grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Spring Planting!

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spring planting

I love driving across Arkansas during spring. In the Ozarks, redbuds and dogwoods compete for attention, and roadsides are exploding with wildflowers. Spring planting is in full swing as farmers and gardeners put seeds in the ground. It’s no secret that harvest is my favorite time of year, but after a slow cold winter, spring planting is cause for celebration. Not that there’s time for a party.

Party in the field, maybe.

Of course, without spring planting, there would be no fall harvest. And timing is key. With spring comes wild weather bringing storms and hail, tornadoes, dust storms, a chance of frost? Rain, rain go away until we need another shower.

The soil is rich and wide awake, the fields leveled and hipped. The state is humming.

Here are a few spring planting pics from across Arkansas…Continue Reading

I had a Frog and Toad moment.

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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

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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

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!