1) Check in with all the folks over on the Florida Gardening forum here. Lots of Tampa area folks post there. 2) Is your 20x20 in ground? If so get a soil test and follow the instructions on what to work into it - especially lots of organic matter (compost). 3) Given what I know about the soil in your area from others, consider raised beds filled with quality compost and something other than local soil or BIG containers instead of in-ground. 4) check with your local county extension office for tips and check out the University of Florida Extension website http://solutionsforyourlife.ufl.edu/ for all their gardening information. Good luck. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Florida Gardening

Dreamgoddess, what a delightful kitchen & dining room - you should be very proud of all you've accomplished! Is a match or near-match to your current counters not possible or not desired? Are they wood like the island, or? Looks like you can use any material from Victorian times to the 40's (or any convincing imitation of one) if you prefer historic mode. Stone, marble, zinc, copper, wood come to mind. A raw countertop, exterior or marine plywood can be covered in sheet copper, zinc or lineoleum with a little work. We did that once with copper in a Victorian kitchen add-on to a colonial house. Found the copper at a scrap yard, but you could ask a roofer who uses copper to sell you some shorts or sheath a counter for you or find a willing metalworker. My husband made a tabletop from tongue & groove oak flooring. I picked up a marbletop coffee table at a yard sale once for $10 just for the marble to use in a baking area. I see stone & all kinds of counters often on craigslist here & a city an hour away. Usually left-overs from a job offered by the homeowner or tradesmen, more common lately in this economy. There's also freecycle & local groups, Habitat for Humanity showrooms, and maintenance departments of labs & colleges & such who know what's about to be removed for modernization. Kitchen design & builder's showrooms swap out their displays & sell the old ones. Those in the business of kitchen installation sell the kitchens they've torn out & hauled off (if the homeowners don't advertise it beforehand). Ask around... I'd be tempted to pick up the identical match to your Hoosier, especially if it's inexpensive. Even if you don't use it for the countertop proper, it might make a great breadboard-type pull out for the cupboards you're contemplating (or a worktable elsewhere). But I'm a big fan of long breadboard pull-outs to double counterspace anyway, and the strategic location next to the dining room would make it a great stage for desert and coffee waiting in the wings. Basically anything fairly straight & sturdy can be used for a countertop, right? More delicate surfaces can always be protected with a sheet of glass as are furniture tops. I bet you're resourceful & will come up with many more possibilities once you get started! And a good brainstorm doesn't cost a dime.

Happy Holidays Everyone! Michele, Makayla and Kaden are on their way here now. DH is on his way home from work as I type, dinner tonight we are going to have hamburgers cooked on the inside grill along with mac and cheese. For our dinner tomorrow it is going to be very easy; I order a lunch with platter that comes with rolls, potato salad, cole slaw and pickles, I have plenty of sweets made and Michele is going to cook some kielbasa with sauerkraut. Deb

Short run of counter on the window wall, with only two small uppers on either side of the range's upper cab with it's over-the-range vent fan, as the kitchen window cuts short the space. From the right, there will be: 15" drawer base with 15" upper, then the 30 range and cab over, then an 18" upper. (That one will not line up with the 27" drawer cab below which goes partly under the window, meeting up with the small 24" sink cab. The last on the left of the sink base will be an 18" DW.) There will be no upper to the left of the window, as it is narrow, and abutting this run will be an old hoosier. Because the cabs will be Shaker QS oak, I planned the flanking uppers up to the low under-8' ceiling to both be lighted glass. Now I am wondering if having both with glass will look off as the symmetry is already off and it may look like they were supposed to be matched but didn't quite make it. Should I make only the 18" have glass, and the 15" solid to look different and deliberate? Also, electrician has wired for undercab lighting only for where the 18" will be, not the 15". Will this look odd? (The base cabs have been waiting to be delivered, uppers have to be reordered as the stove was moved. The now unusable 3 uppers will be used elsewhere.)