Category: From the Editor
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Backtracking to the Woods
We had a decision to make: go through or backtrack and find another option. Because of our disinterest in trudging through winter-cold water, soaking our shoes and socks, and possibly catching pneumonia (says my mom’s voice in my head), we backtracked and hoped for another, better, drier path. If you are hoping this is an…
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Miracle On Cherokee Street
I received my only pairs of legwarmers, one pink and one purple, from my sister Pam. She had been so excited to give them to me; she couldn’t wait until Christmas. Routinely, before we fell asleep in her bed, we would eat candy bars, Butterfingers and Skors. I was the first to know her baby…
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FROM THE EDITOR: Mind Your Mouth
On a morning in mid-summer, I found myself listing all the ways in which I was failing on that day alone. I couldn’t care for a flower plant well enough to keep it alive. Literally. It withered up, giving no explanation. I couldn’t tend well enough to a tomato plant to support its production of…
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Hummingbird Moth
The first time I saw it, I wasn’t sure I wanted to stick around. Flying insects sometimes come across as bullies, willing to defend their space with actions causing me discomfort, let’s say. Dr. Katie Kilmer, an associate professor of biology and environmental health at Missouri Southern State University, assures me hummingbird moths do not…
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PLANTED: Spoon Tomato
Sources tell me the spoon tomato is the tiniest tomato of all. Seed reviewers note the overabundance of fruit overloading the plant, the space around the plant and the time given by the grower to pick the small, little salad toppers. Psshhh*. I hesitate to bring up the drought and 100 degree temperatures we dealt…
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Good Times September
Events are subject to change. Contact event directly for more information. Submit an event for consideration at editor@homegrownjournal.com. SeymourSeymour Apple FestivalSept. 8-10, FreeSeymour Squarehttps://seymourapplefestival.com/ The annual Seymour Apple Festival is celebrating 50 years this Sept 8-10. During the festival, you can see 100+ craft and various vendors, free live entertainment, 5K run, parade, Johnny Appleseed…
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That Thing You Eat: Make It Local In September
Homegrown is in our name. Submit information about southwest Missouri farms to editor@homegrownjournal.com to be considered for future issues. Click the links below and like their Facebook pages. BIG MEATSBEEFRepublic, Missouri Big Meats provides USDA certified, local beef that has been raised, processed and packaged in southwest Missouri. Purchase beef already cut and packaged, or…
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From the Editor: Used People, Danger: Ripe Tomato, Planted: Cherokee Sunset Rudbeckia, Jumajo Writing Company
Used People A few nights ago, I finished reading The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, Holland’s first licensed woman watchmaker, born to a watchmaker dad who was born to a watchmaker dad. After her mom passed away and other siblings moved out, she lived in the family home with her older sister Betsie and…
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Good Times August + Local Food + Drug Disposal
Good Times August RepublicBluegrass & BBQAug. 5, 5:30-8:30 p.m., All agesCommunity CenterAdmission is a donation of unscented baby wipes. Cost for food is extra.More information: 417.732.5993 Enjoy No Reservations food truck; silent auction with items from local businesses; and bluegrass music from award-winning Lonesome Road and Chigger Creek. Benefits Republic Pregnancy Resource Center. MindenminesGuided Bison…
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From the Editor: Out of Control, Big Meats, Fassnight Creek Farm, China Jade Cucumber, Write Your Story, Jumajo Writing Company
Out of Control We were visiting my grandparents who lived in rural Missouri, close to the Arkansas border. The small town was one in which McDonald’s caused a big stir when it staked its claim. Growing up, my grandparents were either raising cattle or renting their land for cattle. My grandfather served our country, our…
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From the Editor: Eyes on Me, Butterfly House, Planted
Eyes on Me It was the house that would not sell. It was no longer a home, with the highway in the front yard. It wasn’t seen by potential buyers as a business because, well, it looked like a family should be eating together inside. And the year was 2008. My parents didn’t want to…
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Lead Yourself Better
Answer me honestly; no judgment here: Do you ever sneak a peek at the advice columns in the newspaper? I do once in awhile. I find the questions posed are easier answered than happenings in my own, real life. For example, I read a column recently where the writer’s boyfriend had called her a “boring…
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Immoveable
This may end sorely. words + photograph Julie Johnson What began as a portfolio piece has evolved into a big dream imagined by a big dreamer. Me. I’m the big dreamer. The what-iffer. I can take a penny-for-your-thoughts and turn it into a mountain of possibilities in no time flat. My brain and heart constantly…
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