To say I love hoop houses or high tunnels, is an understatement. I believe that we need to produce as much of our own food locally, when we can. No you can't grow tomatoes in January (without lots of heat and other stuff) but why not grow what you can. I have 6 high tunnels. 4 stationary ones and 2 movable ones. In a single year we will have over 5,000 square feet under plastic. If I have my way (I hope I do) I will put up one more this late summer/fall and replace my smallest one. Three years ago and $200 I built my first two tunnels. They were 12 by 18 and 8 by 12. I still have the 12 by 18. I took down the other one to make room for my 18.5 by 45. I build my own tunnels. They cost around $600 to build. I can't say enough about them. I think everyone should have one. At least on on every block. Yes, a 12 by 18 is enough space to feed a family. In addition to this, we have about another 3/4 of an acre we "Farm". Our produce feeds our family of 6 and I sell at 3-4 Farmers Markets a week. By the way in our zone 5, we are harvesting, zucchini, cucumbers, Pickling cucumbers, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, beets, chard, bok choy, carrots and onions from our tunnels. Pretty unbelievable with the spring we have had. Cool and wet. Check out our blog, I added the link below. Click on High tunnels on the right and page down. You will see all our tunnels. Jay Here is a link that might be useful: High Farming Blog

Wow you are very determined to have stayed through all that abuse. I was a member of a community garden for 3 years and it was run very well-- even in the best of situations things like theft, and accidental damamge can occur. I would absolutely confront the manager of the garden. Perhaps not with a laundry list of complaints -- but a list of "I feel" - I'm very frustrated, I care very much about..." think it out - even write out what you want to say-- with a purpose in mind. It seems to me like it would be wise to have areas of the garden which could be claimed by gardeners, where they could claim a plot and then the produce, work, etc would all be theirs-- you might suggest this be a fenced area or some other kind of barrier so that helpful community workers couldn't run mowers over the fencing or barriers, and then suggest - general areas - in which things like blueberry bushes, community projects or more pernnial projects could take place. You may need to offer some really solid suggestions to problems you see-- ie..I did all this work and now the ground I worked on-- is covered with glass. I have been a valued memeber of the garden for years and for me this represents alot of work, I need to know this won't happen again-- so here is what I suggest as a possible solution. At the beginning of every spring I would be happy to help to divide up this area into individual plots and be responsible for "renting" out each staked off area to interested parties-- we can each have our own area- with returning gardeners getting to put a claim on the area they cared for last year as a first preference. In exchange I would like for you to explain to the worker on site that this is not an area of the garden that he is responsible for-- but that once a year after the stakes are removed he may mow it to the control the weeds. Perhaps your manager is overwhelmed or burnt out and doesn't have the energy or time for enforcing common courtesy, or simply doesn't see the need-- but for your sanity -- surely that is neccessary. That may be the reason there are only two surviving gardeners on the plot..I tell you the first time someone plowed over my carrots or put broken glass in ground that I had worked -- I'd be gone.. and if a healthy discussion -- and offering to take over or assist with the situation didn't help it in some way-- I'd bug out, or at least back down on the amount of energy I expended there. Like I said -- I used to be part of a community garden and it worked fabulously-- there were no fences, but some basic rules. Here is what we did-- someone was responsible for getting names and dividing up plots-- also for getting the entire area tilled, every year. We each paid some small amount for this-- I think it was $20 or something-- that funded the tiller rental & water useage. Each plot was about 12x12. If it was your first year- you could have one plot, unless there were extras--there was usually a waiting list. After you had kept a plot for a year- you could ask to have more than one and veterans got first dibs on spaces & on extra plots. There was a letter that was sent out every year with a map of the plots- on the map was the persons first name and phone number-- this made everybody accountable-- your space, your responsibility, and your produce. If your plot wasn't weeded or cared for next year you didn't get a plot-- if someone had a problem with something in a neighbors plot or a question you could call them-- you knew it, they knew it and it helped. Everybody had the managers # and could call them too. It was also nice cause if you were out working saturday - you could say hi to bob or sue or joe and you at least knew their name. The small amount of money paid out in spring was a way of seeing who was interested enough to do it- and got some buy in and-- helped to cover some of the costs. Every fall everything was broken down and there was an end of the year potluck and work party, and every spring it was all put up again...it was somewhat limiting-- but it did make it easier and it ran very smoothly. Rules were clearly written out -- they used cheap wooden stakes and string to mark the plots, and it was a wonderful sense of community-- a joy. Rules and respect are essential in most things-- community gardens are no exception. Good luck to you!

