Backyard Garden

Here is the garden as it sits now. It's mostly green leafy stuff. We were lat getting the tomatoes in, but I think they are doing OK at this point.

I also just finished putting rock on all the stairs that I cut into the side of the hill.

Square Foot Garden

This year we are planting a "Square Foot Garden". The idea is that you basically create boxes that are 4 ft wide by however long you want and divide them into square foot sections. I had to dig out the hill a good bit to make the ground flat enough to put the 4 x 8 boxes on it. We made the boxes out of 1 x 8 cedar, added rabbit fencing, and made the "grid" out of mason string. The "soil" is peat moss, compost, and vermiculite by thirds.

You can read about the benefits of square foot gardening by clicking here.

Cheoah River

Yesterday we hiked the Appalachian Trail from Stecoah Gap to Yellow Creek Gap. On our way back from Yellow Creek to pick up the other car, we went by the Cheoah river. As it turned out, they had a release that day. The Cheoah is apparently one of the best rivers in the east when they release water from the dam (see more at www.cheoahriver.com). I have been by the river before, but during the release it was pretty dramatic. Below are pictures of kayakers playing in a hole nearby, and the suspension bridge that goes out over the river.

Mt. Cammerer

Saturday we hiked to the fire tower on Mt. Cammerer. This was one of the best views I've seen in the Smokies period. The view from the top is 360 degrees and completely unobstructed. The fire tower has been restored and is open, which was good because it was so windy you couldn't stand outside for long. It was actually a little scary and after taking a few photos my hands were absolutely freezing. The wind was loud, but not uncomfortable for the rest of the hike.  We took the Low Gap trail out of Cosby campground, then intersected with the AT at Low Gap. The trail to the fire tower is a short spur trail off the AT. The total mileage out and back is roughly 11.

Why I love small towns

• At the county fair last year the big raffle was for a cord of fire wood
• More than once I have heard goats for sale or trade on our local "tell it and sell it" radio show
• Yesterday I noticed a local bank has a sign outside about their big customer appreciation day. It features cookies, drinks and free tomato plants.

Hitchhikers

It's the time of year when you start to see Appalachian Trail thru hikers in Franklin. The AT runs about 8-9 miles from downtown Franklin and they usually stop in here to resupply and get something to eat, etc. After work we were headed to Lowe's with the minivan (without the seats in) and saw a group of hikers trying to thumb a ride back to the trail. We decided that since we had the room of the van without it's seats we give the three college aged guys that hadn't showered yet in April (it's the 9th) and their dog a ride up to Winding Stair, which is where the AT crosses US 64.

They were at that wonderful age where it doesn't occur to you that you can't or shouldn't do something without thinking it through. They didn't know how long it might take them. They didn't know where they would get the money for supplies later on. They figured they come off the trail and work an odd job for a couple of days if needed. They didn't seem to know much about where they were: they weren't sure where they were planning to stay the next few nights. Oh, and they didn't have all the yuppie gear you'd expect. They were in blue jeans (anathema among hikers) and cotton shirts. But, they had a big stick and cool black lab.

As we dropped them off all I could think about was Alexander Supertramp.

Industrial "food"

Rick Saenz is an agrarian in Kentucky that Christy and I met once in Virginia. Small world. Anyway, Rick follows "the food issue" often on his blog and pulled some interesting quotes from an interview with Michael Pollen (author of The Omnivore's Dilemma -great book).

".....if the food industry could profitably digest your food for you, they would. They would reach down your throat and mush it up for you."

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