Front tines? Sounds like you've got a "shake n bake" tiller. I've got one similar. It has some good advantages and some real disadvantages, especially the front tine part that shakes you to pieces. First of all, don't try to till dry, hard ground, and second, don't try to till wet ground. Dry ground will get you nowhere, wet ground will make huge clods worse than not tilling at all. If the ground is dry, sprinkle it a bit, then let it dry a couple days so that the ground is moist but not wet and the water you added has soaked down into the ground--you don't want a wet surface with dry underneath, just a dryish crust, then moist going down. This will be the best consistency to get the tiller into the ground. Then, you may have to make several passes. When the soil is tough, a real strong person can hold the tiller back and kind of let it slowly bounce forwards across the garden. Then go over a second time, but don't follow your tracks exactly as the tines will not have cut the soil down evenly and there will be underground ridges to loosen. If you haven't gotten very deep after 3 or 4 passes, you probably won't get any deeper with 50. If the ground is really hard and you can get down 3 or 4 inches, stop with that. Work your composted manure into this and plant your garden. Even if the soil is loose later, you really don't need to till over 4 to 6 inches, and add organic matter--it isn't truly necessary, but it sure is helpful in keeping the ground loose and tillable in the future. Cover the walk rows with grass clippings in the summer, add well rotted manure when you work the ground each year. This will help keep the soil soft in the future so tilling won't be such a chore. As to the rocks, just pick and toss the large ones that the tiller bounces off of. Smaller, gravel sized ones can stay put. Good luck! One last thought--depending where you are in Nevada, make sure the ground isn't still frozen--that is like trying to till cement. If you find ice crystals in the ground, wait another few days to a week.

There is usually a rod with a pin in it in the back by your feet, you adjust that as to how deep you want to go.

I would not add anything that sticks out much into the walkway on that long wall...people's shoulders will whack them going by! And at the risk of horrifying everyone, I see no reason why you shouldn't paint the three walls of your kitchen a different shade from everything else, if you want to. A warm gold-toned tan would give a good backdrop to the things you want to use, and make the kitchen into a space of its own. I would also pull the ledge off the pass-through and add a generous countertop supported by big iron brackets on the family room side where your family and friends could sit while you are in the kitchen, and that you could use as a serving surface or bar. That would solve your no-table problem in a simple way. Since you don't have a window, your big wall is the ideal place for a really big mirror, the size of an actual window, which you could then surround with four prints that suit your style. I agree that you shouldn't clutter things up...you don't have the luxury of a lot of counter space, so you will need to keep your counters pretty clear of things that are only decorative. You can put something nice in the corners, though...Ballard has a group of white urns that are purely decorative, but you might do well at antique shops and fleas, too, and find things you can actually use (these are purely decorative). And I would hang that wonderful plaque on the larger wall over your fridge, so you can get it up higher and see it from the family room. Here is a link that might be useful: Ballard urns

Some thoughts: --Move sofa to face fireplace to create a walkway into the home. Place sofa far enough back so you don't have to crane your neck to watch TV placed over fireplace. (I rarely suggest that, but that could solve your entryway problem.) --Bring angled chairs in closer to sofa to create conversational grouping with front feet of all pieces on the rug. To make entryway more functional, place a narrow sofa table/console behind sofa. --Get sturdy nesting coffee tables that can be used as side table next to sofa. Pull out when guests come. --LooK for baskets for bottom two shelves of your Dad's bookcase and put kids' toys there. --Put your painting above your blue console.