Congratulations on your new home! Thanks for posting a photo - it makes it easier to visualize. Do you have a photo that shows the whole width of the property so we can see how this fits in? Like Defrost, I'm just an average homeowner who gardens in my own yard. I think a plan like yours with a combination of woody and herbaceous plants helps give year-round interest. (And I'm impressed that you have mapped out a plan!) With your house style, which isn't formal and balanced, I wouldn't worry about balancing your garden. You've done well in making the bed relatively deep so that your plants don't look like a line along the house. Be sure you are starting your bed outside of where the drip line would be if you didn't have gutters. Otherwise you will find it hard to keep plants happy within the dry zone as they have a roof over them. If it were my house, with the visual weight of the upper story, I would want some plants that reach up some to balance that and to break up the strong horizontal line where the upper story steps out. On the far side of the door and farther out from the house (not in your bed unless you extend it to reach out) I probably would put a small tree that has year-round interest, but can be limbed up so as to not block your lower story windows, perhaps a Japanese maple, Stewartia, or pagoda dogwood. I'd put three shrubs, one on each corner and one on the left of the front door, but not one on the right of the door, unless it's a quite small shrub that will stay small. It's not as big a space so there really isn't room for much of a shrub without blocking light to the window to some extent, and you want the front door to be visible. You might want to consider one of the more restrained clematis on a narrow obelisk to give some height and bulk to that small space. A large pot planted with taller annuals or tender perennials would also work there. I like hdrangeas, Mt. Laurels, and rhodies to fill the role of larger shrubs, if they work for your growing conditions. Hydrangeas in winter are pretty homely, however, so I might put that at the far corner of the house if you want one so that it isn't as prominent when it's unattractive. Consider getting one that blooms over the course of the summer, since many are only spring bloomers and if you have a late frost, you've lost all flowers for the year. In choosing your specific varieties of shrubs, be aware that sizes are often given at what they will be after 10 years, after which they will continue to grow. Then, as your plan shows, fill in the bed with herbaceous plants. I have assumed that you have checked out your soil, sun and moisture, and have chosen your plants to suit that. I haven't grown most of your smaller plants so won't comment on those. One thing to consider if you haven't already is plant foliage. Since most perennials and shrubs only bloom for part of the year, think about whether the foliage on your plants have interesting and varied color, texture, shape, and size so that even when your plants aren't blooming there is something of interest in the garden. A good resource is Mindy (AKA arbo_retum) here on the New England forum. Her website, which has lots of great photos, is http://www.cottonarboretum.com/ As far as the overall layout, think about getting annuals for the first year or two to fill in some until your other plants get larger. I usually plant for that 10 year size or even a bit larger, and put in smaller fillers for the first few years. I probably would plant that grassy triangle as the walkway makes a natural ending/edging. From the photo, your front walk looks a bit narrow (could 2 people walk comfortably side by side?) so you may want to consider a plan to widen that in the long run if it's as narrow as it looks. Too ambitious? Really only you can answer that since you know your energy, finances, and time. It can be done in stages - prepare one bed, then plant it. Then start on the other bed. Or prepare both beds and plant your woody plants and then mulch well to prevent weeds and keep moisture even. (You'll want to do that regardless.) Plant your perennials in early fall when there are sales or even next year if you have run out of time, energy or finances this year. You will probably want to put an edger outside of your bricks to prevent to grass from growing in under them. Ultimately, if you decide you don't like the bed or something doesn't flourish there, you can always replant. Please keep us update with your progress.

My husband and I bought the Chelsea sofa from R&B about 10 years ago. After MUCH discussion with store personnel, we decided to go with the stock fabric. They persuaded us that it would hold up the best on the tight seat. Well, if this is the best Room and Board has to offer, it is crap. We waited months & months to get it because it was back ordered. Then it came with a small tear in the upholstery, so back it went & we were left with more waiting--and this time no sofa to sit on. After a couple of months with the new couch, I noticed an indentation in the seat cushion. It has never gone away. (Fortunately, you can't see it, but it's there!). Then the fabric started to pill very badly. I have snipped the pills off carefully (twice!), but of course they return. The fabric also sags terribly on the seat. Every time I get up, I have to stretch/smooth it out to look OK. We sit on the couch a lot but have no children or pets, so I think it should have held up much better than this. Did I mention that all these issues surfaced within a year? My parents had a tight-seat & back sectional that never had these problems in 50+ years. On the plus side, it still feels comfortable and looks good -- as long as we don't actually use it (hah!).