So this is my first year gardening. In impressed with my self. My hubby laughed at me when i told him that i was gonna start a garden. I am known to have a black thumb. So i started my own seeds inside but that didn't quite work out. Lots of newbie mistakes but i learned a lot. Its the process right. So then it took weeks to get the garden itself ready another learning experience and a lot of work. I did it all wrong. I found this forum a little to late. Now i know what to do this fall to better prepare my soil for spring. Another lesson learned. So Im impressed with myself. I have proved my hubby wrong and Im having fun. The only thing in not impressed with is my lettuce so ill have to try this Nevada lettuce you are talking about where can i get it? I live in middle Tennessee and Im limited to were i have to shop. I just signed up for a ton of mail order catalogues last night. Lol I even find myself dreaming about gardening.

I just hope I can keep her alive all winter! She seems to love her spoton the deck. Just one problem.... The beetles are choking down on her leaves :( I'm organic so I've been spraying 'jAcks deadbug juice" but it's not really helping. Anyone else have a beetle problem?

Wow, lots of ideas! And the domino effect at work, as always. I think it is important for me to tell you the things I hate the most about my current set up -- (1)Having the refrigerator all the way down there, where my prep space gets invaded by people needing something from the fridge or sink. I want to keep the people on the other end of the island where they are not in my way. (2) Not having enough of an aisle on the right side. On my current island, I have 24" base cabs on the left side and a bank of 12" deep cabs and then the overhang, making the island counter 49" wide. I was planning to eliminate the 12" deep cabs, making the island narrower (42")for more aisle space (44-45"). I HATE climbing under the overhang to get anything out of those 12" cabs. (3) The 24" deep pantry cabints, where everything gets lost and there is so much wasted space -- also don't think I would like to have pullouts in a cab like that -- just see the tops of cans and can't stack stuff. I am planning to move one of these tall deep cabs to my laundry room for pantry overflow like Costco stuff and infrequently used appliances, and I have a backup top freezer refrigerator in there (it is just around the corner from the kitchen). (4) Having the cooktop on the island because it means that the island where people always want to gather around is a messy area -- is this concern a reason to keep the sink off the island? (5) The stupid little shallow side of my sink where the disposal is -- worthless!(6) The desk -- just a place that collects clutter, which you can see from the front hall. (7) Looking into the kitchen at a refrigerator instead of a pretty hood. I REALLY want the kitchen to have a custom look to it -- not just a run of ordinary cabinets. If I am spending this much money, then it needs to have some "wow" or I will feel like I failed. So in some cases, I am willing to sacrifice a little function if it means I get the look. Things I like about my current kitchen -- not much, except the work space at the current refrigerator end of the island and having a stool at the island. Now to the nitty gritty: buehl: I see your logic of moving the sink to the back wall, but that means that I couldn't have the staggered height where the cabinets next to the hood step down (and I really like the look of that) -- which requires that the cabinet on the angle be deeper(16")than the ones flanking the hood, and that wouldn't work with a sink there, would it, because of the crown? Plus I was planning to hide my toaster oven just to the left of the refrigerator, like I do now in that space. Then, there is the point about "social needs of the cook" -- this is big for me, bmorepanic. That range end of the island is my favorite prep place because I can see out the window, and talk with people at the island or table, and see the TV in the family room beyond. But I do worry that having the sink on the island would limit my prep space, since the island is only 42" wide (counter), but I would be able to move to either side if I needed more space, and I do that now, actually, with the cooktop on the island. I thought if I had a cutting board to cover the sink when not in use, that I could set things on it when I didn't need water. But I have struggled on whether to include the prep sink at all, truthfully, because I so love that counter space at that end of the island. It does really bug me though to juggle prep with someone else needing the main sink. I thought, too, with the DW where I had it that 2 people (pref my kids -- ha!) could actually load the DW after entertaining and holidays. By making a bigger aisle on the refrig side in your plan, the hood then is not centered on the back wall -- I think this would feel "off" to me. About the seating area -- these are just 2 little stools that slide all the way under the overhang, and used by me looking at cookbooks, for example, or my daughter eating a bowl of cereal, or 1 person talking to me while I prep. It is not a main seating area, by any means, and I REALLY want at least one stool there. Still, I have stools there now, and have always felt that there is not enough space in that aisle -- my aisle currently is only 39", so I thought increasing it to 44-45" as in my current plan would be a big improvement. I have debated whether it would be more convenient to have the refrigerator or the ovens on the left, closer to the range. The right position impacts the stools more -- so is it better to have the refrigerator on the left to avoid the stools, or is it better to move the refrigerator to the right so people come less into my space, with the oven and MW closer to the prep area. The island landing zone is more convenient from the left position -- more important for fridge or ovens? I am wondering why you moved the dishwasher to the other side of the sink? Form over function -- having refrig drawers on the end of the island would not make for a "pretty" end of the island, which you see from the family room. But I guess I could put the fridge drawers in the cab on the left end of cabinet run rather than in the island. Do you think the pantry I have in my plan is a bad idea? I thought if I had narrower pullouts, that I would be able to see what's on them from either side when they are pulled out, and then have the middle section for bigger stuff like bags of chips, etc. I keep my baking stuff (flour, baking powder), and lunch making stuff like peanut butter, single serving chips, cookies, lunch bags, ziplock baggies, etc. over at my breakfast/lunch center, where the toaster oven is, which is where you have the prep sink; and I keep oils, spices, etc. near the cooktop. I like having those things at point of use. So the pantry will be more for things like cans/jars/bottles where you typically use up the whole thing,and snack foods like popcorn (microwave) bags of chips, cereal boxes. I keep small appliances in the corner lazy susan. I figured the top part of the pantry cabinets could be used for deeper serving pieces. I also have a walk-in bar (with a sink) across the walkway to the right of the pantry area, so I thought the upper shelves of the middle section could be used for bar glassware overflow. That pantry area is very visible from the seating area on the covered patio, so it would be nice if it were attractive. Here in AZ we spend alot of time out there -- no mosquitos -- yay! So, that is my thought process. I so appreciate your help. Do you need more info or pictures? I especially wonder how I could still get my "look" if I were to move the prep sink to where you suggest. And why you moved the DW? I was trying to keep the trash/recycle right next to the sink so as not to drip across to the island, and also closer to the table since that is where everybody puts the mail trash/recycle. Also, I noticed that you put an easy reach wall cab in the left corner, so you agree with palimpsest that the angled one looked awkward? Moving the fridge drawers and prep sink off the island could also mean they wouldn't have to sawcut the floor for plumbing maybe, unless my DH won't budge on his insistence on ice/water in the fridge door :) Thanks for all your help!

I love UK Persil although I have not tried the tabs. I am currently using liquid Small & Mighty Persil (Regular and Colour). It works really well and smells so good! Definitely one of my favorite detergents. On that note, my DD is coming home for the holidays in a few weeks. I'm wondering if I should ask her to bring any new laundry products home from Scotland...