grace grits and gardening - ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

G. B. Dealey Library at Fair Park

May 2, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Today on Six Blocks from my house…the G. B. Dealey Library in the Hall of State building at Fair Park.

I’m willing to bet most of you aren’t aware of the G. B. Dealey Library—even those who live in the neighborhood. Or maybe I am the last to know?

We wandered into this jewel of a library last fall during the State Fair of Texas after visiting the Big Tex exhibit. Tucked away from the nearby buzz of downtown, the space is as much art gallery as it is library. Hand-painted murals, hand-cut tiles, hand-hewn beams—every detail captures the austere Texas landscape.

And the best part? This library is quiet as a library should be.

Named for Texas Historical Society founder George B. Dealey, the library’s holdings include 2.5 million documents, 3,000 photos, 14,000 books and 3,000 periodicals including rare books and manuscripts on the founding of the Republic of Texas. If you are working on a Texas historical research project and need to access documentation, call in advance for an appointment. If you are simply looking for a quiet place to read and write, no appointment is needed.

I snooped through the card catalog because I couldn’t help myself. The smell alone lured me over. (Know what I mean?)

There are entire drawers devoted to Dallas street names. And I learned something new… Worth Street—our street which was named for Captain Jefferson Peak’s son (Worth Peak)—was originally named Barksdale? According to the card, Barksdale was changed to Worth in October 1887. Interesting.

There are SO many things to see and learn at Fair Park, even during non-State Fair times. Put George B. Dealey Library on your list.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Planting Ollas in my Garden

April 30, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Ollas - ancient irrigation system in my garden

Dripping Springs Ollas

I planted something special in my garden this month. Ollas. If you aren’t familiar with Ollas, keep reading because this is exciting stuff for those of us who garden in hot, dry regions. Like the South.

Simple yet brilliant, Ollas is an unglazed, porous clay pot used for irrigation. Instructions are easy peasy. Bury the pot in the garden. Leave the neck exposed (a lid is included).

Planting Ollas in my garden.

Fill with water a couple of times a week. That’s it. Ollas will provide constant, steady irrigation to nearby plant root systems.

Crafted by Lori Haynes of Dripping Springs, Texas, her clay pot design is based on an ancient method of watering. And bonus…the pots are lightweight and easy for one person to maneuver from vehicle to garden. For more information and details on where to buy visit www.drippingspringsollas.com.

just add water

Now for an update on what’s growing in my garden (besides my Ollas)—three types of tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, several varieties of hot peppers and orange bell peppers, basil, dill, strawberries, swiss chard, carrots, lettuce, arugula, radishes, and onions.

And lots of earthworms. Yay!

Everything looks happy in my community plot at Promise of Peace Garden. Magic in the middle of an East Dallas parking lot…

My garden. April, 2014

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”
― Margaret Atwood

Musical Pairing:

Counting Crows – Big Yellow Taxi

a look inside: Johnny Cash Boyhood Home

April 28, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

I’m practically related to Johnny Cash. Not really, but sometimes it feels that way. In the 1970s when Daddy bought the farmland next to the Cash home place in Dyess, Arkansas, we became connected. Instantly. It doesn’t matter that we were never properly introduced or that the Cash family had already sold their land. The soil has a way of connecting people. Like blood.

I think Johnny Cash would agree.

When Dr. Ruth Hawkins and Arkansas State approached Momma about donating or selling a portion of our land to the Johnny Cash restoration project for parking and whatnot, we hem and hawed around wondering, what would Daddy do? Then we decided to donate it anyway. It just felt right.

Johnny Cash Boyhood Home

That donation scored us an invite to the VIP Inspection Tour last Friday, a sort of preview before the August grand opening. (Really Momma was invited, and the rest of us tagged along as her entourage per usual.)

The impressive affair began as it should with an old-fashioned southern picnic—fried chicken, mashed potatoes, collards, black-eyed peas, cornbread, peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream. The fabulous StillBillys, a rockabilly band from Northeast Arkansas, set the tone with music from Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, and of course Johnny Cash.

Picnic lunch provided by Whitton Farms and Tyboogie’s Cafe

The Dyess Administration Building, which by the way strikes an uncanny resemblance to Elvis’ Graceland, has been beautifully transformed into a first-class museum detailing the settling of Dyess Colony under the Works Progress Administration. Oral histories, photo displays and original artifacts profile the acute struggles borne by families who paved the way for us.

Dyess Colony Administration Building

A whole slew of Cash family members attended this shindig, traveling from Tennessee and beyond, including Cash’s youngest daughter, Tara, and siblings Tommy and Joanne who were born in Dyess and lived in the house. Addressing the crowd, they cracked jokes and shared memories. In short, they were down to earth and grateful for the transformation and preservation of their home place.

Really, they seemed like regular Mississippi County folks. And they traveled in grand style too.

Joanne Cash Yates (motorcycle) and other Cash family (pickup).

But now for the highlight of the day…Johnny Cash’s boyhood home has been restored and furnished with period pieces, some donated by the Cash family, others donated by area friends.

Johnny Cash Boyhood Home, Kitchen

Although I’ve been down the gravel road and seen the house too many times to count, I sensed a difference on this special day of commemoration. The very land felt hallowed—not only because Johnny Cash came from such a simple place, but because anyone survived such hardship wrought by the Great Depression and flood of 1937.

Walking through the cramped hallway, I sensed the loss of a time when modest spaces were filled with large, close-knit families who struggled and celebrated together. Working. Sleeping. Eating. Praying. And in the case of the Cash family, making music.

Johnny Cash’s bedroom

Gazing out the window across delta gumbo, the same delta gumbo Johnny Cash longed to escape, I understood the source of his music. The brutal, raw honesty of the land is what inspires me to write.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

At a very early age…I was very aware I was part of nature—that I sprang from the soil. – Johnny Cash

How High is the Water Mama – Johnny Cash

Grand Opening for this Arkansas State University Heritage Site is scheduled for August 16, 2014. The site will be open on a limited basis and by appointment for group tours beginning in late April 2014. Click HERE for additional information or phone 870-972-2803.

« Previous Page

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.