Geography Lesson-Faire Garden, Tennessee

The garden blogging teacher, Ms. Jodi at bloomingwriter , gave us an assignment to write about where we live and garden, to help our readers picture in their minds our locales. Ever obedient, Faire Garden has done what it can with what we’ve got. There are no skyscrapers here in southeast Tennessee, but there are hills and in the distance, mountains. We can see the Appalachian Mountains from our town. The highest point of that range forms the boundary between North Carolina and our state. It is a zigzag line drawn on a map and the terrain is pretty zigzag as well. Land is plentiful here, but if you are looking for flat land, go elsewhere, there is none around these parts.

The downtown area is centered around the county courthouse, very typical of small southern towns that happen to be the county seat. This building has recently seen some renovation and sprucing up a bit.

The gold trim was taken off and the broken bits replaced and painted. Now it is close to the original look.

One of the oldest establishments here is the campus of Tennessee Wesleyan College. This school is what brought us here, as one of the offspring received a soccer scholarship to attend. Another offspring thought she would like to come here and play soccer with her sister,and received a scholarship as well. The house we are now living in was purchased for them, being cheaper than two dorm room and boards, and giving us a place to stay when visiting them. It also allowed some gardening to be done, a good place to bring those extra plants from our Faire Garden in the northeast part of the state. In this photo the retaining wall on the left side of the steps is composed of the same block as our wall at the house. We benefitted from their surplus.

Something we are proud of here is the large dairy that is one of the biggest employers. Surrounding the town are numerous small farms that supply the installation near our home with fresh milk. This cow sits outside the visitors center there and is taken to schools and the like to teach about the glories of milk, it does a body good.

Yes, we are home to the famous Mayfield Dairy. We have been on the tour, complete with mandatory shower caps and shoe covers, to learn of the cleanliness of the machinery, the plastic bottle production, and the delicious ice cream that is also made here. Samples provided.

Less than a mile from Mayfield we find the estate of Faire Garden. The circular driveway and arborvitae hedge make it distinct in the neighborhood. Why, there is even the garage side garden, recently posted about.

The front of the house, and the back, cannot be captured in one photo. It is a long and rambling building. You can see the addition that attaches the two structures.

From the top of the hill, in the knot garden is the back of the main house. We are above the roof at this elevation.

Looking out past the shed you see the garage loft with the deck attached and the addition joining the two spaces. At the end of the property are the group of large pines. Plenty of exercise opportunities exist during gardening here. Tools are often needed from the shed, bags of mulch, plants and rocks need to be brought up the hill to their final resting place from the car, so far down below. Walking the paths to take the tour of the entire garden is only for the fittest of visitors.

This is a quiet little town. Not hip, happening, stylish or exciting. Not even a lot of people, lots of cows though, got to keep the milk trucks running. We have lived in large cities like Houston and Los Angeles, suburbs of those, and those kinds of places have lots to offer, but the slow, quiet life here makes for some slow quiet gardening, our favorite kind.

Frances

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