I always love seeing our beautiful Tennessee farm come awake in the spring! Flowers planted by my ancestors joyfully bud and burst into color around our yard and the 1800s home sites scattered across our farm. In our yard is a circle of daffodils that supposedly were planted by my Great-Great Grandmother Sallie Wilkinson Clinard. There’s the old-fashioned variety, and the double “butter and egg” type. Later the narcissus will show their white blooms edged with yellow centers.
Love the view from our front porch!
We added three new honeybee hives to the farm in April, and they found the blueberry blooms in our U-Pick blueberry patch by the next day. Andrew (our farm family that lives in the little Roost house), got his first lesson in beekeeping, and has his own hive to tend now. The bee packages came from the local bee supply and honey company, Wee 3 Bee Co., in Springfield, Tenn. Check out their website and go visit them! https://wee3beeco.com/
Below: Redbud tree in bloom, old-fashioned purple iris, violets, and snow drops. Some of my favorite flowers are the native Virginia bluebells my mother Carol dug from along the creek on Abednego Road years ago, and there’s two shades of blue. The dwarf-crested iris grows abundantly along our creek which is a branch of the Brushy Fork and I had moved some to my wildflower bed years ago.
The blueberry patch is buzzing with pollinators! Our new honeybees, bumblebees, butterflies, and lots of other flying insects are visiting the blooms.
An afternoon walk in the woods to see if any morel mushrooms were coming up yet. No morels, but the Mayapples are up! The winter wheat is doing good so far
Below: Little native daisies, the old fashioned bridal wreath bush that has been here forever (the little white blooms), catnip that grows wild, tiny violas and henbit, and the apple trees are full of blooms. Our goose pair has nested on their island and since hatched their babies.
Goose babies!! Andrew was excited to see them hatched and on the move and got these shots.
On the far side of the farm from our house is a beautiful little valley with a creek running through it. We always make a spring pilgrimage to see what wildflowers are blooming, and look for spring edible mushrooms. I can spend lots of time searching for Indian money in the creek, and plan to make some jewelry from it some time. There’s a cool little bluff that I’m sure so many people have sheltered under over the years.
On another walk in the woods, I discovered fresh oyster mushrooms growing on a dead oak tree. They are sooo delicious, and I’m excited to have a new “go-to” mushroom tree.
The dogwood trees are always a favorite spring bloomer!
Amazing pink sunsets…
The blueberries made it through the late frost and are growing! 
More new photos coming in May ~ Stay tuned!
It’s pricey, so be sure and check different hotel discount sites to find the cheapest rate. Be aware that parking is quite expensive downtown (they charged us $42!), so check around for nearby parking garages or if the hotel might be offering a parking special.
busybeetraveler 