grace grits and gardening - ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Backyard Chickens in Munger Place

March 27, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Meet Liam McGregor. Liam is the Chief Eggsecutive Officer of Munger Place Natural Egg Company. Only six blocks from my house (less really), Liam raises backyard chickens in Munger Place where he lives with his family and a menagerie of pets… A young Dr. Doolittle? Maybe so. One thing’s for sure, his chicken operation is impressive.

The garden is not half bad either.

What you see in the picture above is an off-the-grid ecosystem. The chickens not only provide eggs, but they produce rich manure fertilizer for the raised beds and serve as a natural exterminator by eating insects in the backyard compost and garden.

Liam became interested in chickens while attending preschool in College Station. Now at age thirteen, chickens are a big part of Liam’s life. Last December, he began selling eggs to Munger Place neighbors. His brood currently totals thirteen and includes several ancient breeds— Silkies, Rhode Island Reds, Frizzle, Polish and Barred Rocks.

According to Liam the most fun thing about keeping chickens is the chickens themselves. Each has her own language, he says of his all female chicken population. They “talk” to each other. And they have unique personalities just like people.

This is Princess, a beautiful white Silkie.

And the most difficult thing about being an egg entrepreneur? The time requirement. Liam (a busy seventh grader at William B. Travis) also plays violin and lacrosse, so my Mom helps out a lot, he says.

Eggs are harvested each morning and immediately washed and refrigerated. The chickens lay about 8 eggs a day. Liam’s customers are patient and willing to wait for fresh eggs. The rules of purchase are simple—leave an empty carton on Liam’s front porch with contact information, and arrangements will be made to deliver when the eggs are available. Eggs sell for $0.30/each, $1.80/half dozen or $3.60/dozen.

Proceeds go to the Liam Doesn’t Get An Allowance Fund.

Beautiful eggs, great variety.

Sounds like a great cause!

For additional information, email Liam or his mom at [email protected].

To read information on backyard chickens and the many benefits, click HERE.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Chickens aren’t background animals like fish or sheep or horses. Chickens are in-your-face animals. Chickens if you have them, come to bracket your days. The rooster hollers all morning, and then in the evening the hens have left you their mysterious gift of eggs. – Jeanne Marie Laskas

I may never get my book published, but I can grow the perfect onion.

March 25, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Underneath an endless sky, I have no concept of time. I gather kale and purple lettuce and baby spinach and the first onions from my garden. Perfect onions, like the ones momma grew on our farm when I was a kid.

Such a bountiful first harvest surprises me, especially the onions—fat, white bulbs topped with hearty greens and a tangle of roots filled with soil. Soil I worked with my hands. The same hands that string words together day after day. All day. Except when they are busy in the garden.

Even my husband is impressed. That onion came from our garden?

Everything came from our garden. Well, except the tomatoes. No tomatoes yet.

He stares, amazed.

And then while eating freshly harvested salad, I tell him about the email I received only an hour before. It was a good rejection letter, if there can be such a thing. She said I had a “light, delightful style” and her “decision was troublesome”… like maybe she almost said yes to publishing my book…

I ramble. Frustrated. Disheartened.

My husband listens. Condoles. She doesn’t realize what she’s missing…

I laugh yet don’t feel like laughing. I know I can sell my book. I told her that.

You did?

I nod.

I can’t believe this came from our garden, he says.

Well, I may never publish my book, but I can grow a perfect onion. And that’s worth something.

You should tell her that too.

Grace Grits and Gardening

“Life is an onion – you peel it year by year and sometimes cry.”
― Carl Sandburg

Aunt Rena’s Store

March 24, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Beyond the cotton field and over the steep ditch, we could see Aunt Rena’s store from my cousin Lesa’s front yard. On summer afternoons, we walked over for a visit. Aunt Lavern (Lesa’s momma) watched us from their carport to make sure we didn’t get run over on the highway by the big trucks hauling grain. We never did.

Even though Aunt Rena was always busy piddling around the store, she seemed happy to see us and greeted us with big hugs and glasses of sweet tea served in Mason jars. Since her store was dimly lit and crammed packed with stuff, it was our favorite place to play hide-and-go-seek. The creaky wooden floors and musty air that sometimes made us sneeze, added an extra challenge to our game.

I liked to hide behind the large cardboard boxes shoved underneath the dry good shelves.

One day I peeked inside and discovered the boxes were filled with scraps of fabric—different colors and patterns—all folded and stacked in little squares.

Six whole boxes!

“Aunt Rena, what are you planning to do with all this fabric?” I held up a stack of cotton pieces.

“I’m not sure yet,” she said.

I thought she might use the cloth for quilts and blankets. Or maybe she was just a collector of things that were too good to throw away. I never really knew for sure. I never saw any customers in the store either.

Grace Grits and Gardening