Plant your wildest dream seeds and grow a patch of wonderful. Deb Bosworth
Dear sisters,
I think you’ll agree we farmgirls are constantly looking for fun ways to do new things with an old-fashioned farmgirl twist! Whether it’s making totes bags from reusable feed-sacks, re-vamping your glamper-camper, building your first chicken coop or dairy barn or starting your own farmgirl enterprise, Mary Jane has us covered. With a fearless farmgirl leader like Sister #1 at the helm, how can you NOT just bloom? And I mean B.L.O.O.M! Continue reading →
We are having a true spring this year in New England! Not too hot, not too cold, mostly sunny days with cool mornings followed by warm afternoons. We are seeing more birds and wildlife, the days are longer, and there are buds on the trees. Best of all, it is time to open up Gidget, our vintage camper/glamper! C’mon in and let me show ya around!
Posted on April 5, 2021 by City Farmgirl Rebekah Teal
The stories are too numerous, the adventures are too complicated. I simply can’t begin to explain where I’ve been or what I’ve been doing since we last visited some months ago.
But, I am here to tell ya that MAY is on its WAY! Together, we celebrate US, ourselves, in May as we enjoy the You Challenge together. It’s a month of YOU, yes- precious YOU. You, the bee’s knees. It’s a time of sharing our daily journeys in a safe and special place. We recognize the beauty around us and share it through photogrpahs of our various spots on earth.
My new favorite mug. For obvious reasons.
If you are interested in learning more before you join our You Challenge, here is a link to some previous posts about this remarkable YOU time. Hope you’ll join us for the Merry, Merry month of May.
Posted on April 5, 2021 by City Farmgirl Rebekah Teal
The stories are too numerous, the adventures are too complicated. I simply can’t begin to explain where I’ve been or what I’ve been doing since we last visited some months ago.
But, I am here to tell ya that MAY is on its WAY! Together, we celebrate US, ourselves, in May as we enjoy the You Challenge together. It’s a month of YOU, yes- precious YOU. You, the bee’s knees. It’s a time of sharing our daily journeys in a safe and special place. We recognize the beauty around us and share it through photogrpahs of our various spots on earth.
My new favorite mug. For obvious reasons.
If you are interested in learning more before you join our You Challenge, here is a link to some previous posts about this remarkable YOU time. Hope you’ll join us for the Merry, Merry month of May.
First Sweet Peas to ever bloom in the Dandelion House cutting garden! ‘ Spencer Ripple ‘
Just imagine becoming the way you used to be as a very young child, before you understood the meaning of any word, before opinions took over your mind. The real you is loving, joyful, and free. The real you is just like a flower, just like the wind, just like the ocean, just like the sun.Don Miguel Ruiz
Dear Sisters,
Happy Summer! I hope this note finds you all immersing yourselves in the wonders of the season. I’m digging into my sixth year of backyard flower farming and growing more comfortable with my new title, Farmer/florist. The deeper I go the more I realize that no matter where you are in the world, and whatever you’re passionate about you will find joy, peace and happiness when you put down some roots and let yourself bloom! It’s planting time at Dandelion House. Grab your garden gloves and a notebook, I’m sharing this season’s plant list!
Oh how I wish you could all come by for a day in the garden with me! The flowers have their best smiles on right now! Despite the buckets of rain that fell on them over the last two days, they’re putting on quite a show! Since we can’t be together ” for real ” this virtual flower show will have to suffice…Kick off you’re shoes and let’s get going. You’re in Blackfoot Farmgirl territory now… Continue reading →
The spring thaw is upon us here in the northeast and what remains of the snow is FINALLY beginning to melt little by little. I saw ” green things “ poking out of the wet earth as I walked around the garden this week and that means it won’t be long before I’ll be hearing the soothing hum of Bees buzzing in my ears once again! With over 4000 species of Native Bees in North America looking for flowers and plants to pollinate now’s the time to be thinking about adding some Bee-friendly blooms to your yard! Come on in for a list of plants that will create a buzz throughout the flowering seasons and BEE inspired to help the Bees! Continue reading →
Posted on May 10, 2010 by City Farmgirl Rebekah Teal
Oh yeah….You read it right. “Challenge.” You, me. More on that in a minute.
