Whatever Happened to TennZen?

A. She was abducted by a group of aliens who intercepted one of her radio transmissions and wanted to learn more about making jelly from purple hull peas.

B. She retreated into the mountain wilderness to spend a year in silence, pondering the meaning of life and the existence of the perfect bread recipe.

C. She was swallowed up by a rogue kudzu vine and was forced to hack her way out, bare-handed. She spent the following year in recovery, mumbling something about Roundup and dynamite.

D. None of the above.

The answer is... LIFE happened to TennZen. I went through a job change, made some new friends, tried my hand at some new interests, and expanded the garden.

I lived, loved, laughed and cried. Now I'm back to tell the tale.

The blog had to take a back seat for a while, then it just plain got away from me. I missed it like crazy, though. And I missed all of you.

One of my new friends (the self-styled "Prez") persuaded me to take up the virtual quill once again and get thee back to the blogosphere.

So, here I am. Back in the saddle again. (Thanks, Prez)

Life itself hasn't changed too much on Zen Mountain. Mr. Zen and I have a few more gray hairs, and Things 1 and 2 have grown.

We completely overhauled the garden and now have everything planted in raised beds. At first I was kind of a skeptic, but having seen how much easier it is to manage everything - from watering to weeding and everything in between - you can put me down as a believer. I'll post more about that later on. But we were inspired by Mel Bartholomew and his Square Foot Gardening method (though we have a lot more than just a few square feet in our garden).

I'll tell you what we have planted in the garden:
Potatoes (red and white)
Sweet potatoes
Green beans (including some scarlet runner beans, which I'm really excited about)
Tomatoes (several different varieties)
Cucumbers
Squash
Zucchini
Watermelon

I didn't bother with English peas, okra or purple hull peas this year, simply because I tried them in the past and the yield wasn't worth the space they take up in my garden.

Fruits:
Peach (the peach tree is very full of little peaches right now)
Blueberries
Blackberries
Raspberries
Strawberries
Grapes (including a wild grape)
Apple (though the tree did not bloom this year for some reason)

Herbs:
Chives
Yarrow
Catnip
Basil
Oregano
Thyme
Lemon thyme
Sage
Parsley (2 varieties)
Anise hyssop
Blue vervain
Lemon balm
Wormwood
Bee balm
Soapwort
Comfrey
Calendula
Feverfew
Roman chamomile
Lemon verbena
Citronella
Lavender (4 varieties)
Rosemary

I'll tell you more about all the herbs in upcoming posts as well.

I am very grateful to be back. It reminds me of Grandmother, when she'd say "come on in and set a while," coffee and a slice of her cake ready and waiting.