grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

pick a bale of Arkansas cotton

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Mississippi Co CottonI grew up in the Arkansas Delta, so for me, fall means harvest, and harvest means rice, soybeans, and cotton. As you might gather from the title of this post, once again I’m talking about cotton. (Last cotton blog post for the year. Promise.) Some folks have never seen a field of cotton ready for picking, and the entire process of ginning is a mystery. I made a few videos during my recent tour of Lee Wilson & Company Cotton Gin in Wilson, Arkansas. And, I wrote an article about Arkansas Cotton for First Security Bank’s Only in Arkansas blog. Impressive sustainability improvements have been made in cotton farming since 1980. Click HERE to read all about the world’s most popular fiber.

BUT FIRST, check out my videos which you may find as exciting as watching paint dry, but I happen to love.Continue Reading

Breaking new ground in Wilson, Arkansas

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Breaking new ground in Wilson Ar

Back in December, I wrote about some of the exciting things going on in Wilson, Arkansas including plans for relocating the Hampson Archeological Museum. My post appeared on First Security Bank’s blog, Only in Arkansas. If you live in Arkansas (or you wish you lived in Arkansas or simply appreciate The Natural State), you should be reading www.onlyinarkansas.com. Take it from someone who worked in banking for years, a bank blog devoted to food and hometown happenings and sports and festivals specific to the state is a special and rare thing. Now on to news of the groundbreaking.

This is a follow-up to let you know the Hampson Archeological Museum groundbreaking happened last weekend. This is a big deal. According to Wilson Mayor Becton Bell, this groundbreaking marks the first new construction on the Wilson town square in 57 years.

First new construction in my lifetime.

If you aren’t from Northeast Arkansas, you may say you aren’t interested in the goings on of a small southern town in the Mississippi River Delta. Big deal, right? There are new buildings sprouting like weeds in Dallas as 10,000 people move into the Metroplex each month. Northwest Arkansas is growing like crazy, too. Whataburger is coming to Fayetteville. #CanIGetAnAmen?

But everyone should take note. While many small towns are fading, Wilson is doing it right.

And what a beautiful day for a groundbreaking.

Wilson Type, Wilson Ar

An impressive crowd turned out to hear town leaders and visionaries speak.

a huge crowd turned out for the groundbreaking

The new state of the art facility will match the existing Tudor style architecture of other buildings along the square. It will be much larger than the current museum and include outdoor, interactive exhibits. The current building is cramped and houses only 10% – 20% of the artifacts from the nearby 15-acre Nodena site of Late Mississippian Period Native Americans (A.D. 1400 – 1650). Think of all that history in storage just waiting for us! 

Hampson Archeological Museum drawing

That’s rich Delta soil there, folks.

good delta soil

Times, they are a’changing.

Wilson, Ar. Times are changing

I think Mr. Wilson and Mr. Hampson are both very pleased.

Wilson, Ar

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]Times they are a changin’. Wilson Arkansas is doing it right. @FSBank @Artourism #Delta #HampsonMuseum[/tweetthis]

Come gather ’round people wherever you roam and admit that the waters around you have grown…If your time to you is worth savin’, then you better start swimming’ or you’ll sink like a stone. For the times they are a-changin’. – Bob Dylan

Musicial Pairing:

Bob Dylan, The Times They are a Changin’

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!