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Hello Farmgirl friends!
I count myself incredibly fortunate that I have amazing girlfriends. I’ve written many times on this blog about my different girlfriends. Whether it is my two very best life long girlfriends, or my amazing girlfriends I’ve met in my fitness classes, or the great group of girls I met at a sewing retreat in Vermont. I’ve written about them all.
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Hello Friends!
Today, I’ve got a fun surprise for you! Last month in my blog post I told you that my Momma from New Mexico is here with us for awhile. (If you missed that post, you can read it here.)
Well, today I’m turning this blog over to her! She’s written up a little recipe treat for you!
Meet my mom, Carol:
Above picture taken in 2016 of my Momma in her kitchen
Happy New Year to my Farmgirl Friends!
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My sweet Momma… and our dog Belle.
I wonder what has been on your mind this month with the new year? What are the things that you think about as a new year begins? Goals and resolutions? Things to be thankful for? New ideas, new projects? My thoughts all month have been on the seasons of life.
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Hello friends! I hope you had a really lovely Thanksgiving!
I’ve been working on some fun Christmas crafts and this ornament ended up being such a fast and simple project I decided to share a little tutorial with all of you. You can whip these up in no time!
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Hello Farmgirl Friends!
Lets talk about this yummy, amazing beef broth!!!
One of my favorite things about fall and winter weather is home made soup! I’m always happy for a bowl of soup and cornbread or biscuits!
Anyway… back to soup! Recently we had our yearly steer harvested and when I put away all the meat in my freezer I realized I still had soup bones left over from last year so I decided that this winter I’d do better about making beef broth once a week and instead of having an entire bin full of soup bones in my freezer, I’d have a bin full of beef broth.
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Fall is in the air here in Tennessee and I’ve been enjoying doing a tiny bit of fall decorating! I really love to drag my summer out until October but I have put out a few things in my house! I made this super fast fall project and decided to share it with you because absolutely ANYONE can make this darling garland!!! It is also a very inexpensive project and you can have it made in less than an hour and it is an excellent project to do with children of all ages. So lets get started!
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Hello Farmgirl Friends!
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I got home from a month in New Mexico to okra just out of control. (My daughter and her friend had been picking and using it at least… but it was in full production mode!) I do love okra and honestly we can happily eat it every day all summer and clear into the Fall when it finally gives up. But I’ve heard so many people say that they never know how to cook it except for fried or boiled. So today… for all you okra lovers (and haters!) out there; I have a fabulous meal to share with you. (Every okra hater that I know magically loves okra this way!)
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Two weeks ago, I lost my precious Dad. I really am struggling to process that he is gone; even though we’ve known for the last month that the end was near. I’m here in New Mexico with my Momma for a few weeks at the home place where I was raised, and I’m so thankful for the time together.
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Hello Farmgirl Friends!
It has been so hot here in Tennessee that when I had the opportunity to participate in a fun “mud” run with my daughter and her girls and some of their friends, no way was I going to pass it up! I’ve done a couple of these Mud Girl runs in the past and they are always fun!
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My daughter and I and her precious girls – before mud!
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Have you ever participated in a mud run of any sort? The Mud Girl Run is 3 miles with a total of 22 obstacles. It’s not a race or a competition; everyone gets a finisher medal. It’s all about coming together as women and helping each other through the obstacles and up and out of the mud! It’s all outdoors of course and just such fun to be with other females of all ages and fitness abilities. As one of the gals in our group said, “It’s a hot day, but it’s so beautiful and I’m just so happy to be alive and enjoying being together”. Honestly that has stuck with me so much because I think that is what it’s all about. Being together.
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The five girls in our group came up with the name of Southern Sows for our team! And one of the mom’s designed our shirts. Aren’t they so much fun? I think they came out absolutely adorable! (Obviously very fitting since we were definitely piggies in our happy mud place!)
.Here are the pictures we took before the mud!
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These five girls were so much fun! They ranged in age from 10 – 15 and incredibly good sports and cheerful and laughing the whole time!
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And the three moms plus me. They were super sweet to invite me along! (Take note of those adorable hot pink socks!)
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And now, here are some mud pictures!
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My grand-girl Rosetta! She absolutely had the best time in the mud!
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It was a lot harder getting to the top of this mud hill than you would think! We were slipping, sliding and falling back into the mud pit trying to get to the top. Once there, it was a challenge to hang on until our whole team got to the top! (I know it looks like Rosetta was just lounging there in the front, but two of us were hanging on to her to keep her from sliding!) And then….
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…sliding off a muddy hill into a total pig pen of mud! Why in the world is that so much fun? HaHa!!
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Southern Sows at their muddy happiest! (Notice those adorable hot pink socks now!)
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Swimming/crawling in mud under a “ceiling” of webbing!
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And then my daughter and I trying to climb out of it at the other end was a whole other obstacle in itself!
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And all too soon the 3 miles were over and the finish line was in sight. We joined arms and ran through the finish…
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…laughing to the very end!
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So very muddy and worn out… but happy!
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I couldn’t help but zoom in on my hair – dried mud at it’s best!!! HaHaHa!!!
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If you EVER get the opportunity to participate in a Mud Girl Run say YES!!!
Until our gravel roads cross again… so long.
Dori
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Hello Friends!!
I hope you’re doing well and enjoying this amazing month of May! By the time you read this blog post I will be in New Mexico for some time with my precious parents… and I’m planning to eat all the Mexican food! I’m really in need of some time to just sit and visit with my Dad as he hasn’t been feeling too strong and discouragement has started to set in. You know when you are a hard working rancher that never quits… and suddenly you are forced to slow WAAAAY down, it is very hard. I plan to make him laugh! Smile!
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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.’”
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.
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.”
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.
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!
calls herself a knitter, jam-maker, and vintage enthusiast who "never met an antique sewing machine she didn't like." Born and raised in the great state of Texas, she now resides in suburban New England in picturesque Connecticut, just a stone’s throw from New York state.
Married for over twenty years to her Danish-born sweetheart, Nicole has worked in various fields and has been a world-traveler, entrepreneur, and homemaker, but considers being a mom her greatest accomplishment of all. In addition to blogging, she also teaches knitting professionally and is a Certified Master Gardener. Loving all things creative and domestic, Nicole considers her life’s motto to be “bloom where you are planted.”
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