pumpkins - grace grits and gardening

How to Choose a Pumpkin

October 2, 2018 By Talya Tate Boerner

How to choose a pumpkin and have a fantabulous October? No, this isn’t rocket science. Yes, there’s a certain method to my madness.

But first, a confession—I do not like pumpkin pie. I feel a smidgen bad about this. Pumpkin pie is such an American thing. But I’ve never liked pumpkin pie and don’t imagine this will change.

Do you think this adds a blemish to my southern card? Nah, surely not. Not with my sincere love of grits and collard greens, my under-the-sink coffee can filled with bacon drippings, my predisposition to say y’all and lord help and fixin to.

No way.

working on my fall porch decor

October 8, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Fall is the best season for decorating a porch. Think about it. Most anything rustic, scary or harvest related will work. Throw in a few pumpkins, gourds and/or mums and you’ve created an autumn vignette to see you through to Thanksgiving.

We purchased these heavy clay pots years ago at Jackson’s Home and Garden, Dallas’ ultimate one stop shop for anything outdoor and garden related.

For the movers to bring our pots, they had to be empty. Plants cannot cross state lines. Texas plants are not welcome in Oklahoma. Oklahoma plants are not invited to Arkansas, etc. Sad really, but I suppose this is one way to prevent the spread of disease and bugs.

We could only bring so many potted plants in our vehicles, and these were super heavy with gravel in the bottom. After getting over the initial shock of dumping out (or giving away) perfectly good plants, I regrouped. An empty pot provided a fresh start. And what’s fresher and happier than pansies? I always have a difficult time choosing among all the colors, so this year I stuck with the traditional mix.

Lucy helped. Those plastic containers are her nemesis.

Along with the pansies, I planted salvia and ornamental kale.

A fall porch must have pumpkins, right? I love to mix the various shapes and colors.

Gnarly stems are the best.

I placed one warty pumpkin out on the front yard bench. He’s keeping watch.

Although most of my Halloween decor is still in Dallas (yes there are a few things in the Dallas garage), I did pull out this Halloween pillow that pairs perfectly with my vintage wicker rocker (a yard sale find!).

I’ll be doing a little more Halloween porch decorating soon once I find my bats… Stay tuned!

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

“Fall makes me think that if I fail horribly at this art thing, and then fail horribly with this writing thing, I’ll go run a pumpkin patch.”
― Tyler Hojberg

Musical Pairing:

Neil Young, Harvest Moon

Simple Pleasures #2

October 5, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Week two living in Fayetteville…I feel more unpacked and settled in with more time to write. And that’s nice! Here are a few of last week’s simple pleasures.

Clouds. Monday night I joined a group of Northwest Arkansas Blogger friends for dinner at The Depot. Walking to meet them, I stopped to take a picture of this incredible cloud hovering over Dickson Street. It was a huge cloud—the only cloud in a clear sky. After I took the picture I decided it was in the shape of a razorback. Do you agree?

Birds. The birds found my bird feeder. After a week of no feathered visitors, I can’t tell you how excited this made me. Yesterday three fat cardinals fed at the same time. Of course I didn’t have time to get a picture of them, but this little guy posed for me. So cute.

New Friends. My sister-in-law and her friends, Stella and Barbara, have welcomed in right into their weekly dinner group, and it feels like I’ve been there all along. (I have been a regular visitor during the past year, but my attendance has been very sporadic.) Tuesday night Barbara made chicken pot pie and an assortment of appetizers and salads. Talk about comfort food… these ladies know how to do it up! I get to host in two weeks. Yay. What to cook?

Rain and Cooler Temperatures. We finally received much needed rain. The front brought cooler temperatures. Much cooler. Like a low of 38 degrees Saturday morning. Brrrrr!

Junkin & Pumpkins. I went junkin with my writer friend Laurie who blogs at Junque Rethunque and See Laurie Write. Such a fun day (more coming on this later). Even before I arrived at The Junk Ranch (really how can you not love that name?), I got a thrill simply driving past pumpkin patches in Prairie Grove. Those fat orange pumpkins sitting in the fields caught my eye, and I know the Great Pumpkin is waiting out there somewhere.