We finally did it, y’all! We cleared out our garden space.

I feel like I’ve been inching towards this moment since we first moved in. The trees? Gone. The weeds? History. And now, a thick, cozy blanket of pine straw mulch is hugging the ground.

Why mulch, you ask? Well, with roots and stumps still playing hide-and-seek all over the yard, we’re going the raised bed route. Saves us from forking over cash to rip out every last root—and, let’s be real, it’s a whole lot kinder to my back.

And the pine straw? Oh, that was a slam dunk. It’s North Carolina through and through.

Pine is our state tree, and round these parts, they don’t call pine straw “brown gold” for nothing. It’s a $200 million-a-year industry here, and I get why. 

And honestly, it makes perfect sense. Pine straw is the MVP of mulches. You’ve got to pile it on thick to keep those pesky weeds in check, but it’s affordable, sustainable, and light as a feather. Plus, that reddish-brown glow? It’s like the garden’s putting on its Sunday best.

Pine straw mulch is a natural insulator, too—keeps the soil chill in the summer and toasty in the winter. It locks in moisture, breaks down slow to feed the dirt, and only needs a refresh once a year.

Low-maintenance and high-impact? What could be more North Carolinian than that?