grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Sunday Letter: 08.23.2020

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Sunday Letter

Hey, hey my Sunday Letter friends,

I’ve been absent the last few Sundays, but I’m back with more random Sunday Letter ramblings. After a week at the lake, I returned home to a butterfly nursery. Our milkweed and spicebush plants are CRAWLING with monarch and spicebush caterpillars. A variety of full-grown butterflies dance around every afternoon (hopefully laying more eggs).

monarch cats

It truly is amazing what a difference a week can make, not only in the physical space we return to, but also in the mental space we occupy.

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Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

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Happy Memorial Day weekend! If I could, I would give you a bouquet of red poppies…

This Memorial Day likely won’t look the same as Memorial Days of the past. (Well, it shouldn’t, in my opinion.) While the corona-craziness has changed the scope of our gatherings, (well, it should, in my opinion), the meaning behind Memorial Day hasn’t changed. And that’s what’s important.

On Memorial Day, we commemorate those who died in service to our country.

Poppy Symbol

Did you know the red poppy is the symbol of both Memorial Day and Veterans Day? I only learned of this poppy connection a few years ago while doing book research for Gene, Everywhere.

After WWI, red poppies were the first flowers to bloom across war-torn European battlefields. The seeds had lay dormant for some time, but after such disturbance to the land, they germinated again.Continue Reading

Tomato-Growing Tips from Gene

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Tomato Growing Tips from Gene

I’m not a tomato-growing expert by any stretch of the imagination, so you may doubt my tomato-growing tips. But just like passalong plants, I can passalong gardening tips with ease.

I did successfully grow a few tomatoes once upon a time when I had a community garden plot in East Dallas. Here in Fayetteville, we’ve dedicated our small garden to herbs and pollinator plants, buying tomatoes at Farmer’s Market or Ozark Natural Foods.Continue Reading

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!