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”.
Hi Farmgirls! It’s hard to believe it is already August. Soon we will be thinking all things fall, but for now, I am still thinking summer! It’s been a super summer here!
Summer started out later than normal with cool temperatures all the way to late May. Mother Nature sure made up for it, with super hot temperatures and high humidity, to boot, but I love seeing all the sun, because we miss it during the grey winter months!
We are a “stay-cation” family. We don’t want to leave our fur-babies (or our chickens) for very long, and we love to come home after a day trip and sleep in our own beds! There’s so much to do on the East Coast, and just when we think we have “seen it all”, we find something else fun!
For my daughter’s birthday this summer, my family and I had a blast for the day in Stanhope, New Jersey at Wild West City, a family-owned theme park that first opened in 1957.
A wall of photos from the first year the park opened graces the “saloon”.
Only a few hours from where we live in Connecticut, arriving at Wild West City, you feel like you have stepped back in time. We drank sarsaparilla at the saloon, took a stagecoach ride, rode an old-fashioned train (which was “held up” by “Billy the Kid”), and walked through museum-type buildings filled to the brim with interesting artifacts.
I loved seeing all of the displays, especially the clothing from the 1800’s. I loved seeing period bride and groom outfits. The bride must have been so dainty!
There was so much to see and do at Wild West City. I especially loved the display of period clothing. Can you imagine the bride who wore this, way back when?
A corner of the “printing press”. In the buildings, you really learn about the history and how people lived during that period.
We liked going to the printing press and seeing how newspapers in the 1860’s were printed.
My favorite was the jail cell! Creepy-cool, it was made in 1890.
OOPS! My daughter in the cell with her “wanted” poster!
Family friendly, the theme park has something for everyone. We enjoyed seeing the “shows” in the town square, which occur often. We bought cowgirl hats, and ate old-fashioned snow-cones! I even bought a bubblegum cigar. My husband, daughter, and I had the BEST day!
Is Billy the Kid is about to get captured!?
Howdy!
It was such a beautiful day, and on the way home, we stopped at a farm stand for fresh veggies. New Jersey has such beautiful farms, no wonder it is called the “Garden State”.
New Jersey has some of the most beautiful farmland. A different planting zone than we are, they had veggies ready to harvest and a trip to this farmstand was farmgirl HEAVEN!
Back in Connecticut, we spent another lovely summer day together at our local Beardsley Zoo. We had not been in many years, and enjoyed it as much as we did as when our daughter was little. My favorite animal this visit was the giant anteater.
“That’s a whole lotta kitty!”
SPLOOT! I feel the same way when the heat PLUS humidity soars!
While the animals are fun to see, our little Connecticut zoo also has an amazing greenhouse and garden to visit!
The giant greenhouse at our zoo is one of my favorite attractions. This is the path leading from it to the outdoor garden.
At the Beardsley Zoo, in the greenhouse, there is an indoor pond. The fish follow visitors from one end to the other.
On another beautiful day, my husband and I drove to Kent, Connecticut, visiting Kent Falls, where the water falls 250 feet down to the Housatonic River. We climbed to the very top! It was so picturesque!
At the other end of the East Coast, we drove to Sturbridge, Massachusetts to visit the Old Sturbridge Village for the yearly event, “Recoats and Rebels”, featuring Revolutionary War reenactors. I have written about this “living museum” before, but we always enjoy this special weekend there. I still do not know how people wore all those layers of clothing back then. I would have died of heat exhaustion!
This young man had the brightest smile when I asked if I could photograph him, then quickly getting into character for the photo. It was so hot that day, I don’t know how they did it, but a good time was had by all!
This visit at OSV was extra special, because the museum also has the “Cows on Parade”, something we have not seen since the late 90’s. They are on display through September.
Summer would not be summer without sneaking away a time or two to our favorite Connecticut beach!
We also just love summer in New England at home. June, July, and August bring birds, butterflies, flowers and veggies in the garden.
A heart shaped hydrangea graces a nearby storefront.
The hummers are back. They buzz me when the sugar water is empty (the glass is red, not the contents)!
A stunning broad-winged hawk stops for a rest in my backyard.
I love ruby-colored carrots. My secret? Seed tape! Perfect rows and less thinning for carrots.
A trip to the garden for dinner…
Keeping a garden is a lot of work, but there’s something so satisfying about making dinner from food you have sown and grown yourself – a farmgirl’s happiness!
We work hard so we can play a bit, too. We also saw the new Superman movie and LOVED it! What’s not to love when there is a fluffy, fun super-canine in the movie? Movies are a great way to escape the heat when it gets too oppressive.
My dog, trying his best to do a “Krypto the Superdog” impression. You’re still my favorite Super-dog!
The rest of the summer will bring days of picking veggies, canning, and the start of all the wonderful state fairs across New York and Connecticut. August is so nice because the heat is still here, but the humidity tends to wane a bit. Fall will be here soon enough.
Tell me, what are you doing during the last hot, dog days of summer? What are your favorite local destinations? C’mon, let me know you stopped by in the comments below!
My family and I love day trips, especially in the summer. New England has no shortage of wonderful places to visit! Recently, we found a Connecticut town so full of charm, we can’t get enough of it! Grab a lemonade and come take a visit with me to Chester, Connecticut!
