Welcome! My name is Tina and my husband Richard and I are empty nesters of 5 creating a new life in the mountains of North Carolina. Follow our journey as we literally carved out a place on this spectacular mountain, with the goal of a simpler life and sustainably growing most of our own fruit and vegetables, and nurturing this home as it transitions to a Mountain homestead.
Since 2014 (when our house was built) we have gradually worked with the layout of the land to create garden areas and zones. In 2020/2021 we finally had an opportunity to ‘cut in’ the last area to place our polytunnel. With some basic structure done, we can now start seriously working on trees, bushes, and perennials, as well as learning and putting systems in place to manage this piece of heaven we are so blessed to have.
Follow our journey, here are just a few things I would like to share.
Our “Gardens”
- Courtyard with pond by my Soap Shop (OriannaBath) and little Barn.
- Kitchen Garden
- East Side Formal Garden
- Cottage & Herb Garden
- Undercover Garden (polytunnel)
- The Tea Garden
- The Orchards
Over the years I have found great enjoyment in preserving the garden or “farmers market” bounties and making my own herbal tea blends. This is also a big part of how I enjoy spending my time. This year 2021 we invested in a freeze dryer. My goal is also to manage our preservation needs and better work our food into a rotating pantry.
5 Pillers of Preserving and Stocking a Pantry
- Freezer
- Canning
- Dehydrating
- Freeze Drying
- Fermenting
I hope you enjoy stopping by from time to time to get caught up. The only thing holding me back is the learning curve for this editing program and my final cut pro software for videos. I am getting there, I think 3 years of excuses is long enough. Have patients as I figure out my writing style and approach to topics. (full transparency I am not a writer or a blogger (yet 🙂 )
My love to all,
Tina