Talya Tate Boerner - grace grits and gardening

searching for a Boo Radley tree

February 10, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

I’ve been searching for the perfect Boo Radley tree. Know what I mean? A tree with a knothole in it, just the right height and size to leave trinkets inside. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Boo Radley hid treasures in a tree knothole for Scout and Jem.

I know you love the book as much as I, and if you don’t, well, what can I say? You might want to do some deep soul searching.

In case you need a refresher, here’s a list of the gifts left in the tree:

2 pieces of chewing gum (Wrigley’s Double Mint)

2 scrubbed and polished pennies (1906 and 1900 Indian-heads)

1 ball of gray twine

2 almost perfect miniatures of two children (Scout and Jem)

1 whole package of chewing gum

1 tarnished medal (Spelling Bee medal)

1 pocket watch that wouldn’t run, on a chain with an aluminum knife

With all the trees in our neighborhood, there must be a perfect Boo Radley tree. And I have plenty of opportunity to search. I walk Lucy and Annabelle several times a day so that at night they do this…

It works rather well. They pull on their leashes in different directions, bark at squirrels and people on bikes and mothers pushing baby strollers while I look at trees. I notice the bark more during the winter. Nature’s patterns are stunning, especially when there’s no hiding behind spring blossoms or autumn foliage.

Red berries truly pop.

Knotholes are noticeable. Boo Radley holes. I found a few contenders.

This one’s a little small. (Hard to tell in the picture.)

This is my favorite so far.

Now, what to put inside there?

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

“People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.”

― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Musical Pairing:

Horst Jankowski – A Walk in the Black Forest

Little Free Library: because I’m all about the books! (and seeds)

February 4, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

Woo-hoo! I’ve been looking forward to this day since we moved into our house. We are the proud stewards of a Little Free Library. Purchased as a housewarming/Christmas gift to ourselves, our library has been stored in the coat closet since Thanksgiving. Yesterday, it was installed. (We waited until our landscaping was in progress, so that we could incorporate it into the front yard.)

Do you know about the Little Free Library? It’s all about the books…and in our case, the seeds. Seeds? Keep reading.

“Take a book, return a book”—that’s the Little Free Library motto.

The first Little Free Library was built in 2009 by Todd Bol of Hudson, Wisconsin. He built a one room schoolhouse design as a tribute to his mother who was a teacher. His idea caught on quickly. As of January 2014, over 15,000 Little Free Libraries have been built and installed across the world. What a great way to promote literacy and reading. Plus, they are so freakin’ cute.

There are several in our neighborhood. There can’t be too many—(another motto).

Now about the seeds. Ours is not only a book library, but a seed library. There is a drawer (see the picture below) that will serve as a seed and recipe exchange—a way to share vegetable and flower seeds with neighbors as well as favorite recipes. Neighbors can place seed packets to share or take seeds that have been donated. Our library came with 20 seed packages to start. There will be little plastic bags for dividing seeds, because who needs fifty spinach plants?

The library will be open for business soon. Maybe today. I’ll be putting a few books in it (some garden related, but not all), and seeds will go into the drawer when it’s a bit warmer. Neighbors are invited to participate, hint, hint…

I think a spring porch party might be a great way to officially kick off our Little Free Library and Seed Exchange. It will be a BYOB affair—Bring Your Own Book. Stay tuned and happy reading.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]Because I’m all about the books. And seeds! @LtlFreeLibrary #TakeABookLeaveABook #GrowSomething @WildflowerCtr [/tweetthis]

Click HERE for information on building your own Little Free Library.

“However many years she lived, Mary always felt that she should never forget that first morning when her garden began to grow.”- Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (Austin)

Musical Pairing:

All About Those Books – MDIHS Library

I should have been an archeologist?

January 29, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

I should have been an archeologist or geologist. I may have missed my calling.

I took several geology classes at Baylor—as many as I could and still graduate on time with a business degree. Daddy wouldn’t hear of any major other than business even though history and rocks and things buried beneath the earth’s crust always held a special interest for me. Who knows why certain people are drawn to certain things, but as I think back, there is a common thread in many of my memories.

I grew up living on the New Madrid Fault where earthquakes were a way of life. My best summer days were spent exploring the streams and trails in the Ozark Mountains and jumping from the rocky cliffs around Lake Norfork. Our delta fields often presented treasures such as arrowheads and other Indian artifacts.

And there are related snippets too, like buying a jar of rocks in Hot Springs and digging up pearly shells and pieces of rusty tin on the banks of Little River.

Obviously the Earth was filled with mystery. Literally.

Today as we install a sprinkler system and churn up dirt in our new backyard, I’ve been finding shards of creamware and pottery and chunks of heavy glass. Much like the sugary Florida beaches where a fresh batch of seashells wash up each morning, pieces of old stoneware and glass work themselves up from the ground daily. Okay, I’m sure most people prefer seashells to broken glass, but this sort of thing fascinates me.

I found this collection (below) during a five minute stroll through the backyard.

To most, this may only look like trash, and back in the early 1900s, it probably was. Without city trash pickup, garbage was often tossed out the back yard to the pigs or dumped in low spots near streams. Paper and food items disintegrated but glass and pottery waits to be discovered.

To me, these broken pieces are treasures. Bits of history left behind. I enjoy these shards not only because of the unique craftsmanship represented, but I like to imagine the family who used the dinner plates etched with faint blue flowers. What were the people like who lived in these hills at the turn of the century?

This next piece was completely covered in mud. I didn’t realize there was a design until I rinsed it off.

And what a thrill to find a piece with preserved words. A few keystrokes later, I discovered this stamp was the mark of china manufacturer Edwin M. Knowles China Company. The three numbers indicate the date of this piece as 1918.