Mississippi County - grace grits and gardening

Farm Art Friday: Historic Barn

December 19, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Inside an old barn, a special world exists. A world encased beneath a sky of dusty rafters and a floor of hay. Slivers of sunlight stream through cracks illuminating buckets hanging from rusty nails, forgotten tools, lengths of scratchy rope. Beyond the barn walls a busy world rushes by, but inside, time passes unhurriedly with amazing grace.

Edward Samuel Wildy Barn, Etowah, Arkansas

In 2004, this wonderful old barn was added to the National Register of Historical Places for agricultural significance based on architecture and engineering. Last year it was damaged during straight line winds (tornado?). The Wildy barn (Mississippi County, Ar) may or may not be standing today—I’m not certain— but I’m glad to have taken this picture when I had the chance.

Such a slice of Americana.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]Inside a barn, time passes unhurriedly with amazing grace. #VintageArkansas #oldbarn #historic[/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:

Walking Plow – Joe Pancersewski

Farm Art Friday: Cotton Trailers

December 12, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Cotton trailers made great play pens for my sister and me. Even when they were empty, we spent lots of time climbing into them, crawling underneath, jumping around inside. And when they were filled with cotton, oh my. Playing in a half-filled trailer of cotton always entertained us.

Today, cotton farming has evolved to round bales. Tidy. Efficient. Expensive. Cotton is baled and wrapped in protective plastic right in the field.

And of course with these advancements in farming, old cotton trailers are becoming extinct.

Someday when I have chickens, (okay I’ll probably never have chickens but who knows), I want a coop made from a cotton trailer. Check out this one from Organic Mike in Texas. Brilliant!

Chicken Coop Cotton Trailer – Organic Mike

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]Celebrating #cotton trailers on this #FarmArtFriday. @ArFB[/tweetthis]

I used to work in the cotton fields a lot when I was young. There were a lot of African Americans working out there. A lot of Mexicans – the blacks and the whites and the Mexicans, all out there singing, and it was like an opera in the cotton fields, and I can still hear it in the music that I write and play today. – Willie Nelson

Musical Pairing:

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Cotton Fields

Farm Art Friday: duck pit

November 28, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Hidden beneath flat rice fields, duck pits are difficult to spot from the road. I climbed down into this one buried on our farm in Mississippi County. From inside, the view is quite different, the small space like a secret.

Happy Friday and good luck to all those participating in the world championship duck calling contest today in Stuttgart!

And to you Black Friday shoppers…have mercy. I’ll be watching football and maybe hanging Christmas lights.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:

World Championship Duck Calling Contest 2013