But first. Thank you so much for your insightful comments on love and marriage. I’m working on that booklet and will include everyone’s words. Yes, even you guys who thought you couldn’t offer any advice…your words were filled with wisdom. I mean, just go back and read them. Full of wisdom. Thank you.
Now about this “mid-spring” challenge I’ve conjured up.
Well, not yet. Let’s talk about “mid-spring” first, in all its glory, then we’ll get to that “challenge” part.
Some country pleasures never seem to change…sunny June brings us plump strawberries, crisp lettuce, and bright Tiger Lilies that pop up almost overnight along country roads. On these perfect June days, one of my favorite sounds can be heard through the screen door…the snap of freshly-washed sheets billowing in the breeze. And as twilight approaches, I’m enchanted by fireflies and their magical dances.
With these warm and dry summer days, and the threat of a late frost now over, the vegetable garden is in. It’s always interesting to hear, even in our modern world, farmers talk about planting by the “phases of the moon.” And while I see fields of some crops flourish and other fields less so, it does make me wonder if that age-old practice just might have some truth to it. Technology allows us to find the answers to all our gardening questions in an instant. However; ignoring the farming advice that’s been passed down through the generations would be a shame. Perhaps next year I’ll take a closer look at sowing by the phases of the moon and just see what happens!
Happy Summer! The season is officially here, and I am so happy! What a difference a month makes, especially in an area where there are four distinct seasons. It’s been a busy couple of weeks!
Remember the beautiful trails, the Audubon’s Bent-of-the-River, from last month’s blog? Well, a month later, look at it now! We have been hiking several more times over the last month, and it looks different and even more beautiful, each time!
At home, I have also noticed more birds have returned, as well, including my beloved hummingbirds. We were worried when they showed up, but inexplicably disappeared suddenly (several of my friends noticed this, too). Fortunately, they seem to be back! This little guy had “breakfast” with us one morning.
The season started out really rainy! We had so much rain at the beginning of the month, that water began to puddle in the front of the yard. Frogs moved in, thinking we had a new pond! In addition to green frogs, we also have peepers, toads, and tree frogs. The sound they make is like a little symphony!
I’m looking forward to seeing fireflies dancing in the woods and yard. We should see them in a few weeks. Did you know the reason for their decline is because of the chemicals many people put on their lawns? This is a photo from late last June.
Fireflies use the soil, duff, and leaf litter to overwinter and lay their eggs, and their larvae eat snails, slugs and caterpillars. Putting chemicals on the lawn and using insecticides results in a decline in these sweet little insects. Too much outdoor lighting can also affect their numbers, so turn your porch lights off during firefly season!
I recently also got my vegetable garden planted. I was worried at first, since the weather has been warm during the day, cool at night. Putting vegetables into cold soil is a problem, since cold soil can bring on issues like blossom end rot in tomatoes later in the season. Remember to water early in the day, avoiding overhead watering, to keep down plant diseases that occur when water is left on leaves overnight.
This looks to be a great season! Every day I am harvesting peas, which were planted in March as soon as the ground was thawed. I’ve got several types of tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, snowpeas, arugula, carrots, squash, cucumbers, swiss chard, radishes, and watermelon planted.
Garlic will be harvested in a few weeks, though I really do plant it more for the scapes than the actual garlic. MaryJane first introduced me to garlic scapes in her first book, so many years ago, and I have been hooked ever since! On the other side of the property, corn is coming up, and we’ve got blue potatoes to look forward to harvesting. Everything is planted from seed. Planting a garden from seed is not only economical, but you also know exactly how your food was planted (I do everything organically). I also feel such a great sense of pride when harvesting food for my family that I planted, beginning with seed. I think this is going to be a great season, much better than last year, when we had all the smoke coverage from the horrible Canadian wildfires!
