First Time Home Buyer Boot Camp

buying a house

Most of Craft Thyme’s exploits revolve around the little Reganskopp homestead, but occasionally we do projects in other’s homes. When our friends, Trevor & Justine, decided this would be the year to get married and buy a house we wanted to cheer them on. We also gave them LOTS of advice (solicited & unsolicited) as first time home buyers. They, at least, seemed appreciative (thanks for pretending guys) of our first time home buyer boot camp. While most real estate agents should help a first time home buyer, we thought we would distill our experience into a quick first time … Read more…

How to Prepare Raised Garden Beds: Weed Free Style

How to fill your raised beds with good soil, that maintains moisture, keeps out weeds, and doesn't cost a fortune.

Do you want to know the best way to prep raised beds once you have them built?  The soil mixture you use for your raised beds is a hotly contested subject; and everyone has their own techniques.  However, we have developed our own unique method that is cost effective (a nice way of saying cheap as possible), retains moisture, and keeps weeds from coming up through the bottom of your bed.  I feel pretty secure that our method will give you a good weed free start on your raised garden beds.  We have been working with it all summer and … Read more…

How to Make a Goat Wire Fence Trellis

Completed goat wire trellises mounted to various raised beds

Goat wire fences are kinda the rage around Asheville at the moment. Trend or not, I personally enjoy the aesthetic. So why not build a goat wire trellis?! Craft Thyme tries to use similar materials for a lot of our builds so that everything in the outdoors has a more cohesive feel. In the last house it was a series of conduit structures. This one, well, Adam was kind enough to work with my goat wire obsession. We have lots of plans for the yard but are currently adding the goat wire in a series of trellises. I’m a big fan … Read more…

How to Build a Garden Box that Lasts

Completed version of our raised garden box. Also find information on how to prep your soil and make these goat wire trellises!

Before our last house I had never planted in raised beds, but let me tell you, it only took one planting season to make me a convert! Now that we (as in Adam) are in the new house we (as in I) had to build new garden boxes. But this time we wanted to figure out how to build a garden box that lasts, while not poisoning our veggies with lots of toxic chemicals from treated lumber OR spending a fortune on cedar.  Since we figured out this magic combo we thought we would share our raised garden box plans … Read more…

Grow Marigolds! They Are Awesome!

Every garden can use Marigolds. Find out these fun facts about why you need to add marigolds

Grow Marigolds… Let’s be honest, marigolds seem kind of out-dated. Yellow or orange balls of flowers you can get for $1 at big box stores. Sure they add some color, have a slightly strange scent, and weather neglect pretty well, but in reality they are just kind of the bland work horses of the garden. They are like the grandma of flower gardens and I resisted growing them for years!  Except they AREN’T outdated; marigolds are awesome! Grow Marigolds First, let’s just discuss the plant itself. Marigolds (or Tagetes for you Latin purists) are native to North and South America. … Read more…