Interesting post. You should put it on some of the wine bulletin boards like Wine Spectator and Mark Squires and Robin Garr's board. But you didn't ask clear enough questions. For example, everyone would want to pay one dollar a month to store hundreds of cases. You might want to rephrase that question - how much would you pay monthly to store a case? Also, a lot of people want direct delivery to their storage from wineries and stores. So you might ask if they want to be notified on delivery arrival and if they want the delivery checked. Those services will be extra, but if you bought futures and they come several years later, you want to be sure that all the bottles are there, not leaking, etc. And temperature is critical. The cooling and backup cooling system are concerns, as is the ability of the recieving dock to notify you if the wine is actually warm when it arrives. I wouldn't want a delivery from an unrefrigerated truck in August. And handling charges are important. Do you want to be able to get a bottle(s) a month or year for no charge, or will you be happy to pay a fee every time you take out a bottle. And if you want deliveries, what kind of advance notice and what kind of fee will you be willing to pay? But geography is most important in your survey and you didn't ask about it. In NYC, where I live, people will pay for every service because if you don't have a car, traveling around or out of the city for a bottle is a waste of your day. Somewhere like Indianapolis, it is a different story - you tend to be driving anyway. So you should tailor your questions to the site you are considering, or ask people to ID where they are answering from because the responses will be meaningless if they address questions that are of no concern in your area. That means in Chicago and NYC, having a doorman take delivery for you might be important, but in places without high rises, that will not be an issue. Anyway, best of luck. My storage facility shut down last summer, and I think there's a market in places like NYC and Chicago.

Sorry I disappeared. We had an unexpected car buying event, and the new car needs some attention. The good news in your jar test is all that stuff floating on top is organic matter. That's a good percentage. And I'm not at all surprised about the mix. You're so close to the river that it sort of had to be sandy. You might actually be able to find soybean meal in Riverside. About 10 years ago I was looking in the Temecula area for feed store organics. The only thing I could find was soybean meal. It was $40 for a 40-pound bag, though. That's ridiculous. Even commercially bagged organic fertilizer was less than that. The key thing you're looking for in organic fertilizer is protein. The protein usually comes in the form of alfalfa, soy, corn, flax, and cottonseed. Sometimes they will add animal byproducts such as feather meal. All the grains, nuts, and beans will decompose and become available in a week or two. Feather meal takes forever the first time you use it, but if you use it at least annually it will decompose faster and faster each time. But feathers really boost the protein, so manufacturers will sometimes put it into an otherwise weak mix. You also will see poultry litter listed as an ingredient. As far as I'm concerned, that stuff is between good and great. You can't use it fresh in any quantity, but by the time it's been bagged, it's good for the lawn.

I am definitely liking the dishwasher to the right of the sink. If I do that, I do think there would need to be another cab to the right of the dishwasher to store the dishes. I also think it would be great if we could remove the wall to the dining room except the part that runs along the cabs in the lower right. It would really help to tie the dining room and kitchen together especially since this isn't an eat-in kitchen. I am still letting all of the other great ideas settle. My original plan had a peninsula in the upper left. Buehl - I think you said you had ideas for a peninsula. I would love to see any ideas. A peninsula would be great because it would give my kids another place to eat snacks and do homework. It would be great as a serving place. The cons of course are a reduction in walking space and constriction. Having those corners also really reduces the amount of long counterspace or other useful places to put things along the wall. Do you think I should skip a peninsula? Does anyone have ideas for one? I see that a peninsula could be on either side. If it is near the dining room it might constrict it too much. If it is on the family room side it would really reduce the counterspace. That's why I had it extending into the family room as much as I thought was feasible. I should add that because we live in SoCal and our house is small, most people eat outside for our large parties (except Thanksgiving and Xmas). So it is better if the serving area is on the left side of the kitchen. However, the left side of the kitchen plus the right side of the family room is where many people stand during our parties. Anyway, I would appreciate it if any of you had some great ideas (or not) for a peninsula before I head down the road of a straight galley kitchen. You guys have been so helpful, thanks!!

I'm in Oceanside Cali,and i saw a hibiscus bush last week that was covered in whitefly.I was just driving by and it caught my eye.When i go out again,and it won't be today,i'll check to see if it's still there and get back to you,via this post. I grow a lot of hibiscus,but we keep the bugs under control on ours. Kathi