Our summer garden nearly over with

Once we harvest the last watermelon left in our garden (see picture), the summer garden is essentially over with. We do have some sweet potatoes growing in our garden in a semi-wild condition. I don't even know if there will be much to harvest in the end. I do know that the sweet potato vines would eventually take over the whole garden if we let them. In a month or so, we will start thinking about what to plant in our fall/winter garden...that is, unless we are thinking about how get out of the way of a hurricane approaching us.

USDA introduces The People's Garden Initiative

Go to the USDA webpage that I have hyperlinked and learn about The People's Garden Initiative. Our new Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack explains it in a video that can be accessed at the USDA webpage by clicking on the words to the right of the icon.

What was the idea behind this? As explained by Secretary Vilsack, the USDA wants to showcase what we are involved in at the USDA, and to encourage folks to consider local production and local consumption. It is a charge to those of us who work at the USDA to roll up our sleeves in our respective communities, set an example, help create a movement toward self sustainability across the country, helping people to better connect with the earth that we all depend on for our sustainance.

Report on our 4th of July Tennessee Trip

This was our second trip to Sewanee Village and our property in Tennessee. Judy posted pictures that we took during this trip (1-45) together with the previous trip (46-85) on her Shutterfly site. We left at 2:00 a.m., in order to reach our desination by noon and thereby meet with a TDEC representative to get a septic tank permit. It turns out that the man never showed up that day, so our very early start was all for naught. He was going to be out of town for the next two weeks, so this was a disappointment. But, we took advantage of the extra time we had, and were ultimately able to do some tree clearing with a brand new chainsaw that Judy had gotten a good deal on. It took me a little while to get used to the chainsaw. I got a good work out, and we were able to indicate with land clearing and a blue ribbon that I happened to have, where we wanted our future house to be. As things turned out, a different TDEC representative showed up while we were temporarily away, and he prepared a septic tank design based on where we had indicated we wanted the house, and signed off on the septic tank permit, so all ended well. We camped at a campsite in Monteagle, TN, not the greatest but at least reasonably close to our property.

We spent basically two days on the road looking at modular homes. We actually visited a site in Pulaski, TN (Modular One) where modular homes were being built. The assembly line production of these homes was impressive indeed. There is no doubt that modular homes are very well built...certainly up to the standards of a regular home...and beyond. We spent a good two hours the following day talking to a modular home dealer in McMinnville, TN referred by Fred Day of Modular One. This lady was very thorough in trying to determine exactly what we wanted in our home. Judy liked a certain design from another modular home builder, so the lady worked from that plan, modifying it according to our needs and wants. We would like to have a basement, so that had to be worked into the plan (location of stairway, etc.).

On our travel to McMinnville via Manchester, we quickly realized why this area is considered one of the most important in the country for the growing of landscape trees and shrubs. Landscape nurseries were everywhere, and they were unbelievably large and emaculate. We were told that the nursery business in this area is a $500,000,000 business. We actually stopped at a research facility in McMinnville that houses researchers from Tennessee State University and USDA scientists from the U.S. National Arboretum (Wash. D.C.) that use McMinnville as a worksite. The few scientists who were there on Thursday were busy with last-minute reports and getting ready for the 4th of July holiday, so we weren't able to get the usual tour.

We returned to Monteagle from McMinnville along a very scenic route (Hwy 56) that took us through a town called Altamont. The name is so strange for me to hear, because I attended Altamont Elementary and High School in Altamont, Utah. Altamont, TN has the distinction of having the largest concentration of Latter-day Saints of any town east of the Mississippi River. Apparently, even to this day, a majority of the population in the town is LDS (so we were told), though there are a lot of inactives. We took a picture of a historical LDS building that was right in town. There is even an older historical building. Apparently, the modern chapel is on a different highway, not Hwy. 56, explaining why we didn't see it. Ironically, if we lived on the other side of the Sewanee Creek that borders on the development, we would be in Altamont Ward in a different Stake, and be in a different temple district (Nashville, not Atlanta).

The Miller Family went all out to have a great 3rd Annual 4th of July Event. On the 3rd, Judy and I followed a trail built down to Sewanee Creek about 400 feet below the development area. In the evening, we watched two movies at the ampitheatre that has been built in the development. It made for a long evening, but both movies were impressive, one entitled "The Power of Community-How Cuba Survived Peak Oil" about how Cuba's population coped with the severe reduction of petroleum in their lives in the post-USSR era (something we can learn from in our future... remembering that petroleum is NOT a renewable resource), the other a musical film entitled 1776, which I thought was extremely well done and appropriate for the occasion. I was getting very tired at the end. On the 4th, Grant Miller brought in a terrific band, who performed for a smattering of guests at the ampitheatre. Unfortunately, we missed the band, because we were anxious to take advantage of what little time we had to clear our property. We had a potluck barbeque to which Judy prepared dutch oven cooked chicken and cherry dump cake. Both were big hits. We had fireworks and another movie on the 4th, which we weren't able to stay for because we had gotten too tired. We went to church on Sunday and enjoyed the afternoon with the Millers with leftovers from the potluck. The Millers were great hosts for us throughout our second trip here. The weather held up through most of the week...until the late evening on the 4th, at which point we had already retired to bed. We really enjoyed our second trip, and look forward to returning to prepare to build our future home in a beautiful part of Tennessee.