Faith, Folklore, and Friends

Just off the Roaring Fork Trail in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Bud Ogle was able to build a home and scratch out a living.  It is hard to see where his corn fields were, because the forest has taken over most of the land he cleared. The area is full of rhododendrons and many other wildflowers, attracting bees and butterflies. The Park Service recently put a new roof on the cabin, using wood shingles like the original roof. I think the roof on the barn is  original .      I'm grateful that this home place has been preserved for us to see. Roaring Fork is not as popular as Cades Cove, and it is not as crowded.  Check it out the next time you are in Gatlinburg!

Eupatorium maculatum, better known as Joe Pye weed, was in full bloom when we were in North Carolina recently.  The huge blossoms are on sturdy stalks that can reach up to six foot tall.  It only grows in the eastern United States, and I haven't seen any growing wild here in Northwest Alabama. The wildflower reportedly has many medicinal uses. It got its common name from a New England Indian healer named Joe Pye who lived at the same time as the Pilgrims.   Folklore says that Joe Pye cured typhus fever using the plant. I don't know if this plant has true medicinal properties, but I think it must have some sweet nectar.  Everywhere you find the plant, you will find some bumblebees and butterflies. Is it not inherently wrong to call a plant like this a 'common wildflower'? Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is adm...

We plant basil every year.  This year, we bought seeds of Dark Purple Opal basil from  Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds .  It has done very well. Some of it is five feet tall and very bushy.  There is enough basil here to feed the whole county we live in.  We actually eat very little of it; we grow it for the butterflies and bees and the aroma it releases when you brush up against it in the garden. The pictures above are from an area in the garden that gets full sun.  The ones below are planted in an area that is shaded part of the day.  I've learned that the ones in the sun are not as purple as the ones in the shade.   The bumblebees and butterflies absolutely love them.  Basil is an annual and will be killed by the first frost.  If you love basil and live close to me, I will be happy to share with you.  

Thanks to the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and all the other sponsors listed on the sign, Florence has its first and very popular community garden. Hub, who needed volunteer hours to complete his Master Gardener certification, did a lot of work helping build these 4' x 8' raised beds. There are approximately fifty raised beds, and all of them are full. The raised beds were constructed using pressure-treated lumber, then filled with compost, some of it consisting of decomposed trash from ginning cotton.  Soil tests were done, then lime and commercial fertilizer were added. Each bed was irrigated. First choice of the beds was given to veterans; then to people who do not have access to land to grow a garden; people who are physically unable to garden traditional, non-raised bed gardens, and   those economically unable to build a garden. Unfortunately, there was not enough for everyone who wanted one. There is a large variety of plants, and alm...