grace grits and gardening - ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

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.

Molten Chocolate Cake. Oh my ganache!

April 24, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

(Eggs for this recipe were provided by Great Day Farms. All opinions are my own.)

This molten chocolate cake recipe comes with a warning: not to be shared with the chocolate lightweight. With one scoop of the spoon, the luscious chocolate center flows like Willie Wonka’s river. Serious chocolate here, people.

This recipe is courtesy of Sur la table cooking school, where I learned to make it (along with creme brûlée—BeStillMyHeart). Here’s my rule about cooking class recipes—if I can successfully repeat it at home, (and by successfully I mean it turns out the same), it’s a keeper. Plus, if the steps are easy and the ingredients basic, I consider it blog-able and too good not to share.

Chocolat-y heaven.

This one passed the test. I think you’ll agree!

Molten Chocolate Cake

Print Recipe

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter plus melted butter for brushing
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup plus 1 extra tablespoon all-purpose flour divided
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

Method

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Using a silicon pastry brush, prepare the inside of four 6-ounce ramekins with melted butter.
In a small bowl, whisk the cocoa powder with 1 tablespoon of the flour; dust the ramekins with the cocoa mixture, tapping out the excess. Transfer the ramekins to a sturdy baking sheet and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, melt 1 stick of butter with the chocolate over very low heat, stirring occasionally. Let cool slightly.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the granulated sugar with the eggs and salt at medium-high speed until thick and pale yellow, 3 minutes. Using a silicone spatula, fold in the melted chocolate until no streaks remain. Fold in the 1/4 cup of flour.
Spoon the batter into the prepared ramekins. Bake in the center of the oven for 10-12 minutes, until the tops are cracked but the centers are still slightly jiggly. Transfer the ramekins to a cooling rack for 5-8 minutes.
Run the tip of a small knife around each cake to loosen. Invert a small plate over each cake and, using potholders, invert again. Carefully lift off the ramekins. Dust the warm cakes with confectioners' sugar. Serve immediately with optional whipped cream or ice cream.