Bill P.

Not sure why it is weird, but it is the 55 qt size that you said Scotts lists as one size it comes in. So, again, not sure why its weird. I could probably get something else at Agway since they will special order sometimes but the price would be quite a bit higher. Walmart only carries the mix with the moisture control and so does Costco. HD might in smaller bags only, but I am not sure. Last year they only had the moisture control in large bags. Mostly I would have to mix my own and mixing large amts of soil does not appeal at all. I went store to store a couple of years ago looking for the non-moisture control for transplanting seedlings at the advise of people here and gave up. I never found it. Only garden soil and potting soil that are way too heavy, not in the potting mix. Most of my plants go into the garden, I only have about 2-3 in pots last year and will probably have 3 this year. Just for that it is going to cost me about 60.00 in potting mix, and thats a lot for tomatoes, lol. (Well, a couple of pepper plants in there, too.)

Thanks everyone for your great comments! Buehl, love your idea but sadly, no, I can not close up that window. It is the window to the street, the porch and I love it. Even if I didn't love it the Historic Preservation people would never let me get rid of it. So it stays. It sounds like you all agree adding the fourth counter makes it too small. What if the counter was 18 inches instead of 24? Would 6 inches help much? I still need storage underneath. Bmorepanic - you are not the first to propose cutting down the other side. A second designer I hired suggested cutting that down to a 15-18 inch pantry only (pantry for dishes, not food - food pantry has a good home) floor to ceiling piece of furniture painted a different color. I actually love the idea but here's the rub...that counter is totally our favorite place to work. Our dishes are in the uppers there and that works with where the d/w is...we hate to mess with that part of the space. I am thinking I could make something that was a pantry-like cabinet but still had a counter...not as deep but we could still prep over there... and keep the 24 under the other window. My husband and I don't love the bigger counter moved to under "street" window because it is weird to face the street while you are prepping...and at night the blind comes down and that is even more strange. At the other counter you are facing whoever is sitting at the counter so that seems a happier place to work. Our goal in adding the counter under the window was to have a place to plate the food out of the oven. We also have to have room to store: all kitchen gizmos, pots and pans (we have alot) but I think we could also hang some. I would also love to have a spice drawer, pull out pantry for oils, and a tray storage. Am I high to think I can get all of that in? I know if I go shorter than 20inches it won't happen. Ugh! I can tweek my plan now but I have to decide by Monday if the counter under the "street" window is 24 inches or less. If it is going to be 24 inches then I have to reconfigure the garden window so the sink can be centered. If it is under 24 inches then I can tell my GC to center the garden window and take another week to figure it all out. But not much more. I would love to hear more ideas - it is so helpful to get input from people who understand kitchens as opposed to someone who designs kitchens. My guy threw boxes and uppers everywhere and now I fear I am cooking in a space the size of an airplane bathroom. Here is a link that might be useful: amacs renovation blog