You have a tough climate to deal with. Legumes and maize and other direct-seeded large-seed crops will be the most manageable of the typical annuals. Transplants will of course be difficult. I would strongly recommend getting as many of your general crop preferences established as self-seeders as possible. For example, for brassica, the tetraploids Napus kale and giant red mustard have naturalized very well in my climate. It is possible that would also in yours. Catawissa walking onion is extraordinarily tough, it may naturalize for you. I can send you seed for those when they are ripe here.

Good morning, I emailed the architect and he said he was always for keeping the door but ultimately it's my decision. According to him, it wouldn't add much additional expense to remove that door and put a window there, if that's what we wanted. So, that's a relief. He thought the flow was good as is. I bet he probably doesn't do a lot of the cooking ( or cleaning) in his family. I can't imagine being jammed up in that corner loading the dishwasher. The door , we were going to replace the existing door with, would have probably been a full panel of glass for more light in the kitchen. Not a good combination with a dishwasher behind it. Now, I just have to get my dh on board! Garden window ( behind sink) in door mode- I don't think this would be possible as right outside our sliding doors ( in breakfast room) is a raised stone patio. The stairs leading down to the side yard and beyond are almost directly under this window. Also, turning the window (to the right of the range) a door is also impossible as the outside stairs leading to the basement are almost right underneath. It would have been a great idea to turn that area into a mudroom of sorts. Measurements- the only measurements not listed on the layout above, I think, are the two window measurements ( flanking the range) and aisle widths. Those windows are 28" wide by 39.5" high. The aisle widths are 3ft 6", if I recall correctly. The kitchen is on the west side of the house so we get direct sun as it's setting. Please, if there is anything I left out, ask away! Thank you very much for taking time out of your day to help me. Best, DAC PS I just edited this post to include a response to a question about a windows possibly becoming doors posed by ttbl123. TY This post was edited by dazedandconfused on Mon, Feb 4, 13 at 10:53

well, The big fix it guy from Expo thinks that my tile job meets industry standards. He likes the soap niche the way it is. I will need a few pictures of the way they are suppose to look to show. Does anyone have a great looking tile soap niche they can send me a picture of? He also didn't think the crack between the tile and the wall (along the sides of the tub surround) are anything to worry about....he says I'll just have to caulk every year or so to cover any holes that open up. Of course there are already a few holes even though they just caulked them. What is the industry standard for recaulking? Because of the surface of the wall being almost level with the top of the curved surface of the radius bullnose tile it is like trying to draw a straight line on a flat surface and looks really bad to me. The caulk is mostly on the wall not the tile. Am I just being picky? I plan to sell this house in a few years and I am afraid that this will make potential buyers run. The picture below shows what it looked like before the extra wall board was added to cover up the big grout. By the way It is unsanded grout that has not been sealed and the bathroom is a pretty moist place. Will this stuff start running out onto the floor some day?

I think the bark is too big, and maybe too many fines? I "borrowed" these photos from this thread: click here I apologize if you already read it... "The 5:1:1 mix: See dry 5:1:1 mix in the center below. The bark products at 3, 6, and 9 o'clock are ideal for the 5:1:1 mix. The bark at top below is prescreened fir bark in 1/8 - 1/4", and what I use for the gritty mix. 5 parts pine bark fines, dust - 3/8 (size is important)....."Rina