Behind the traffic on Woodmont Boulevard sits a backyard designed for wandering. What began as a long, narrow lawn is now a family landscape filled with garden beds, winding paths, a fire circle, and a tiny A-frame hideaway at the edge of the woods. Step inside and explore a garden built for curiosity, play, and the kind of childhood memories that stick.

Spring has been teasing us with warm afternoons, but winter has one more surprise in store. With temperatures forecast to dip to 22°F, blueberry blossoms across Middle Tennessee may need a little help. Before the cold arrives, take a few minutes to check your plants and cover them if needed — it could mean the difference between a light harvest and bowls of sweet berries this summer.

What to plant, harvest, tend, and plan in the late March garden for Middle Tennessee.

“I can’t grow cilantro.” “It’s too early to plant.” We hear it every spring in Middle Tennessee. But what if the problem isn’t your skill — it’s your timing? Cool season gardening has its own rhythm, and March is prime time for peas, greens, radishes, and even flowers. Yes, there’s a little risk. But planting slightly early and covering a frosty night beats waiting too long and watching everything bolt before you can harvest. Once you understand cool season growing, everything shifts. Spring isn’t something you wait for. It’s something you strut into — confident, curious, and ahead of the curve.

Some clues to help you determine if there is hope for your brown dead-looking plants.

What to plant, harvest, tend, and plan in the March garden for Middle Tennessee.

After January’s ice storm and this week’s seventy-degree afternoons, Middle Tennessee gardens are officially waking up. Before spring planting begins, now’s the perfect time to refresh your raised bed soil so it’s ready for another busy growing season. In this week’s blog, we walk through simple spring soil prep steps that set your garden up for success — and bigger harvests — all season long.

Learn how to plan a cut flower garden that keeps your home stocked with fresh bouquets all season long. In this guide, we break down how to grow a balanced mix of focal flowers, spiky accents, airy fillers, whimsical textures, and fragrant foliage. Whether you love zinnias and sunflowers or prefer a softer color palette, you’ll discover how to design a flower garden that makes arranging effortless—from your garden to the vase.

This week’s ice storm was devastating for Middle Tennessee’s trees, but our winter vegetable gardens tell a quieter story. Cool-season crops and perennial herbs are built for cold, rest, and return. Read on to learn what’s happening to our plants as they sit in the ice and snow this week.

What to plant, harvest, tend, and plan in the February garden for Middle Tennessee.

As we’ve shared garden goals from Abi and Sarah, a bigger picture has started to emerge. Across our team and our clients, the themes feel both practical and deeply human: starting earlier, planting with more intention, growing vertically instead of fighting nature, and making room for more flowers—whether that’s better-labeled dahlias or blooms woven right into the veggie beds. We’re hearing a shared desire to use what we grow, to learn by doing, to gain confidence and independence, and to let the garden be a place of connection—with partners, kids, and the rhythms of the seasons. It’s a reminder that gardeners are never bored… there’s always something new to try, together.

Whereas some love to follow systems in the garden, I’ve never been a checklist girl. Why do I garden? For the gatherings, the neighbors, the gumbo parties, the BLTs, the pesto weekends when everyone ends up around the kitchen island. My garden isn’t a system to master, but a source of abundance and inspiration that makes it easy to connect over food.

What to plant, harvest, tend, and plan in the January garden.

What started as a simple, slightly obsessive goal—harvesting something from my garden every single week—ended up reshaping how I cook, plan, and show up in my garden. I didn’t hit 52 weeks… but I came close, with fresh harvests in 48 weeks of the year. From a single bunch of kale to an absurdly joyful pepper haul, this challenge changed my mindset from “what do I feel like eating?” to “what do I have, and how can I use it?” If you’re motivated by goals, routines, and small wins, this reflection might inspire your next growing season.

This fall, Tennessee Kitchen Gardens turned five years old—and I almost missed it. There were fall gardens to plant, designs to draw, and real life to tend to. But five years feels worth naming. Not because of numbers or milestones, but because of the small, human moments that showed me how naturally gardens fit into people’s lives here. From dinner tables to crayon drawings, this is a reflection on what’s taken root.

Garden planning doesn’t actually start with seed catalogs — it starts in the kitchen. As we cook holiday meals and cozy winter dinners, we begin to notice what we wish we had fresh from the garden: herbs for soup, squash for roasting, greens for a quick salad. Read on to learn how winter cooking can guide smarter garden planning, from growing winter squash in summer to protecting one bed for cold-season harvests and preserving just enough to last. If you want your garden feeding you in January, the planning starts now.

December’s garden produces the most underestimated ingredients of the year. After a frost or two, kale gets sweeter, carrots get candy-like, and winter herbs concentrate their oils. While summer eating is flashy, winter eating is deeply comforting — simple, hearty, honest. Read on for an easy guide to winter garden cooking.

What to plant, harvest, tend, and plan in the December garden.

Discover thoughtful, practical, and beautiful gifts for every kind of gardener in the Tennessee Kitchen Gardens Holiday Gift Guide. From stocking stuffers like seed packets and dibbers to beginner-friendly tools, design-focused gear, and inspiring books, this curated list highlights Abi and Sarah’s personal favorites alongside TKG team picks. We’ve also included sweet ideas for little gardeners and meaningful experience gifts like coaching sessions, monthly garden care, and memberships.

I lost a dear friend this fall. Here, I share some of this season’s grief, and how the garden’s routines can steady us when we can’t find our own rhythm.