grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

I had a Frog and Toad moment.

By

It seems like only yesterday when my sister, cousin Lesa, and I entertained ourselves for hours on end acting out stories from Frog and Toad. If you don’t know what on earth I’m talking about, well I’m sorry. Frog and Toad Together was Newbery Honor book two in a four part series written by Arnold Lobel.

Greatness.

What can I say, we were farm girls with fantastic imaginations and oh so much talent.

Trust me.

Frog and Toad and Chocolate

There’s a particular story in Frog and Toad Together that goes something like this…

Toad bakes cookies. Frog, knowing they have no will power, places the cookies in a box, ties up the box with string, and puts the box on a high shelf. Toad, being the realist, points out how easy it would be to climb the ladder and get the box and eat the cookies. Frog and Toad ended up giving their cookies to the birds. As a kid I remember thinking just eat the cookies if you want them. Today I think all that sugar and chocolate probably killed the poor little birds…

I can’t tell you how many times we acted out that story in our bedroom. We had high bookcases that worked perfectly for hiding the cookies. Lesa, the best actress in our threesome, played Frog.

A few days ago, I had my own Frog and Toad moment. Continue Reading

Gracie Lee’s Spaceship Squash

By

Gracie Lee and the Spaceship SquashWhen Gracie Lee’s Momma let the girls buy seed packets at Savage Crossing Hardware, Gracie Lee chose spaceship squash for obvious reasons—the squash looked like a flying saucer and flying saucers were intriguing. The variety was really called patty pan squash. The odd name caught her attention too.

Spaceship (Patty Pan) squash

Patty pan squash is a “bush” squash meaning is doesn’t vine like other squash varieties, but grows in more of a bush shape. I’m excited to grow it this summer in the back of my yard where the sun blazes for hours. Cooking Light has some amazing recipes using this particular squash variety. The nutritional value alone should be enough to get anyone interested in it. One cup of patty pan squash is loaded with 43% of your daily Vitamin C requirement, 5 grams of fiber, and no cholesterol. Boom. All that for only 38 calories…

They look like pumpkin seeds, don’t you think? But they aren’t. Continue Reading

These Students at Blytheville Middle School…

By

Accidental Salvation at Blytheville Middle School

Y’all, these students at Blytheville Middle School…this is what it’s all about. You never know where this crazy life will take you, and how one decision can change you in ways you never anticipated, but that’s how writing has been for me. The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee has led me to doors I would have otherwise never opened. Beyond those doors? The road I almost completely missed. For me, it’s about so much more than the book itself. It’s about the people and the relationships and the surprises along the way.

My own accidental salvation…

I was invited to Blytheville Middle School by Amy Harmon who teaches there. She’d been reading Accidental Salvation to her class and they were enjoying it. Literacy is my thing, so I was happy to go and provide a few books for her classroom. I read from a particular chapter I thought the students might relate to—Gracie Lee was at school, bored, unable to concentrate on her assignment, thinking about how she’d been grounded at the end of summer. We’ve all been there, right?Continue Reading

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!