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Become an Arkansas Master Gardener!

September 6, 2019 By Talya Tate Boerner

Arkansas Master GardenerAre you an Arkansawyer with a passion for gardening? If so, why not become an Arkansas Master Gardener? The process for becoming an Arkansas Master Gardener has recently changed, so I thought I’d give a quick shout out to my readers who might be interested.

What’s changed?

Rather than a solid week of education classes in January (which is sometimes difficult for people to schedule), trainees now attend classes once a week on Wednesdays, October 9, 16, 23, 30 and November 6, 2019.

Application deadline is September 13, 2019. Yes, very soon! There’s no time to sit around wondering whether or not you should do this. (Registration info below.)

But what if you don’t live in Arkansas? ? There’s no need to feel left out. Master gardening programs exist all across the country! More on this later…Continue Reading

Why I Garden

February 20, 2019 By Talya Tate Boerner

Why I Garden

Why I Garden?

Three little words arranged into one short question opens up a world of memory for me. Why I garden? As I think about my love for digging in the soil, I realize even dream-like and fleeting experiences have become deeply imprinted on my mind. People, places, aromas, songs, the way our family lived as part of the land—if I dissect my memories, these glimpses of my life add up to a love of nature and gardening.

Continue Reading

My Lessons from Nature

April 19, 2018 By Talya Tate Boerner

Everything I learned, I learned from nature

My Lessons from Nature.

This year so far, our spring has been indecisive and teasing. In one sleep, our wild weather vacillates from hard freeze to near 80 degrees. Since February, I’ve been growing African daisies, marigolds, okra, and basil in my makeshift greenhouse.

What’s a makeshift greenhouse? In my world, it’s a folding table shoved in front of a sunny window in our garage. Our garage is heated, so it works until we can build a real greenhouse.

I have succulent and coleus cuttings, and a bulb of fennel the butterflies will love. Ten days ago, John and I rescued a flat of waterlogged coreopsis being sold at the nursery for next to nothing. After only a few days of drying time in our warm greenhouse, they made a huge comeback and are ready to go in the soil.

Yes, we are plant rescuers. When fair-weathered friends toss Halloween chrysanthemums to the curb, we’ve been known to haul them home in the trunk of our vehicle and nurse them back to health.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m getting antsy with this greenhouse arrangement. I rotate the plants so that no one hogs the sunlight. On warm days, I take them outside for fresh air and direct sunlight. Before dark, I return them inside because frost is still a real threat. I am teaching them the importance of taking baby steps.

You have to be patient, I tell them.

They continue to wait.

I provide water and promises of this too shall pass.

I don’t know if they can hear me, but I think they can.

All this waiting and watching the weather has me thinking about the lessons I’ve learned from nature and gardening and life as a farm girl. You know that book All I Really Need to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten? I might say the same for nature. Most everything I’ve learned, I learned from a connection to nature, playing outside, growing up on a farm.Continue Reading

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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: May 4, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: Rainy Day Edition
  • Spiderwort: my love-hate relationship
  • Sunday Letter: March 23, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: March 16, 2025

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