We recently attended an outdoor college graduation party in picturesque Bethlehem, for a dear friend’s daughter, who is also one of my daughter’s friends.
Our girls met when they were little, as Daisy Girl Scouts, so long ago. The party was held on a working farm. In addition to running a CSA, a farm store, and Pick-Your-Own, March Farm also rents out beautiful landscape areas for events.
It was a picture-perfect day, and the party was held under the shade of large, beautiful trees, including a weeping willow, and next to a large pond where guests could take paddle boats out into the water. A pizza truck provided a scrumptious lunch for everyone, and my friend, who threw the amazing party for her daughter, baked dozens upon dozens of homemade cupcakes, (that looked like works of art and tasted like cups from Heaven) for dessert. My friend Erin always amazes me at all she does, and is the best baker I have ever met (her daughter is just as wonderful). I think when we are able to witness friends or family grow from a child to an adult, and see what great things they do, it is such a blessing!
My daughter’s boss recently gave us a handful of rhubarb from her garden. I have to admit, despite being an Advanced Master Gardener, my interaction with rhubarb has been very little, but I have always loved anything made with it because I love its tartness, especially when paired with sweet. While the leaves are toxic, the rhubarb stalks can be green or red, depending on the maturity of the plant. I had strawberries on hand, but not enough of either to make a pie, and any recipes I found sounded too sticky or sweet, or full of dairy such as buttermilk, including quick breads (my daughter is allergic to cow’s milk).
Y’all know I love a good quick bread, so I made this, working off of my recipe last year that I created for my cherry bread. The result was delicious (and quickly disappeared)! My version is moist, not too sweet, and perfect for breakfast with a cup of coffee.
Suburban Farmgirl Strawberry-Rhubarb Quick Bread
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp Himilayan pink salt
¾ cup organic sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon
Sift dry ingredients together and set aside.
Cut 4 stalks of rhubarb into pea-sized pieces, equal to one cup, and combine with one cup of fresh strawberries, cut into pea-sized pieces, tossed with 2 additional TBSP of flour. Set aside.
Whisk together 1 large egg, 1 tsp vanilla, ½ cup of oat milk, and ¼ cup of organic coconut oil, or other oil of your choice. Fold into the dry ingredients, and mix together until all is moistened. Lastly, fold in the rhubarb and strawberries.
Fold into a greased loaf pan. (I prefer glass, like Pyrex).
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool quick bread completely before removing from the loaf pan and slicing. ENJOY!
I also know it’s officially summer when we can sneak off to the beach! It was a balmy, breezy day recently – just perfect!
Such a treat after all the cool, wet weather! The humidity was low, the sun was high, and the water was cool, but not too cold to dip into. I adored being at my “happy place”! I love the ocean sounds, and walking up and down the shoreline. Walking in the sand is great exercise!
At home, on the porch, my potted herbs and flowers greet us every morning. I love geraniums, because of their classic, “it’s summer” look (they remind me of my childhood) and ease of care, but I am also IN LOVE with the beautiful pot of Osteospermum flowers that my daughter bought for me.
Also known as African daisies, these stunning flowers have only been available here in the states since the nineties. I love this specimen’s gorgeous, purple and orange buds!
In the front herb garden, herbs such as thyme, sage, mint and oregano are doing very well this year. I have an abundance of herb plants, so each morning I am picking a bit and flash-drying them in my dehydrator, to use in winter when fresh herbs are done. Picking herbs early in the day ensures the best flavor, and dehydrating them is economical (have you seen the prices on spices and herbs these days? Yikes!) but also keeps fresh, great taste. Some cooks prefer to freeze fresh herbs but I find dehydration tastes just as good and preserves the wonderful aroma and color. Once dehydrated, which only takes a few hours, I crush the leaves and store in an airtight container or jar. I can also put my dehydrated herbs in pretty jars to give to friends at the holidays.
