Ten Years Ago

What kind of Farmgirl are you?

You know, I always forget how long I’ve been blogging here at MaryJanesFarm. It feels like home to me, so I don’t really think about how long I’ve lived here.

And, of course,

Time flies when you’re having fun!

But recently I noticed that list of links to my previous posts on the right side and decided to take a look back at June 2009, ten years ago.

I started reading the 2009 post and vividly remembered writing it~~ as if it were yesterday.

Continue reading

  1. Bonnie McKee says:

    Thank you Rebekah!
    Boy howdy! I REALLY NEEDED to read this today! Your post was a breath of fresh air and has inspired me to begin to break out of a tough place where I’ve let myself stay for too long! I can now see clearly that I need a bit of Farmgirl therapy to cheer me up.
    Hugs, Bonnie
    P.S.I’m a former country farm girl who raised all sorts of livestock; milked our cow and goats; gardened and harvested, etc. Now, I have a vegetable garden, a couple dozen chickens a few apple trees and precious cats and dogs….and I’m more of a Farm Grandma than a girl

  2. CAROL MACKEY says:

    Wonderfully stated, and I couldn’t agree with you more. Due to various situations at different times in my life I have been a farmgirl on a farm, in the city, and now in the suburbs on just a couple of acres; but all those values that make me uniquely ME remained the same. I AM a farmgirl, period.

  3. Although I had to give up true rural life for apartment living in a medium sized village, my heart is still in the country even though: 1. I was born and raised in New York City but always dreamed of living in the country; 2. I am a vegan which means I’ll take care of animals but not live off them; 3. I love solitude but need to be near things like museums and galleries. That said, I will always be a country girl at heart!

  4. Ramona Puckett says:

    Love this! I’m a farm girl, I have a garden, lots of dogs (4) and I do live in the country. I can walk to the little community church building our neighbors go to, we take care of our community! My daughters live in town, both of gardens, one has chickens! We’re all trying to take care of Mother Earth and teaching the grandsons lessons of the land. Thank you for your posts! I love them! Savor the life!

  5. Elaine Cardell says:

    Fabulous post! Loved both of them. I am a City Farmgirl as well. I spent a lot of time on “the farm” when I was growing up visiting relatives in the NE GA mtns, and even though I am in the burbs of the ATL, my heart is in the country. Simplicity. Love it.❤️

  6. Donna Kozak says:

    Well, now for sure I know I’m a Farmgirl – we left a beautiful area (West Vancouver, B.C.) because we weren’t allowed to have chickens !!, bought a lovely little acreage, have 14 chickens and beautiful gardens and have never been happier…my husband at first laughed also, but he loves the lifestyle as much as I do (it helps to have wonderful neighbours, too!)

  7. Tina E Shirk says:

    Some might say that I am also not a real farm girl because I live on a Fruit Farm. Since 1845 the generations of my family have lived on a farm nestled in the Appalachian Mnts in central PA. We grow Cherries, Peaches, Nectarine, Pears and Apples. Up until a few years ago, we also raised several thousand chickens on the farm and every now and then a few pigs for the family. At the present time we’re raising a few turkeys, chickens and ducks.
    The 3rd, 4th and 5th generations of my family currently work on the farm with the 6th generation running barefoot & free through the spring fruit blossoms as only little ones can do.
    Wether you think fruit farming makes me a farm girl or not will not hurt my feelings one way or another. My family know that the struggle of farming is real but that it also forges a family bond like no other job.

    Tina E Shirk
    Graybill’s Fruit Farm
    Richfield PA

  8. Katie says:

    I love the first comings up after planting my veggie garden. It just soothes my soul. What a magical experience….that’s my farm girl story…or one of them. How about hanging the clothes outside on a sunny morning….oh I could go on and on.

  9. Susan Daniels says:

    Yay, I never leave comments but liked this and had to comment; I have lived all my life in rural and isolated areas. My grandparents had lived through the Depression and regardless of whether they had managed to keep the ranch or had moved to town they were gardeners, keepers of milk cows and chickens and passed on frugal habits and attitudes.
    Now that I’m retired, I still live near a rural community where I garden, preserve and try to be a caretaker of family and community values as well as promoting native vegetation on our small property. I believe that whether my neighbors are from “somewhere else” or natives to this rural ranching area many are Farmgirls in that they embrace that sense of growing food, helping their neighbors and supporting their community. It is a choice to engage with nature and community that makes a Farmgirl.

  10. Teresa Gattis says:

    I love your magazine. I have been a farm girl since I was 5,and I love every minute of it.

  11. Amanda says:

    Beautifully said! My husband and I both grew up on dairy farms in central PA. Then when we got married, we rented a 13 acre farmette. Now we work on his late grandparent’s farm with some other family members. Although we live in a ranch house 1/2 mile off the farm. We considered ourselves a farm family. That was until it was pointed out that we don’t own the farm, we just work there. Oh, okay. And, by the way, our daughters are not in 4-H. It was their choice, sorry to disappoint the farming community. Even though we work the ground, milk cows, garden, and everything else that “real” farmers do, by our areas standards we’re not farmers. But, thanks to the MaryJanesFarm community we can smile and have full hearts and continue farming if you decide to call it that or not!!!

  12. Karen Dressler says:

    Even though l am 75 and have never lived on a farm,but l too consider myself a farm girl. I live in metropolitan Phoenix, but l am proud of my crop of artichokes ..la big on recycling and never go to the stores without my cloth bags. I love quilting and donate around 20 kid size quilts a year to azblankets4kids.com . I truly feel that being a farm girl is an attitude in your heart! Karen

  13. Tammi says:

    Hello! I live in the suburbs. I have always wanted to live in the country, it’s been a part of me for a very long time. But with life situations and lack of funds, it has not been a fulfilled dream. So I try to grow my garden. I fell in love with canning different things, I dehydrate, and decorate my home country style. I have a fetish for oil lamps. They are all over the house. I will always have light when the power goes off, and in the evening they make me feel like I’ve gone to the country. I have a difficult time understanding why people would even bother to extend the effort to be critical of you, Rebekah. I guess too much time on their empty hands. Thank you for your candidness, I appreciate it.

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