grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Sunday Letter: 09.05.21

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Sunday Letter

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

September is here, and I’m glad about it. I look forward to harvest time on the farm, the promise of cooler temperatures and turning leaves, twisty-stemmed pumpkins, and, yay, college football. With my favorite holidays waiting on the horizon so close we begin to count down—oh yeah, I’m a happy camper.

Of course, we still have a few days of summer left, but once school starts back it’s as though a switch flips in my mind. My focus turns from vacation and roasted marshmallows to tailgates and chili.

And even during a week of 90° temperatures, there’s already a touch of fall in the air.Continue Reading

Life in Milkweed

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Life in Milkweed

Life in Milkweed

Milkweed is vital for monarchs because it is THE host plant for monarch butterflies (meaning, monarch butterflies lay eggs ONLY on milkweed, AND monarch caterpillars ONLY eat milkweed). Of course, there are a variety of other species besides monarchs that enjoy nectaring from milkweed.

This year, I’ve been keeping track of the critters I’ve noticed in my swamp milkweed—life beyond monarchs. And, I thought it would be fun to document this life in milkweed, the teeny flies and bugs, frogs and just-hatched insects, the butterflies feeding every afternoon. Each time I inspect my milkweed (and I do it multiple times a day), I see something new.

Remember Horton Hears a Who?

I think of that Dr. Seuss book often, because there is so much life thriving in and around the plants and blossoms.Continue Reading

tail-end of summer Sunday Letter: 09.22.19

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Sunday Letter: 09.22.19

Dearly beloved, we gather for this Sunday Letter on the last day of summer. Can you believe it?

Here in Arkansas, summer only decided to show itself a few weeks ago. And now, at the tail-end of a weird season, during an even crazier weather year, here we are. Tomorrow is the first day of fall.

FALL!!! Yes, I’m a little bit excited. Today, if it’s the only thing I do, I will mark the changing seasons by swapping out my front door wreath for something more autumnal. If you change your front door wreath, the cooler weather will come… It’s true.

I had a busy week, didn’t get enough accomplished in the area of writing, but absorbed culture in the form of The Goldfinch (loved it!) and The Blue Man Group (loved it too!). The Blue Man Group performed at Walton Arts Center. It’s always a treat to go there.Continue Reading

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!