My “girls” are laying more eggs with the longer, sunnier days, as well.
Inside, I also always look forward to a few summer crafts, as well as summer knitting and sewing projects. This summer, I am going to finish as many “WIP”s” (works-in-progress) as I can. I have several knitting projects I want to finish, and I’m sewing up a cute, quilted patchwork table runner in summer colors for my coffee table. Sewing clips are a game changer!
My friend, Linda, gave me a tin of these wonderful clips! My sewing is so much more enjoyable without struggling with pinning! They hold fabric together better than pins, and are so fast and easy to use.
Linda says these clips from wawak.com are the best ones, and are at a great price, to boot. I wish I had known about them a long time ago!
I’m ready to embrace the summer season, how about you?
Tell me, what’s going on with you? What projects are you working on, and what’s growing in your garden? I love hearing from my fellow farmgirl friends and readers! Leave me a comment and let me know you stopped by!
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
~ Mark Twain
Debbie Bosworth
is a certified farmgirl at heart. She’s happily married to her beach bum Yankee husband of 20 years. She went from career gal to being a creative homeschooling mom for two of her biggest blessings and hasn’t looked back since. Debbie left her lifelong home in the high desert of Northern Nevada 10 years ago and washed up on the shore of America’s hometown, Plymouth, MA, where she and her family are now firmly planted. They spend part of each summer in a tiny, off–grid beach cottage named “The Sea Horse.”
“I found a piece of my farmgirl heart when I discovered MaryJanesFarm. Suddenly, everything I loved just made more sense! I enjoy unwinding at the beach, writing, gardening, and turning yard-sale furniture into ‘Painted Ladies’ I’m passionate about living a creative life and encouraging others to ‘make each day their masterpiece.’”
Being a farmgirl is not
about where you live,
but how you live.
Rebekah Teal
is a “MaryJane Farmgirl” who lives in a large metropolitan area. She is a lawyer who has worked in both criminal defense and prosecution. She has been a judge, a business woman and a stay-at-home mom. In addition to her law degree, she has a Masters of Theological Studies.
“Mustering up the courage to do the things you dream about,” she says, “is the essence of being a MaryJane Farmgirl.” Learning to live more organically and closer to nature is Rebekah’s current pursuit. She finds strength and encouragement through MaryJane’s writings, life, and products. And MaryJane’s Farmgirl Connection provides her a wealth of knowledge from true-blue farmgirls.
“Keep close to Nature’s heart … and break clear away once in awhile to climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods, to wash your spirit clean.”
~ John Muir
Cathi Belcher
an old-fashioned farmgirl with a pioneer spirit, lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. As a “lifelong learner” in the “Live-Free-or-Die” state, she fiercely values self-reliance, independence, freedom, and fresh mountain air. Married to her childhood sweetheart of 40+ years (a few of them “uphill climbs”), she’s had plenty of time to reinvent herself. From museum curator, restaurant owner, homeschool mom/conference speaker, to post-and-beam house builder and entrepreneur, she’s also a multi-media artist, with an obsession for off-grid living and alternative housing. Cathi owns and operates a 32-room mountain lodge. Her specialty has evolved to include “hermit hospitality” at her rustic cabin in the mountains, where she offers weekend workshops of special interest to women.
“Mountains speak to my soul, and farming is an important part of my heritage. I want to pass on my love of these things to others through my writing. Living in the mountains has its own particular challenges, but I delight in turning them into opportunities from which we can all learn and grow.”
“Wherever you go, no matter the weather, always bring your own sunshine.”
~ Anthony J. D’Angelo
Dori Troutman
Dori Troutman is the daughter of second generation cattle ranchers in New Mexico. She grew up working and playing on the ranch that her grandparents homesteaded in 1928. That ranch, with the old adobe home, is still in the family today. Dori and her husband always yearned for a ranch of their own. That dream came true when they retired to the beautiful green rolling hills of Tennessee. Truly a cattleman’s paradise!
