I think that tomatoes from The Dwarf Project are perfect for your garden if they will produce well in our heat. I have tried several before (Rosella Purple, Dwarf Mr. Snow and some other one whose name I forget) but it was in horrible dry, hot years where they did not produce well at all, and they started producing really late. I am growing seven varieties from The Dwarf Project this year and all of them have done very well so far. With more normal weather conditions this spring than in the other years I grew them, I am hoping for better results. The ones I started from seed on Super Bowl Sunday are growing in the ground (I was going to plant them in containers but decided I wanted one of each in the ground too) and about to bloom any day now....if not today, then tomorrow. You do practically need a machete to make your may down my garden paths in summer. It is nice and neat and orderly in April, and by May is nicely filled in and looking good. Then, in June it becomes a jungle. I kinda like the jungle look, but it does make working in there challenging at times.

Countertop materials are a surprisingly difficult decision. There are a lot of compromises between form and function: Granite: heat resistant, scratch resistant, stain resistant if you pick a darker and harder variety, otherwise risk of stains. Small risk of chips when using zero-radius edges; can be repaired. Overall, a great and very functional material, but can look dated. Marble: heat resistant, mostly scratch resistant, stains easily. Small risk of chips when using zero-radius edges; can be repaired. Great material for a backsplash, but for countertops you need to be careful about stains. Soapstone: heat resistant, scratches easily, stains easily. If you don't mind the looks of a "living" material, soapstone is gorgeous and highly functional. It'll develop a natural patina that some people enjoy a lot. Quartz: sensitive to heat, scorches and cracks if exposed to high heat, mostly scratch resistant (and can be repaired), very low risk of chips. Many colors. Modern look. If you are careful about not resting hot pots on the counters, and if you order a heat-shielding backguard for your stove, then many people are happy with quartz. On the other hand, if you order a high-BTU stove with an island trim, then you absolutely cannot use quartz. It's virtually guaranteed to get damaged at some point. Stainless Steel: heat resistant, stain resistant. This is another "living" material. It'll develop a natural pattern of scratches, if used as a countertop. If you don't mind that, it's a very nice and easy to use material. Also, it'll show fingerprints unless you polish it after each use (and who does that!). As a backsplash, scratching and fingerprints can be avoided, and in fact stainless steel is a popular heat resistant backsplash material; make sure to use heat resistant material behind the stainless steel though (cement board and metal studs are recommended). The factory-new finish can always be restored with a Scotchbrite pad, but few people would do so regularly; so, get used to the scratches. Copper: in many ways, copper is very similar to stainless steel, but in addition to a natural pattern of scratches, you'll also get natural variations in color. Sintered Porcelain: heat resistant, scratch resistant, stain resistant. Available in many modern finishes. Looks amazing. If it wasn't for a tendency to chip or even crack, this would be the ideal material. Can be used for backsplash, where the risks of mechanical damage are lower. Be aware that the finish is only on the surface, so unlike natural stone any cut edges will have a monochrome color. Also, avoid any tight corners. All corners should have at least a ¼" radius, and edges should be rounded over to reduce the risk of chipping. If you can live with these limitations, you'll have a beautiful material at hand. Porcelain Tile: heat resistant, scratch resistant, but can stain more easily. This is particularly true for grout lines. Tiles are popular for backsplash but don't make the best countertop material. Laminate: Affordable, stain resistant, many popular patterns, looks cheaper than other materials, sensitive to heat, more scratch resistant than most people think, but over the years will show wear and tear. I have never heard of laminate for backsplash; the lack of heat resistance would probably be the biggest issue here. But for countertops it isn't a bad choice, if money is a limiting factor. Modern high-quality laminate can look very nice without breaking the bank. Expect that you'll want to replace it though at some point. But even then, you should still get at least 10 years of use out of it. So, you really need to figure out what is important to you. For us, heat and stain resistance was the most important factor. We use our kitchen heavily and the countertops are sometimes used as actual work surfaces (e.g. when making pasta, bread or cookies). I love natural stone, so granite or soap stone would have worked well. But it wouldn't have matched nicely with the rest of the materials in this space. So, instead, we used stainless steel. Despite the tendency to develop a pattern of scratches and showing fingerprints unless freshly cleaned, I am very happy with our decision. This is a working kitchen after all. For the backsplash, we picked sintered porcelain. This gives us one solid uninterrupted surface. It looks very clean, is heat resistant, and trivial to keep clean. And as a backsplash, there isn't really an issue with chipping. Really a beautiful material and very happy with this decision. Not cheap though. I now know what so many people opt for subway tile instead.

@Aussie Bae we purchased the GE Cafe Matte White appliances. Our kitchen cabinets will be installed in the next few weeks, so I can show you how they look then. The appliances are gorgeous. I was drooling over that gas range in person, but ultimately we choose the Cafe induction cooktop and the double oven. There are definitely posts on here about the matching cabinet pulls to the appliance hardware and matching the cabinet white paint color to the appliances. Our perimeter cabinets will be white and I choose to have them pained by my cabinet maker in a cooler white called Wedding Veil by Benjamin Moore. I think where people get into trouble with the white appliances is when they have creamy or warmer white kitchen cabinets and that is why they don't like the look. I actually brought a piece of my vent hood to Benjamin Moore and attempted to have them color match it. The GE Cafe Matte White tends to lean a little blue and the color that it "matched" with was actually a blue white (I can't remember the name unfortunately).

WE matched the white but mixed with cappuccino finish on solid cherry and brushed bronze/gold hardware and we think it looks and FEELS warm and cozy....the copper GE CAFE handles are STUNNING. The bronze stove dials were so dark i mixed the copper dials with the bronze handles on the stove and have to send back the copper handles for the dishwasher and fridge b/c the bronze was SO much warmer in our setting. I just love the copper so it's been an ordeal deciding. Selling the copper handles as they want a 30% restocking fee.