grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Fallen Leaf Art

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Fallen Leaf Art

Have you heard about fallen leaf art? I read about it thanks to Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company. On Facebook, Baker Creek linked to an article on fallen leaf art. The official term is ochiba art. Ochiba is Japanese for “fallen leaves.”

落ち葉

Did I ever tell you I studied Japanese at Baylor University during my college years? And that I spent a summer in Japan? I would love to return someday (#bucketlist). For now, I’ve decided to embrace the eastern idea of fallen leaf art. After all, supplies are plentiful in our neighborhood this time of year.

Well, in reality, colorful leaves were plentiful last week before winter came down like the Polar Express.

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How to Make an Insect Hotel (and why you should)

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How to Make an Insect Hotel

I’ve been wanting to make an insect hotel since I discovered several of them at the Denver Botanic Gardens last year. Not only do insect hotels provide a bit of garden whimsey, but they attract solitary native bees, wasps, and other beneficial insects desperately needed for pollination.

D*e*s*p*e*r*a*t*e*l*y.  

Pollinators are on the decline for various reasons—mostly due to habitat loss. Without pollinators, we may as well call it a day. Pollinators are essential to the creation and maintenance of the earth’s ecosystem. Eighty to ninety percent of all flowering plants need pollinators. Pollinators are responsible for 1 out of every 3 bites of food we eat.

This is not fake news, y’all. Take a look at this crop list from the University of Arkansas Research and Extension Office.

Crops pollinated by bees

Umm. Coffee and watermelon?

Yikes.

What constitutes a pollinator?

We often think of honey bees, right? But a pollinator is anything that moves pollen from the male part of a flower (stamen) to the female part of the flower (stigma). Pollinators include birds, solitary bees, wasps, moths, spiders, lacewings, roll poly bugs, ladybugs, fireflies, bats, hoverflies, earwigs, small mammals, and the wind. (Yeah, we do have wind!)

I recently attended an insect hotel class at the Botanic Garden of the Ozarks (BOGO). Before I show you my creation, take a look at these examples in Denver.

How to Make an Insect Hotel

These are very large and partially decorative, but even so, these Denver versions provide insect nesting places as well as education to those of us visiting the garden. It’s because of these that I first became interested in insect hotels.Continue Reading

How to make Dried Orange Slice Garland

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Dried Orange Slice Garland

I’m excited to show you this dried orange slice garland I made a few days ago. For some time, I’ve wanted to decorate with orange slice garland. I love the primitive, Americana look of it and believe it complements our old house better than super shiny tinsel. I imagine this type of garland adorned the March family Christmas tree. (March family as in Little Women.)

Can’t you just see the girls gathered around the tree with a fire blazing? Jo writes on her latest play, Beth silently reads poetry, Meg helps Marmee sew Union Army uniforms, and Amy stares out the window wishing she had a pocket full of money. 

Sometimes I really do think I was born in the wrong century, not that I would dare accept a do-over should one be offered. No, I like hot showers and good coffee and Sonic ice too much for that. So I’ll be perfectly content with an old (renovated) house, my well-loved copy of Little Women, and my version of homemade garland instead.

Anyway, I LOVE how this Christmas craft turned out. My garlands are now festooning the bookshelf, draping the mantel, hanging like ornaments from the front porch tree. Each night when the sun goes down, a spot of brightness lingers.

dried orange slice garland

I think I’ll leave my natural orange slice garlands up all through winter, too. Considering that in literature the color orange (and orange fruit) symbolizes enthusiasm, optimism, happiness, and creativity—what better way to start the new year?Continue Reading

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

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