I live in Rockdale County. Our garden is small - we live in the city limits of Conyers. Even though we don't have room for a garden big enough to have abundance for canning, I will share a few things since we are not too far from Madison. Lettuce has done fine for us as a spring crop. Heat turns it bitter very quickly. Others may have different experience, but for us, it is usually finished by early June. We have planted it as a fall crop with some success. We tried Brandywine tomatoes a couple of years ago and were mostly disappointed with them. I learned on the Tomato Forum that the early heat in Georgia can make it hard to grown them here since they are particularly sensitive to it. I was advised to get them in the ground as early as possible and the year we tried them, I was able to plant in March and keep them alive by covering them on a few cold nights. They grew beautifully, but we were disappointed with yield and also didn't think their taste was worth the effort. Other varieties have worked much better for us. Again, I have read others on the forum with much better results from Brandywine and also most people really like their taste. We planted Cayenne Peppers this year for the first time. I started them inside and we planted them out end of April. Very big harvest but it did seem like forever before they started turning red. Ours are still producing. The heat this summer did not bother them at all. (When you harvest, you may want to be sure to wear gloves. I found even the leaves of the cayenne pepper plants caused a burning sensation and I even got a rash from them.) Bell Pepper plants this year didn't do much of anything until the heat broke and then late in season they took off. Ours are still producing very nicely which I find a little odd. We always grow cucumbers but have found it necessary to keep them sprayed with insecticidal soap or we lose them early in the season. We usually do a second planting of them in July and we always train them on a trellis. You may already know about the following link, but if not check out the info. at the UGA site. If you search on Home Gardening, it will return a list of lots of good info. At one time they had publications on vegetable gardening plans for the home gardener. Here's hoping we get regular rain next season. Rain his winter would be fine with me also :~). Here is a link that might be useful: UGA College of Agriculture

Are you asking about the process of how they were designed? I was really most interested in the physical installation, and your pictures made perfect sense. These are inoperable windows, right? So they're more simple than, say, double hung windows, which include mechanisms for opening /closing. You were in complete control of what size windows you installed, right? I assume they're just a standard size? On top of the glass my handyman installed wood pieces to "frame" around the glass and make it look like it's part of the window frame. This "frame" then covered over the second lip (yellow arrow). I'm not sure it the glass was epoxied or siliconed in, but I do know the wood was nailed into the side frames so none of the glass window was compromised. So you could remove the wood /remove the stained glass ... say, if you wanted to move the decorative glass to a different location, or if your exterior window were broken? One concern I have ... and maybe it's dumb. One of my fellow teachers got into BIG TROUBLE over a window a few years ago: His cheap plastic blinds were broken, and his window faces the hot-hot west. His room was roasting and his afternoon students were complaining about the glare, so -- with no help in sight from maintenance -- he took several huge pieces of thick off-the-roll bulletin board paper, and he blocked off the window, sealing it with tape on all four sides. Unfortunately, he chose black paper. A few days later his class heard a boom ... gunshot? fireworks? car backfiring? No. It was his window breaking. He had inadvertently created a greenhouse (the windows are deep set ... you can sit in them) ... and the heat built up to the point that one of his windows broke. He was in BIG TROUBLE for breaking the window and for blocking off his class' emergency exit. So, my concern ... by placing glass-over-glass, you couldn't be setting yourself up for the same situation, could you? I think no. I think the stained glass wouldn't be caulked in /it wouldn't be tight /the wood would allow for expansion or ventilation. Did this topic ever come up with either the artist who made the glass or the handiman who installed it? I'd hate to think that such a lovely (and I'm sure expensive) item could break. In this case, I wouldn't think the exterior window could break ... not from heat. He mostly designed the gingko leaf kitchen window and I made some small changes in terms of scale and placement of the center gingko leaf. That is my favorite! I've visited two stained glass places ... one focuses mainly on doors, and the door to their shop is absolutely gorgeous: Dark wood door with a full-length glass oval ... in the oval, a pink dogwood tree in full bloom. Coupled with pier glass and overhead transom ... also with dogwoods. Note: I love dogwoods. I just had to stand on the porch a while. It was the most gorgeous piece of stained glass I'd ever seen. I wish I'd asked the price, but I strongly suspect I wouldn't be willing to pay it. Nope, dumb me, I just talked about cabinet insets. Thanks for this information.

I hope this information helps because I feel home is missing some storage and design functionality. I believe your site lines create a "bowling alley" effect which could be corrected by making a decorative half wall to living room with storage or columns, doors etc, also creating a nice foyer. Doors would help with noise going upstairs. Place pocket doors on billiards room entrance. Create focal point in living room with fireplace wall or tv wall. Must do a furniture layout to see what works for your family. Architects don't always incorporate family and decor functionality in my experience but you should find one that does. Do you want walls for art work, I couldn't tell where windows were located, which would affect this and furniture placement ? Don't want closet storage closet door in living room so widen closet so door can be at end of kitchen hall creating a very nice pantry . Jog created on LR side can be built in bookcase /storage. Could consider a double sided freestanding fireplace between LR and Dining room to create some division while still being open adding unique architectural element. Dining is very large, could consider adding small sitting space around kitchen or window seat. Do you want furniture in dining area like buffet because your window placement would be an issue. I think kitchen could have a couple of other design options.. Like extending garage hall, turning island to make other things work and add access to the outside and also redesign to enlarge master closet... It appears way too small. Even bump out kitchen to master wall. Consider moving laundry to the upstairs where most laundry is generated so should help with exercise room. Please get sizes of equipment and draw scale diagram for room. Then you can decide if large enough or doors can be moved. Home is a good size but a designer as well as architect could definitely, make this a more functional home... Like closets for coats, mudroom for everyday stuff, adding architectural interest, access to the outside, improved lighting, taking advantage of sun and winds, bump outs can be added for extra storage. Sorry for rambling, Hope it helps.

I'm still mulling over the best window options over here and figured I would simplify my questions to the following four I am still mulling over--keeping in mind I plan to be in my home for decades, so hoping to get a window that lasts! Material--would you recommend vinyl, fiberglass or fibrex for a midwest/broad temperature range climate? Warranty--would a lifetime warranty sway you into an inferior product? Sliders--when it comes to replacing two single-hung windows with sliders--do you think one brand outperforms others in this type of window? Anything to be aware of when choosing sliders over casement...other than the very slight difference in efficiency? Brands--I think I'm down to Window World, Marvin (Essential) or Andersen (100). Which would you choose and why?