In your situation I would suspect that I had a lot of Nitrogen and probably not enough of the other vital plant nutrients. Even after getting a good mix of composts I was apparently short on Phosphorus last year, and my radishes and carrots did not produce the nice, big, roots that they should have. I would add either bone meal (if you want to go organic and are willing to risk giving critters an incentive to dig up your garden, or one of the synthetic phosphorus supplements). Then there is Potassium, which can be supplemented by adding wood ashes, 'greensand' (no idea what it is, it's one of those things I keep reading about from time to time (apparently a ground up sandstone from long ago which is rich in potassium...)) (Thank you Wikipedia.) Anyhow, I suspect a little extra nutrition will go a long way for you. Hopefully I will be able to report on the progress of my radishes shortly. I added bone-meal this spring, and so far my garden hasn't been dug up, hopefully I mixed it in well and didn't leave any lumps... Here is a link that might be useful: Information about plant nutrients.

My neighbors in Arizona tried to keep the rabbits out of their yard, as they had planted a bunch of new citrus and palm trees. They heard you could put mothballs out and it would keep the bunnies away, so they scattered them all around their yard. Neighbor said she looked out the window the next morning, and a rabbit was trying to sit on a mothball! So THAT didn't work. At our place we feed the wild rabbits twice a day. They fill up on alfalfa pellets and never eat our plants. Granny Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

We are putting in our first beds this year so I don't have any experience feedback yet but here's what we have: 4 beds, 4x8 ...I like the size but everyones needs are different--i like to share and preserve and there are five of us. Sides are built out of hardipanel. We had some left over from a house project so materials were free--I was unable to find much information online about using this material for raised beds, nothing negative at any rate. We didn't use Mels Mix but kind of mimicked it with what we could find--we went with Green Choice Organics in Forney, they sell a vegetable garden blend of loam and compost and we had them mix in 25% expanded shale in place of the vermiculite--research the expanded shale for sure, its supposed to be way better than vermiculite. (It came to $35/yard including delivery and tax) Then we also mixed in a cubic yard of our own homemade compost. I plan to buy some composted manure to use for my add-a-scoop-of-compost bit to add another source of compost. As far as sun, our beds will get full sun from about 10-11 o'clock on. We may put a more shaded bed on the other side of the house in the future if we need to. Good luck! :)

I assume you know that a redone $20,000 kitchen is considered a modest kitchen in an existing space. But, we've seen $2,000 redos--mostly cosmetic--that really spark up a tired space. What shape is your roof in? Is there an easy way to meld the new and old roofs or will you need to redo the entire roof? What new windows are you contemplating? Will you need any external or internal door(s)? Is landscaping a part of the project? How will you handle the ceiling treatment? Are you buying new appliances? Are you hoping to match a floor? Is there any impact with cost implications for the existing house room(s)? How easy is the plumbing access? the drain and hood venting? the sewer and gas connections? Are there any materials matching issues, such as woodwork? Are you planning to add more money to the pot at a later date or is this the max you can spend? Do you harbor any dreams, illusions, or strong hopes that will interfere with strict adherence to modest- to low-cost goals? Don't neglect to budget for the unseen costs: e.g. One thing we did not budget for in our DIY project is the cost of renting equipment, such as shingle stapler and floor nailer and dolly. Don't forget cost of building permit. Plan a minimum of 10% and more like 25% for surprises. Look for local advice. Go talk to a couple contractors and your State ag. extension agent if there's one.