Nature & Seasons - grace grits and gardening

Farm Art Friday – Pivot in the Rain

April 24, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

Papa Creecy always said it was better to get too much rain in the spring than not enough. That was back in the days before irrigation pivots. Of course a pivot does no one any good during the heat of summer, if the land doesn’t dry out enough for spring planting. Too bad these pivots can’t vacuum up water to save for later.

Rain, rain, feel free to stop. Grumpy farmers must plant crops.

This too shall pass.

Happy Friday y’all!

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]Too many people talk about weather and not enough talk about #agriculture. @ArFB @arkansassoybean @arkansas_grown[/tweetthis]

“Too many people talk about the weather, and not enough people talk about agriculture. When somebody says to me, “Beautiful weather we’re having,” I always reply, “Irrigation and crop rotation.”
― Jarod Kintz

Musical Pairing:

Luke Bryan – Rain is a Good Thing

Birds and Blake Shelton and Home

April 21, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

I’m a little obsessed with birds and Blake Shelton. On Sunday, I spent the day at home, trying to write, but mostly I watched the birds eating from the feeders outside our kitchen window. How many photos of birds can one take? Tons. Unfortunately, none of them are very good. I don’t have a fancy camera (only my iPhone), and if I get too close, they fly away. Even so, you can see the bright red cardinal. He’s a regular, and he’s gorgeous. I call him Blake. There’s a female too (not pictured). I call her…

wait for it……………Miranda.

I also spent lots of time watching a robin build a nest in the bend of the gutter downspout. (I call her Robin.) I wanted to say oh honey, that spot doesn’t look very safe. But what could I do? We don’t know each other very well yet. She flew back and forth from the boulder in our yard picking out bits of moss growing on it and carrying it to her nest. As she dropped each bit inside her new home, she wiggled her little tail feathers around to get everything just right, then returned for more. I’d never known a bird to use moss in nest-building. She knows what she wants, and that’s a soft cushion for her egg-laying business.

Later, while attempting to clean the front porch of pollen (pointless), I noticed a second bird nest made of twigs. Although I didn’t see the owner of this particular home, I believed it to be new construction.

Location, location, location! Prime spot in my opinion.

Just before sunset, a storm blew in. Swift and strong. The sky turned eerily sepia-colored, the way I imagine the Martian sky to look. The wind blew like that of West Texas. It was a short-lived event, and I managed to watch ~~the CMAs~~ Blake Shelton (the real Blake Shelton) without interruption. I’m not much of an awards show sort of girl, but I couldn’t miss the CMAs with Blake Shelton hosting. I heart him from afar. Okay, not that far…he and Miranda (I-hate-to-admit-it-but-I-have-a-girl-crush) live in Oklahoma, you know.

The next morning, the sky reappeared blue and bright, clear and clean. The noisy, hungry birds returned to the feeders, but the robin didn’t fare so well. Her nest lay on the ground, mushed and flattened by the wind and rain.

Seeing that nest on the ground started my day on a sad note. One little bird. All that hard work. I was glad I spent part of my Sunday with her.

Now, I’m not trying to get all preachy here, but the two nests reminded me of the Wise Man / Foolish Man Bible Story. You know, the wise man built his house upon the rock and the foolish man built his on the sand… (The porch nest survived the storm.) I was also reminded of Winnie the Pooh. And the rain, rain, rain, came down, down, down… I don’t think the hardworking robin was foolish. I think she was doing the best she could. Since the storm, I haven’t seen her again. I hope she’s busy rebuilding her home in a better spot. Live and learn. That’s what we do.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]Blake Shelton, Birds and Home. My 3 current obsessions. @BlakeShelton #notastalkerthough [/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:

Blake Shelton & Miranda Lambert – Home

Enchanted Petit Jean Mountain

April 13, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

(My recent trip to Petit Jean Mountain was sponsored by Winthrop Rockefeller Institute which provided food and lodging. As always, opinions are my own.)

Riddle me this. How can it be that I have made fifty-two trips around the sun yet NEVER managed to drive to Petit Jean Mountain? Yes, this oversight has been corrected. Finally.

Petit Jean, where have you been all my life?

Just South of I-40 near Morrillton—only 4 hours from where you grew up.

For shame. What took so long?

Beautiful Arkansas River from Stout’s Point, Mount Petit Jean. A portion of the historic Trail of Tears.

Petit Jean Mountain is paradise above the banks of the Arkansas River, as stunning as anything I’ve ever seen. The mountain and Arkansas’ first state park encompasses over 2,600 acres of natural, unspoiled, pristine forest, streams and geological formations—a clear reminder that Someone else is in charge.

Oh how I love geology.

The roar of Cedar Falls can be heard from the parking lot. I was completely awed and unprepared for such beauty. Last of the Mohicans beauty, for real. Rock shelters, once dwellings for Native Americans, can be found among the bluffs. Evidence of their existence remains in the form of pictographs painted on cave walls. In the thirties, the Civilian Conservation Corps built Mather Lodge (the only Arkansas CCC-built lodge), pavilions, several cabins and bridges within the rugged landscape of Petit Jean Mountain. What an incredible place to spend time with your family hiking, camping (you can rent a yurt!), fishing, swimming, thinking, talking, or just being. “Just being” can often be a great thing.

For reservations and other information on the lodge and cabins, click HERE.)

This stunning area of Arkansas, originally discovered 300+ years ago by French explorers, even comes with its own love story. When Adrienne Dumont, a young Parisian, couldn’t bear the thought of being separated from her love, French explorer Chavet, she disguised herself as a cabin boy and signed on for the New World voyage. Her true identify was discovered months later when she became severely ill. Nicknamed Petit Jean (French for Little John), she died on the mountain and was buried on the bluff where she spent her final days.

This legend is thought to bring enchantment to the mountain.

I’m a believer.

So was Winthrop Rockefeller.

In the 1950s, Winthrop Rockefeller, (grandson of John D. Rockefeller), fell under the spell of Petit Jean Mountain during a visit with his WWII buddy who lived in Little Rock. He bought a large portion of the mountain, built a stunning home and established a cattle farm. From birth, Rockefeller had been instilled with a deep spirit of giving and ascribed to the ideal of “to those whom much is given, much is expected.” In 1966, he became the first Republican governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction, advocating for the regular person. His legacy brought about great change to wages, prisons and integration.

Governor Rockefeller said, “Every citizen has the duty to be informed, to be thoughtfully concerned and to participate in the search for solutions.” Amen to that. Couldn’t our society use a big dose of his philosophy right about now?

Winthrop Rockefeller Institute (WRI), located on Petit Jean Mountain, continues to honor Governor Rockefeller’s legacy by providing a facility dedicated to studying and solving today’s problems concentrating on agriculture, economic development, health and others issues. You will be hearing much more from me about WRI over the next six months as I work with the institute to bring awareness to the incredible work being accomplished there.

But for now just know…on a quiet, inspirational mountaintop, life-changing work is being done.

While walking the gorgeous grounds, I felt a sense of something larger, an urge to get out of my comfort zone and be part of the solution. There is astounding history surrounding Petit Jean and WRI—reminders of how far we’ve come as a state and nation and world. And yes, there is work yet to be done.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]Mount Petit Jean. Paradise in the #ArkansasRiverValley. @ARWomenBloggers @Rockefeller @artourism[/tweetthis]