Hi Brent... thank very much for your feedback! Always nice to hear some others' opinions. Sorry about all the pics... I knew there were lots so gave fair warning in the subject heading + resized them all! :) I, too, like evergreens... but what was the deciding factor for me was that the city planted 7+ spruce outside my fence in the park already (see pic #5). Just thought it may have been a bit much for my taste. Part of the reason for the paper birches was to give some different colours (white bark + turns nice yellow in the fall). They say that birches survive in poor soil conditions... but I still think they are a bit finicky. So we'll see how they do... When I have guests we usually sit up on the deck or are in the hot tub. People generally don't venture down into the lawn area. I guess not much to look at down there yet until stuff starts growing up and filling in. The river rock was actually an extension of the rock that I put in along the south side of the house last year... more for functionality than anything else. I just found that the south side of the house was frying the grass... no amount of watering would save it so cut it out and installed the decorative rock. I kind of like the effect of the rock and the bluestem... reminds me of the cottage. But of course different strokes for different folks. The kids factor could be an issue sometime down the road (gulp). I'm a single guy for now with no kids... but you never know that can always change...! Thanks again for your opinions... really like to hear what others think. Especially people who are into it enough to read up landscaping stuff on the forums. Cheers!

Oh yeah, fresh from the garden is the best. We finally had a couple days of below-90, so I'm eating again. Maybe I shouldn't... I lost 10 pounds in the past couple weeks, lol. Cucumbers vinegrette, DH likes it with red tomato slices and thinly sliced onion. Green beans, steamed and with a sprinkle of dill. Braised baby squash seasoned with rosemary. Kale, chopped and dipped in hot water, served with bacon bits scattered. All out of the garden, except the bacon and the rosemary. What's with this kale, anyway? It doesn't know that it is a cold weather crop! It ignores the sun and humidity and just keeps on producing the tenderest, mild leaves.

CSA - community support agriculture. Basically like a community farm, people pay you to grow produce for them. You can do 5 members or 100. It's got some advantages over doing farmer's markets, but that's also debateable. Basically, you grow the produce and the deliver boxes of it to subscribers (or they come pick them up). Most subscribers pay in the beginning of the season which really helps because when farming, that's when cash flow is needed the most. Good point about the water. I think my concern was, since I've never actually done the lasagna beds before, is that if I don't water the layers quite well then wouldn't the weeds underneath the cardboard on the bottom have an easier time surviving? I thought it was the combination of the wet & thickness of it (plus the weight of the mulch on top) that killed off the grass beneath. Am I incorrect in my thinking? I was only thinking about doing the watering initially when establishing the beds, but I wouldn't worry about it after that, as I add more mulch over the years. And another good point about the trees. Those will definitely be going in ASAP as $$ allows. My husband and I are both students and so cash flow is tight but plan on getting quite a few fruit/nut trees by the end of the summer for sure. If I have to start them from seed, I'll get it done.

I'm not sure what the going rate for installing tile is in your area, but in mine, I've found that it runs $5-7/sq ft (not including the tile, grout, thinset, etc.) which can easily run the cost up quit significantly depending on what tile you choose. The going rate for hardwood floors in my area (the sand and finish kind) is around $8.00/sq ft. Luckily, we are getting ours for around $6.50 sq ft because of a friend (4" red oak). Therefore, we are opting to replace all flooring that we can (with the exception of the two kids' bathrooms) with hardwood. It's cheaper, warmer, doesn't have grout lines to clean, and can be refinished if needed. I would seriously consider declawing the "puppy" and refinishing the wood floors. Changing out tile in the future will cost a ton in demo and I think that most buyers are fond of hardwood floors, with many HATING tile.