Rocky Top Tennessee

This year we’ve finally decided to start a small garden. We’re starting off simple: herbs, organic bell peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries, and blueberries. We’re also going to do a hummingbird garden right near our tree where the hummingbirds like to hang out.

We’ve been busy, busy, busy trying to get everything together. Since this is our first time at really trying to grow anything (besides trees), Mike bought me this really awesome book called “Grow Vegetables”. Title says it all, right? It’s packed with all kinds of information on growing vegetables and herbs—even if you have no yard!

For now we’re sowing our seeds. Some are being sown in seed starters, others in baking pans. Jacob loved helping and kept asking, “Plants grow”? I can’t wait to see his face when they finally start sprouting up.

For the herb garden we purchased a simple circular raised bed that was pre-made. For the other gardens we’ll be making our own beds and borders with rocks from our own backyard. We have TONS of them scattered throughout our yard. So, with shovel in hand I began to work at digging up just some of the rock…

It was originally Mike’s idea as he used the rocks as border around some of the trees he planted last fall so we would be able to see them and not run the lawn mower over them.

While digging up rock, I also got up a lot of cactus. Believe it or not this stuff is growing all over our yard too. Makes me nervous with the kids out playing so it's a goal this year to get it all up.

And in more yard news: Some of our bulbs are blooming!