Dori loves all things farmgirl and actually has known no other life but that. She loves to cook, craft, garden, and help with any and all things on their cattle farm.
Wyoming cattle rancher and outpost writer (rider), shares the “view from her saddle.” Shery is a leather and lace cowgirl-farmgirl who’s been horse-crazy all of her life. Her other interests include “junktiques,” arts and crafts, glamping, collecting antique china, and cultivating mirth.
Mary Murray
describes herself as a goat charmer, chicken whisperer, bee maven, and farmers’ market baker renovating an 1864 farmhouse on an Ohio farm. With a degree in Design, Mary says small-town auctions and country road barn sales "always make my heart skip a beat thinking about what I could create or design out of what I’ve seen.”
Rooted in the countryside, she likes simple things and old ways … gardening, preserving the harvest, cooking, baking, and all things home. While you might find her selling baked goods from the farm’s milkhouse, teaching herself to play the fiddle, or sprucing up a vintage camper named Maizy, you will always find her in an apron!
Mary says, “I’m happiest with the simple country pleasures … an old farmhouse, too many animals, a crackling fire, books to read, and the sound of laughter … these make life just perfect.”
is a budding rural farmgirl living in Palmer, the agricultural seat of Alaska. Alex is a graduate student at Alaska Pacific University pursuing an M.S. in Outdoor and Environmental Education. She lives and works on the university’s 700 acre environmental education center, Spring Creek Farm. When Alex has time outside of school, she loves to rock climb, repurpose found objects, cross-country ski on the hay fields, travel, practice yoga, and cook with new-fangled ingredients.
Alex grew up near the Twin Cities and went to college in Madison, Wisconsin—both places where perfectly painted barns and rolling green farmland are just a short drive away. After college, she taught at a rural middle school in South Korea where she biked past verdant rice paddies and old women selling home-grown produce from sidewalk stoops. She was introduced to MaryJanesFarm after returning, and found in it what she’d been searching for—a group of incredible women living their lives in ways that benefit their families, their communities, and the greater environment. What an amazing group of farmgirls to be a part of!
Libbie’s a small town farmgirl who lives in the high-desert Sevier Valley of Central Utah on a 140-year-old farm with her husband and two darling little farmboys—as well as 30 ewes; 60 new little lambs; a handful of rams; a lovely milk cow, Evelynn; an old horse, Doc; two dogs; a bunch o’ chickens; and two kitties.
René Groom
Previous Rural Farmgirl, April 2009 – May 2010
René lives in Washington state’s wine country. She grew up in the dry-land wheat fields of E. Washington, where learning to drive the family truck and tractors, and “snipe hunting,” were rites of passage. She has dirt under her nails and in her veins. In true farmgirl fashion, there is no place on Earth she would rather be than on the farm.
Farmgirl spirit can take root anywhere—dirt or no dirt.
Nicole Christensen
Suburban Farmgirl Nicole Christensen calls herself a “vintage enthusiast”. Born and raised in Texas, she has lived most of her life in the picturesque New England suburbs of Connecticut, just a stone’s throw from New York State. An Advanced Master Gardener, she has gardened since childhood, in several states and across numerous planting zones. In addition, she teaches knitting classes, loves to preserve, and raises backyard chickens.
Married over thirty years to her Danish-born sweetheart, Nicole has worked in various fields, been a world-traveler, an entrepreneur and a homemaker, but considers being mom to her now-adult daughter her greatest accomplishment. Loving all things creative, Nicole considers her life’s motto to be “Bloom where you are planted”.
Previous Suburban Farmgirl, October 2009 – October 2010
Paula is a mom of four and a journalist who’s partial to writing about common sense and women’s interests. She’s lived in five great farm states (Michigan, Iowa, New York, Tennessee, and now North Carolina), though never on a farm. She’s nevertheless inordinately fond of heirloom tomatoes, fine stitching, early mornings, and making pies. And sock monkeys.
Weekly Blogs and Recipes