It’s that time of year again when everything seems to spring (no pun intended) back to life from the dead of winter. We’re having a beautiful spring, with ample rainfall and unrivaled beautiful days. I’ve managed to plant a few things in our garden — shallots, onions, cilantro, lettuce, spinach, and even some potatoes. Still a bit early here for peppers and tomatoes, but it won’t be long.

Just thought I’d share some photos of some of the beauty we’re experiencing. Hope everyone out there following us has a wonderful spring!

Lavender and Wildlife at The Collins House Inn

Oh my gosh! Could it BE any hotter??!! Then again, I think I need to just sit down and keep my mouth shut because when I watch the weather, the areas all around us are even hotter! OK, silver lining to the “heat” cloud? . . . it’s at least almost the middle of August. I suppose that beats it being the middle of May. So, hopefully cooler weather is just around the corner.

Though we are not big heat lovers, our lavender and other flowers, tomatoes, etc. apparently are and have flourished this summer. Just thought I’d share a couple of pictures with all of you who check out our blog.

Enjoy and stay cool!

Song of the Mountains is an award-winning bluegrass concert and nationally syndicated public television series offered to more than 190 stations nationwide. For more information on Song of the Mountains, visit their web site at www.songofthemountains.org.

For your lodging accommodations, visit The Collins House Inn web site where you can request your reservation online. Or, call us at 276-781-0250. We’re conveniently located within 1-1/2 blocks of The Lincoln Theatre (within easy walking distance). We encourage you to make your reservations early as the Song of the Mountains Bluegrass Series is becoming quite a draw for Marion and this performance lineup will be quite popular.

Chives in Bloom

We ventured into starting many more of our plants from seed this year and have been quite pleased with our success. Granted, we could have started them a tad bit earlier, but we’re still going to give them a try. We have started the “hardening off” process, but the past couple of days have felt more like Fall — as it has been cool, cloudy, and rainy. We’re not complaining, though, as we need the rain desperately . . . so we can be patient and hope to get some of our new plants in the ground by this weekend.

Knockout Rose

Hope some of you decided to give gardening a try! If you are ever through Marion, and want to take a peek at our gardens, feel free to stop by. We are located next to the Smyth Bland Regional Library, so it is not uncommon to oftentimes see library-goers stop throughout the Summer and run their fingers through our lavender plants — it’s got to be one of the most wonderful smells on earth!

Sage in Bloom

Some of the things you’ll find in our gardens are Swiss chard, hot peppers of various types, zucchini, an abundance of tomatoes, spinach, lettuces, dill, sage, rosemary, thyme, just to name a few.

So best wishes for a successful growing season and bountiful crop!

One of several raised bed garden areas at The Collins House Inn

Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit and herb gardens planted at people’s homes and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Germany during World War I and World War II to reduce the pressure on the public food supply brought on by the war effort. These gardens were also considered a civil “morale booster” — in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce grown. This made victory gardens become a part of daily life on the home front.

Though hopefully times are much better now, I can’t help but notice when going to the grocery store that so much of our produce comes from other countries — not to mention the outrageously high prices we pay. Farming in the U.S. has dropped substantially in recent decades and now we’re all paying the price (literally) for having many of our fruits and vegetables shipped in to this country. OK, I’ll admit, it’s nice being able to buy strawberries and other things in the dead of winter . . . but, on the other hand, you can just tell that most times they are well past their peak freshness and nutritional value.

So, why not resurrect the Victory Garden and grow your own? It doesn’t take a lot of space, especially if you use raised bed boxes and/or planters. Plus, you don’t have to grow enough to feed a small village. It’s just that we’ve all (hopefully) grown up being taught to eat our fruits and vegetables, so what better way than to grow your own and know that when you do, you’re being able to pick and eat things at the peak of their freshness. And, while you’re at it, why not try canning — that way, you’ll have ample items to enjoy throughout the non-growing season. It’s just another way in which you can “make a difference” — for yourself and your family. Besides, you might even discover that it’s a bit “contagious” and that once your friends see what you are doing, they’ll want to give it a try too.

OK, stop rolling your eyes and saying to yourself, “I’ve NEVER been able to “grow” anything!” It’s really quite simple, and just takes a little planning — like making sure you have the right soil type and amount of sunlight needed for whatever it is you want to grow. After that, I’ve found that it’s pretty much about water — and, well . . . OK . . . I confess . . . I DO talk to my plants. Yes, I’m one of “those people” who chooses to believe that all living things have souls, spirits, or some kind of “awareness” about them. So sure, I make an effort to cultivate “plant spirits” in various ways.

I used to use a fair amount of Miracle-Gro fertilizer, but have found in recent years that our plants do much better if I just put compost in their soil (at planting), and then periodically sprinkle a little over the soil throughout the growing season. I also discovered that, in doing so, we had fewer pest infestations. I plan to follow the same routine this year to see if it works again or if it was perhaps just a fluke. My gut feeling tells me, though, that it will be successful again. I’m truly beginning to learn to embrace the “less is better” concept in many facets of my life — synthetic plant fertilization included.

So what are you waiting for . . . give it a try!

Show time is 7:00 PM. Reserved seating tickets ($25) can be purchased at the Lincoln Theatre box office or online at the Lincoln Theatre’s website. This is a popular performance, so advance ticket purchases are recommended.

Song of the Mountains is the Lincoln Theatre’s award-winning bluegrass concert series and is a nationally syndicated public television series aired on more than 170 stations nationwide.

The Collins House Inn is just 1-1/2 blocks from the Lincoln Theatre and offers elegant, yet casual lodging accommodations for your visit to Marion, VA. For reservations, you can visit our “Rooms and Rates” page on our website or call us directly at 276-781-0250. Marion also offers several nice restaurants downtown to round out your stay with us.

It all came about late Friday night. Marion had gotten some ice and snow late in the week and a couple of the original opening groups canceled. Tom Cecil, banjo extraordinaire of the group, joked about having received a phone call about 10:00 PM Friday night asking if he and his fellow band members would like to come open for Kathy Mattea Saturday night. He said he was given about 20 minutes to confirm whether or not they’d be able to come. My guess is that he didn’t have to think about it very long at all.

The rest is now history and hopefully their performance here at The Lincoln Theatre will give this young group a jump-start toward a very successful future. Rounding out the band were Cara Oliphant playing fiddle and Adam Worley on guitar. All four band members currently attend East Tennessee State University and are pursuing degrees in the school’s Bluegrass, Old Time and Country Music curriculum. So if you hear the name “Buc Ridge”, and have an opportunity to hear them play, you won’t be disappointed.

I also must mention the absolutely WONDERFUL performance given by Kathy Mattea. Aside from her and her band members’ exceptional musical talents (both vocally and instrumentally) she was just a HOOT!! (From where I come from that is a BIG compliment!). Seriously, though, Kathy Mattea was hugely personable, funny, witty, warm, and above all genuine. She sings with great passion and soulfulness and it quickly becomes evident that she not only sings songs because they “sound” good, but because they oftentimes have a deep and personal meaning for her. The audience loved her! We, being one of the official “Marionettes” (as she so cleverly referred to her Marion audience at one point), can only hope that she and her band enjoyed Marion, and performing at The Lincoln Theatre, as much as we enjoyed having them here.

The Song of the Mountains performances are taped, and the February 6, 2010 show kicked off their new season. The taped performances are aired on more than 170 public television stations throughout the country. Though this past weekend’s taping won’t actually be aired until sometime next year, keep on the lookout for it as it will be one you won’t want to miss. Oh! And if you get to see it . . . be sure and check out Kathy Mattea’s boots — they were stunning!