cheryl, Yeah, and look at those average temperatures, combined with a more intense sun due to a lower sun angle. Also note that it is very common for July/August to be nearly rainless, or occur on one or two days for this location. For example I got 5.25" here last July.......... all on one day. Was almost 8 weeks before I got significant rain again, and it had been almost a month before the 5.25". Averages don't tell the whole story. Also click the link below for a more complete story of the averages. Note the 90 average high for weeks in July/August, and the very low "average" daily precipitation, but when it does rain it's often heavy, raising the "average". Plus that does not preclude that last summer was VERY hot and VERY dry, and my paperbark did fabulously in FULL sun which is what I am basing my POV on. I was dryer than the Fayetteville reporting station last summer. Check out last July: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tsa/f6/f6.php?siteName=Drake_Field_Fayetteville_Arkansas&month=Jul&year=2010 And August: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tsa/f6/f6.php?siteName=Drake_Field_Fayetteville_Arkansas&month=Aug&year=2010 Again north Virginia is cooler, lower sun angle, and regular precipitation with OP saying they water when dry. End result more friendly to a paperbark in direct sun that where I'm sitting. I was not trying to start and argument, however, the reality is what it is. Arktrees Here is a link that might be useful: Fayetteville Ar

ditto to the 2 raised beds, but not wider than 4'. The easiest beds to work for me by hand are 3'. It's handy to reach across & use fingers. Think about how you'll be balancing yourself to work the garden... Leaning over, standing up using a tool, on knees using hands? Fill the path with mulch material. (can be whatever you gather up & something different on top for looks -- cardboard, burlap, are good top layers if that's all you have) When you fill the path up, so it's no longer a ditch -- you can plant more closely to the edges of your garden & the mulch materials holds moisture. Plan how you'll water the plot before you plant. By hand with a bucket is manageable for your size plot, but plan on spending 1/2 hour doing it 2x a week or more depending on your summer climate/weather. A great watering tip for larger plants is to drill 2-3 small holes in the bottom of 2 liter soda bottles & bury them leaving the neck exposed so you have room to mulch, too. Then when you water also fill the bottle to slowly drip more water in your absence. It barely shows up once you're done with planting around it and once the plants grow will nearly be invisible. Plan ahead how you'll reach it. I like them at least 12" away from the stem of cucumber, tomato or squash. The roots will get what they need that way & I won't be disturbing them with bumping the bottle. Maybe even have that be your child's job to fill the jugs. My kids loved doing that when young. Another idea is to divide up the duties between the adults & child in your family. If you select some plants or an area to be yours to tend it encourages more participation because they own the area. Worked rather well when my children were young. Now hubby is helping more in the garden and selects some things to be his to tend. Makes it more fun for me, too! Someone is always -- in charge-- of the garden, so dividing up ahead of time can avoid some disappointment and arguments about how to -- work it--. Ask others at the community garden what they do -- should give you the local tips. Follow square foot gardening spacing & it will be easier for all of you to plant the garden together. OR just make short rows across your divided plot. Install the supports for your climbers (peas & beans) before you plant. Much easier that way. The simple supports work without breaking the bank. Scrap wood or tree prunings + brown twine can make beautiful supports once covered with beans no one will know you didn't buy the expensive obelisks. We don't bother to paint them because we don't want paint residues though our wood won't last as long. Even a wooden ladder can be put to use as a support. I use them and always get comments from other gardeners. The non-gardeners don't really like my repurposed materials and think of the rows instead of how I garden, so if you go that route be prepared for some comments from the other community gardeners. You don't list your zone. In my area we can grow a 2nd crop of cool season vegetables for fall - early spring harvesting. Very productive & less insect damage in the fall, plus the rain waters the garden for me. I wish your family the best in the gardening adventure. Remember that you will try some things this year, but you have next year, too. It takes years to develop your style & figure it all out to grow a lot of food for your family. When my kids were young we learned together. Then became teens & the garden was no longer an interest. Now my married daughter is growing a good amount of vegetables and fruits for their family. I would not have guessed she'd return to gardening when a teen. We had a lot of fun together as a family or just the kids and I playing games while we worked out there. Be creative with your child and they will work hard with you. I miss my little helpers now. Have fun together in the garden~ Corrine

Along with EE's heirarchy, the first step is to produce less waste. Meat - there's not much of it in my house. I used to be a hard core carnivore but somewhere along the line I lost my taste for it. Any meat scraps and bones go into a bag in the freezer for eventual use for making stock. After that, it goes in the trash. It may be going in the landfill but it's quite biodegradable. If you keep a hot compost pile you could compost it. Dairy - I can't recall the last time I had a dairy leftover unless it was the rind off brie, and that's edible (I just don't like it). Bread - Again, not a whole lot of waste here. Stale bread is good for making croutons or breading or soaking in gravy. Crumbs go in the bin. Moldy bread can go in the bin, too, just not too much of it. If your bread is getting moldy you've got a supply problem, not a waste problem.

LOL - I'm not sure what you are representing there. I think everything gets squashed up when you try to represent area. All I'm thinking about is the bedroom in question and the doorways. How about this. There is a rectangle which is roughly 13 feet by 10.5 feet. The Top wall is a 5 foot portion and an 8 foot portion of the nook. The Left wall is 8 feet and has a bathroom entry at the bottom. The Bottom wall is 13 feet and has the doorway at the far left side. The Right wall is 10.5 feet and has a window on it. At this point where do you put the closet? Let's say the closet is 5' x 2' - which is a nice size. -- If you put it on the Left wall it makes the doorways somewhat tunnel like. -- If you put it on the 5 foot portion of the Top wall it narrows one part of the room further to 6 feet but doesn't create a tunnel. Maybe this is better in that it creates a 5 x 6 nook with closet and two doorways, and then an 8 x 10.5 area. If you draw this out, does it make sense? And is this better than either the 8 x 13 room? or the 10 x 10 and move plumbing room? which you first wrote about. Rachel