gonefishin, I should have provided a litte more information. Haha... I don't want to hijack this thread...but maybe people making these cages will also be interested in spacing too! This is my first summer to have my garden up and running. So I can't speak from any experience, but I hope that my soil and setup will work out very well. It should be very fertile soil. Here is my setup: Raised garden bed: 20 feet long x 40 inches wide x 16 inches deep (made with split-face cinderblocks 2 high). Soil: I made my own with some inspiration from Mel's mix and SFG. Here is my mix... 1/12 part vermiculite. 1/6 part Soil Pep (Mostly decomposed bark/wood chips). 1/6 part compost from landfill (made from trees, bark, grass clippings, various greens composted for 1 year+). 1/4 part Nutri-Mulch (Turkey manure composted with wood chips). 1/3 part Peat Moss. I actually took the time to mix all of the above with a cement mixer before filling my raised bed with it. So it is well mixed and hopefully provide a lot of nutrients. Drainage should be great as well as water retention. I tilled the soil under my beds (silty-clay loam) before adding my soil. Climate, I live in UTAH near SLC. We are very dry here and pretty warm in the summer (90's usually). I wonder if I should consider one of korney19's triangle cages. If those are 10 feet total then I assume they are a little over 3 feet per side. That would fit about perfectly in my 40 inch space... Thanks again for any help. And sorry to hijack this thread with some of my questions slightly off-topic! (Although hopefully helpful to others as well)

I've been getting conflicting info about my kitchen situation and could use some advice. The home I just purchased has original encaustic tile, which as most know is concrete. It is sitting on a mortar bed, which in all is about 1" thick with the tile, if not more. We had intended to try and keep this tile, since it's nearly 100 years old, however, during demolition of the kitchen it suffered some more damage, and then I also found out it was going to cost me over $2000 to make up replacement tiles for an area in the kitchen which didn't have tile on it already (a porch had been enclosed many years ago and the prior owner just left that part "bare" and put vinyl tile over - never even bother to make the two floors even). FYI - I've already priced new encaustic type tiles, way too much money. I had hoped to keep a similar look but it would cost me around $5000 for the floor *gulps* Anyway, now we need to find an alternative to cover up the whole floor. I can't afford to take out the concrete. That, will cost me a small fortune between taking it out and creating an entire new subfloor. I do know that the easiest solution is to just put down ceramic tile over the whole thing (my contractor is going to even out the two floor areas). However, I'm wondering about floating another type of floor system over this instead. The rest of the first floor is original pine flooring. I found a reclaimed pine floor product, which could be floated - "Bordeaux" http://www.ecobydesign.com/shop/wood/bordeaux.html Does not match the planks of the rest of the house, however, since the kitchen is not seen from the living room or dining room, only the hallway but there is a small vestibule area between the hall and kitchen), I'm thinking this could be a interesting choice. I'd certainly prefer a wood floor over ceramic, would be so much more comfortable and more appropriate to the house (Craftman, 1915). Any thoughts on this, or any other type of wood or other floor system which might be possible? Thanks!

You have to imagine how you are going to use the space first. Do you like to spend time out side. You have lots of shade, so I imagine it would be pleasant under the eaves. Then, yes, set up a table and chairs to eat out side with a server. Conversation places, to lounge and talk, etc. Just as you would in a large indoor space. I love the look of the bertoia chairs, but I find them very uncomfortable to sit in for an extended period. A pair might be nice outside the master with a little table for a cup of tea in the morning or a glass of wine before bed and would be nice to look at otherwise. In a hot clime, I wouldn't want metal furniture because even the frames conduct and radiate heat. I'd look for teak or wood. In your price range you may be able to find an original designer who's work you like. Sometimes, for outdoors, all a wood indoor piece needs is a different finish, which you can order as for from a custom or original designer. There are thousands of brilliant furniture makers out there working in wood, Mark Tuckey comes to mind.

Dee, I'm in the Great Lakes region, and I bet your parents house was probably built about the same time, 1960s. I always thought of it as somehow Pennsylvania-looking, and when the original owner stopped by not long ago, she said the developer's name for this model was "Pennsylvania Farmhouse". So there! (Developers do have to take some liberties with their names, right?) The front walk does serpentine in front of the plantings over to the driveway. The bushes in front of the triple window are fronted by a curved bed of pachysandra (did I mention it's shady?) but something more interesting would be nice. We lost a flowering crab at that right-hand corner, it was so pretty. Regarding the lighting, the original brass fixtures by the doors are really pitted now, and I want to replace them with something smaller, and put flat, flush lighting in the porch ceiling for a "downward glow" instead of "light in your face". (I had a short thread about that some months back) I have a guy coming by this week to help determine what the posts are (do they encase a metal post?), how they are installed, whether they are holding up the porch roof, etc, so we can figure out whether to raise or replace the concrete floor. I have a closer-up shot of the house I've been playing with in Paint, I'll upload it later when I get to that computer. It shows everything better but the garage is cut off. Anyone know of a subtle, pale (but not pastel-y) sage green that might look nice on the siding?