grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

  • Home
  • Bio
  • Backyard Phenology
  • Publishing
  • SHOP!
  • Garden
  • Reading & Books
  • Sunday Letter

Winter garden dream. And GOLD!

January 19, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

Winter is the perfect time to dream and plan for a spring garden. Did you realize we are halfway through the calendar winter? Yes, although it’s still too soon to plant veggies and flowers (at least in our neck of the Northern Hemisphere), it’s never too soon for moving dirt around. Unless, of course, your dirt is buried under a blanket of snow. Since ours isn’t, we have lots of garden prep work going on at our house. And believe me, since we bought this house in August, we have been itching to work in the yard.

wheelbarrows

Winter isn’t stopping us. Not this week anyway.

To add more interest, we are terracing our sloping backyard. This is the beginning of a stone wall.  (See Lou Holtz supervising? He’s good.)

building a rock wall terrace

We have plans to expand our outside stone dining area, install a sprinkler system and build a fire pit. The Grey Barn is doing the heavy lifting. The Grey Barn, dirt work

Fortunately, the last few days have been dry, otherwise what a mud hole we would have. Mud + Schnauzers = Pigs.

Lucy and Annabelle playing ball

Turning dirt reveals treasures like old broken glass and pieces of pottery. Yesterday I found a cool rock partially buried but glinting in the sunlight. I’m not sure what it is, but it looks interesting. Some sort of ore or mineral?

found in my backyard

If it’s something significant, let me know, and I’ll go dig for more in the backyard. In the meantime until we identify it, I’ll pretend it’s gold. Or a rare lump of Martian meteorite. Or maybe there’s a black diamond hidden inside there.

Whoo-hoo!

Think of how many herbs and plants and trees and seed packets one nugget of gold would buy.

A girl can dream. Even in the dead of winter.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]Turning up dirt uncovers lots of treasures. #gardening #winter #waitingforspring[/tweetthis]

“I’m a miner, and I’m always dirty, because I’m constantly digging. Am I shoveling for gold? Hardly. I’m unearthing this hearty land searching for the next great American novel. If I dig deep enough, I’m sure to find it.”
― Jarod Kintz

Musical Pairing:

California Dreamin’ – The Mamas and The Papas

Dear Santa – My Christmas Wish List

December 23, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

dear santa - my christmas list

I’ve been thinking about my Christmas wish list. A list with a bit less. A list with a bit more.

Moving from Dallas to Fayetteville put me in touch (literally) with every single item we have collected through the years. Every juice glass and dinner plate I carefully packed in wrapping paper. Every dirty garden tool—many duplicates because you can’t have too many garden tools. Every book—those memorized and those waiting to be read—every candle stub and picture frame. Every Dallas Mavericks t-shirt. Every.Single.Thing.

So.

This year’s list is different. I’m still too close to the move to get excited about anything new, other than the fence going up in my backyard. Plus, I need nothing.

I want less.

Less hustle and bustle.

Less stress over selecting the perfect gifts.

Less glitter and glitz and jingle all the way.

Less casseroles on the Christmas buffet.

Less.Less.Less.

Yet I wish for more.

More peace and quiet and relief for those struggling to survive each day. More time with family and friends and people who make me laugh until my sides hurt. More flickering candlelight and fireside chats. More silent nights spent wrapped in a good book, warmed by faithful dogs curled at my feet.

On a cold December morning, I want to walk through the woods and enjoy the raw, silver beauty of winter.

I want to watch for Santa’s sleigh among stars that went dark long ago.

This Christmas, I want to hear heaven and nature sing.

Let Heaven and Nature Sing

morgueFile

 

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]This Christmas, I want to hear heaven and nature sing. #Less #More[/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:

Pentatonix – White Winter Hymnal

 

a good sort of chaos

September 25, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Today marks one week since we officially moved to Fayetteville. Even though we’ve only been here one week and things are chaotic, it’s a fun chaos. Stuff is spread everywhere. The whole process is a jigsaw puzzle. What fits where? This house is a bit smaller than Worth Street. Smaller is good.

the chaos of moving

Yes, that’s a cornucopia in the middle of my table…

 

We should have been caterers. Seriously. We have every style and type platter, serving piece, decanter, pitcher, crystal, china, candlestick, mercy… and for every season. Luckily, we have a fantastic pantry. This is my first official pantry ever. There’s great storage for all that china we never use, because in reality we aren’t caterers and probably never will be.

With each unpacked box, the house feels more like home. Especially the book boxes. And even though I was the person who packed the books in Dallas, there are more than I realized. Today I hope to finish the library. Yes, we have an entire room devoted to books. You know I love love love that. (Reveal coming up.)

We’ve carved out time for fun too. Saturday afternoon, we walked to the Razorback game. Being able to walk to the stadium is a huge bonus. No parking worries!

Razorback Game

In fact, we’ve walked to the grocery store, lunch on Dickson Street, post office, farmer’s market, etc. The early fall weather is perfect. Trees are beginning to turn with splotches of bright orange in uppermost branches.

We sleep with the windows open and the attic fan roaring overhead. The sky is painted with stars, yet our neighborhood is dark. Much darker than Dallas. We go to bed exhausted, sleep all night (including Lucy and Annabelle who are typically up and down and up and down) and awake to a chilly forty-nine degrees. Love it!

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

 

« Previous Page
Next Page »


Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (2022)

THE THIRD ACT OF THEO GRUENE (coming 2025)

Recent Ramblings:

  • Sunday Letter: 03.29.26
  • Sunday Letter: February 22, 2026
  • Our Garden Mission Statement
  • Goodbye, 2025. Hello, 2026.
  • Sunday Letter: 11.23.25

Novels:

Coloring Books:

Fiction-Themed Coloring Books

Backyard Phenology:

Children’s Nature Book:

Never miss a blog post! Subscribe via email:

Looking for something?

Categories

All the Things!

A to Z April Blog Challenge Autumn BAT Book Reviews childhood Christmas creative writing prompt Dallas Desserts Fall Fayetteville Food Gracie Lee Halloween Hemingway-Pfeiffer holiday recipes home humor Johnson Family Keiser Lake Norfork Lucy and Annabelle Mississippi County Mississippi Delta Monarch butterflies Munger Place Nana nature Northeast Arkansas Northwest Arkansas Osceola poem Reading Schnauzer simple living simple things spring spring gardening Summer Talya Tate Boerner novel Thanksgiving The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee Thomas Tate Winter Wordless Wednesday

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!

All content and photos Copyright Grace, Grits and Gardening © 2026 · Web Hosting By StrataByte