In most zone 5 regions, you still have time for containers. In fact, what you really should do to minimize weeds, is to cover the area you want to effect with a thick layer of compost and mulch to smother the grass and other weeds. Then you can dig down to the soil in spots to plant the sprouts from your containers. What you need to do is give the flower sprouts a head start and handicap the grass/weeds. If you just throw seeds down, the weeds already have strong root systems developed and the seeds/sprouts won't stand a chance. You could also cover the weeds with black plastic as soon as you have a day without snow. The plastic will help to warm the soil and start the weeds growing. But, they won't have any sun and they'll die. No matter what you do, I'd recommend mulch between any desirable plants. It will prevent seeds brought in by the wind from sprouting, and it will make pulling undesirables much easier. As far as the compostable containers, they have certainly been tried. Many report that they dry out too fast because the container tends to wick the moisture from the potting mix. The newspaper idea has also been tried. Many like to make smaller newspaper pots and put several of them into a milk jug to increase the number of types of seeds per container. Again, there is the drying issue, but it works well for some. One of the fun parts of wintersowing is trying different systems and finding what makes it the most fun and convenient for you. Hope that helps. Martha

"A dead thing goes with the stream, only a living thing can go against it." G.K. Chesterton, Everlasting Man

I took annkh's idea of creating an L kitchen with island and ran with it. :) I completely missed how wide your kitchen area is earlier and how much wasted space you have by not using more of the area between window wall and fridge wall. So I added more wall to the office area to give you a longer range wall. Then I moved the fridge over to the window wall with the DW and sink next to it, creating a good work triangle. I moved some of your existing cabs to fill in the space left behind when I moved the fridge so you're still using them. And then I gave you a nice-sized island with room for 3 seats and lots of storage. You can even top it with butcher block, either all of it or just the end closest to the range. [Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Rehoboth Beach Home Builders Echelon Custom Homes [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Louisville Kitchen & Bath Designers Kenneth Fromme [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Atlanta General Contractors Blake Shaw Homes, Inc This plan still leaves very generous aisles between island and run of existing cabinets and between island and W/D closet but you won't be running around the kitchen to make a meal nearly as much as you would with your proposed plan. btw, I had to guess on the length of the fridge/sink wall. Your drawings didn't include the whole length of the space, only measurements for portions of it. I did the best eyeballing of "hmm, it looks like it's about X long" and went from there. Ditto for how much room you gain by lengthening the office wall. Obviously, you'll need to double check my numbers. This is just to give you an idea of what is possible. Oh, I forgot to note that the MW is a MW drawer in the island across from the fridge run.

I add my hopes that all of you dealing with cancer, and folks dealing with other incapacitating illnesses, may have a good day for Christmas and that it may be a happy occasion for you and yours. Thankful that, as someone said, great strides have been made in terms of dealing with many kinds of illness, I pray also that your treatments may be successful and that you may be restored to good health. Good wishes for a better New Year: may it bring the fulfillment of some of your hopes and dreams. (((((folks coping with cancer ... and other difficult health problems))))) ole joyful