Moses Cone Manor, Blowing Rock North Carolina

I hope you've had a great week and are doing something fun for the weekend. 

Wanted to share with you some gorgeous scenery we've seen this week.

We visited the Moses Cone Manor in Blowing Rock, North Carolina and even walked 3 miles of trails. 

Thought we did good, until I found out that there are 25 miles of trails total on the 3,500 acre property. 

As we hiked the trails about 1,000 feet below, the gorgeous house really stands out and as I saw it for the first time I said "whoa, what is THAT?" 

It was pretty impressive.

With a little help from Mr. Google, I learned that it was the Moses Cone Manor and that it was open to visit. (well partly). House tours don't start until June, so we were a few days too early, but the Manor is now home to the Parkway Craft Center which sells crafts from local artisans.

Here's the breathtaking view from the parking lot:

This is the view from the front  porch. You can see Bass Lake below.

13,000 square foot Flat Top Manor  was built  as the Cone's summer home in 1899 and finished in 1901.

I thought the carriage house was beautiful, as well.

This is the back side of the carriage house.

I don't think I could ever get enough of this view.

We definitely plan to go back for a tour of the upstairs part of the house. I find historic homes and the story of the people who lived in them so fascinating.

Hope you have a good weekend.

Pam

Finished Planter Boxes and Garden Update

The planter boxes are finished and filled. 

If you missed how we made them, you can read about them HERE.

I stained the inside with some food safe stain and thought I had some oil based stain  for the outside of the boxes left over from when we stained the raised beds, but it must have been used up.

Darn. 

Of course I couldn't remember which stain I used on the raised beds.

So I guessed.

It only took me a week to make it to the store to go pick up some stain.

I planted 4 pole beans in each planter box and since beans grow so fast, they had to be transplanted into the planter boxes before I had a chance to stain the outside.

The planter boxes have their new home behind the raised beds since that's where the sun shines for most of the day. The boxes are on wheels and can be easily moved if we need to get to the other side of the bed.

Next, we bought some 6 foot bamboo and tied them up like a teepee. Each bean plant has it's own bamboo stake. Can't wait until the beans grow up that high.

This past weekend I was finally able to put a couple of coats of stain on the outside of the planter boxes.

It had just rained  before I took these pics, so the boxes look a little splotchy. Actually, we had about a 20 minute deluge. 

Did you get rain where you are?

Of course, Mr. Fanatic hooked me up with drip irrigation to each planter box. 

How cool is that?

And being the proud "mama" that I am, here's are pics of the 4 raised beds in our North garden.

 

There are 6 heirloom tomatoes planted  in the closest bed on the left.    

I planted/transplanted most of them this weekend. Can't wait to see those tomatoes grow!

We've already harvested a pound of broccoli and a 1/2 of pound of snap peas from this bed and we're just getting started. If you haven't tasted home grown broccoli, I highly suggest growing some. Be forewarned though, that if you do, it will be difficult for to eat broccoli from the grocery store again.

My kitties love to take cat naps nearby when I'm working in the garden.

Sam has to wear the "cone of shame" (from the movie Up) because he licks himself constantly. Buddy loves to hang around Sam outside.

The raised beds in the South garden are finally all planted. The lettuce bed is full of Romaine and head lettuce that was planted over a month ago. 

The turnips and beets are growing, but I'm not sure what's below the ground.

I get a kick out of growing radishes. They pop up out of the soil when they're done, so there isn't any question as to when to pick. Another added benefit is they take only 30 to 40 days start to finish.

Now you're all caught up.

Would love to know if you plant a veggie garden...and what you like to grow.
If you'd like to see how we built the planter boxes, you can read about them HERE.

Pam