We have lived in Connecticut, in Sandy Hook, for over thirty years. My husband has traveled all over the state for his job, and we have gone on road trips here and there across the New England area since we moved here over three decades ago. We thought we had seen most everything in the state. When my daughter found a town we had not heard of before, we were intrigued!
An hour and ten minutes from where we live, Chester, Connecticut is a small coastal town, nestled along the Connecticut River, with a population under 4000 in the last census. The town is bursting with charm! The homes, the buildings such as the library, and the surrounding area are so quaint and charming, and it is a friendly town. Rich in history, the Main Street looks like it could be part of a movie or storybook, reminiscent of a small hamlet you might find in Europe, perhaps.
We were first recently drawn to Chester when my daughter saw an Instagram ad for a small local store there. We LOVE to read, and love many of the same books and genres, one being romance. There is THE most wonderful romance-only bookstore in Chester.
This bookstore, Montgomery and Taggert, is so charming, it looks like the store itself looks as if it is out of a novel! Walking through the parking lot to the entrance, you cross under a beautiful archway covered in vines, to the beautiful English-style garden full of flowers and herbs, where you almost expect to see Mr. Darcy!
My daughter and I stop in the arbor – covered in vines. It’s breathtaking.
Charm in every corner! I love a brick and mortar bookstore – the colors, the scent of new books…nothing is better!
There are cute gifts and unique items, like this plant stake. We laugh, because of all my houseplants, I baby this tiny flytrap so much!
Inside the store, there are all sorts of beautiful books and gifts. There are all types of romance-themed books, from Jane Austen and other classics, to modern-day “cozy” and “cottage core” romance novels, with plenty of beautiful “painted edge” books that I love so much!
Walk from the bookstore to the corner, and there is the bustling, quaint Main Street. Planters brimming with flowers, cobblestone in the sidewalks, amazing restaurants and stores with artisan wares make Chester a perfect destination.
Ask the shopkeepers in town for a good restaurant, and the answer is the same: all the restaurants in Chester are noteworthy and delicious! The first time we went to Chester, it was just my daughter and myself in early June. We walked around, and ate lunch outside on the patio of the Pattaconk 1850 pub. It was so delicious, we ate there again when we returned to Chester last week with my friend, Alison, and her daughter for a fun “girls day out”!
After our lunch, the four of us ended up walking all the way to the end of Main Street, to a local beautiful cemetery, open to the public. It was hauntingly beautiful and peaceful.
On both visits, we ended the day on my favorite note – ice cream! The BEST ice cream I have EVER had is found in Chester, at Honeycone Craft Ice Cream. Owned by a mother-daughter team, the ice cream is truly Heavenly. The vegan ice cream is to die for (Vegan Coconut Cream was delightful), but right now I am just over the moon for their dreamy Blackberry Basil ice cream (we bought pints to bring home it is so scrumptious)!
On Father’s Day, we even drove to Chester just for an ice cream at Honeycone, and brought home a delicious wood-fired pizza home for dinner from OTTO pizza.
After living over thirty years in Connecticut, Chester is on my list of favorite places to visit, and certainly worth checking out if you are in New England! There are art galleries, shops, and special events that occur downtown – “Chester’s First Fridays”, special Friday evenings where stores and galleries stay open late, with live music and other specials. A visit to Chester is refreshing! I am so glad we found such a tranquil, beautiful little village. Tell me, do YOU have a favorite town or area that you love to visit for the day? Share with me in the comments!
My Daddy. It is hard to believe that the man who seemed like he had nine lives is really gone. Anyone who has lost a parent knows that heartbreak. I am thinking of him so often this month, as I garden, set up my camper and do other “summer things” we always talked together about, with my first Father’s Day without him.
When I became the Suburban Farmgirl Blogger in 2010, I remember reading the previous Suburban Farmgirl, Paula Spencer’s post titled, “What A Dad I Had”. I remember thinking how hard for her that must have been to write, and thinking “How sad to lose a parent. I hope I never have the need to write a post like that.“ But, here I am. No matter how elderly or sick, I think in the back of our minds, there is that piece inside even adult children where we think our parents will always be here. When they leave us, no matter how prepared we are, it is a gut punch that you can’t explain unless you experience it. I lost my dad last fall.
Growing up, I was “Daddy’s Girl”. I was his sidekick on Saturday errands to the local hardware store, and I cherish those rare Saturdays where Mama was out for the day, and it was just Daddy and me. Daddy was an avid reader, and books were treated as treasures. I still remember the perfect Saturday, right before Christmas, with lunch out and a trip to the neighborhood “used” book store, where he introduced me to Nancy Drew. I still have that first worn book from the 1940’s.
Me, 1970 something, in front of my dad’s collected books. My daughter reminds me of my dad, as she collects books, too. The first gift he gave her, before she was even born, was a copy of his favorite childhood book, “The Little Engine That Could”.
I am a true-blue “Farmgirl” because of my dad. I learned so much from him. My love for the outdoors was inherited from my dad, who was passionate about it. Some of our last conversations last summer were about wildlife, and the bears that have been seen so frequently not only here in Connecticut but also now in Texas.
Though he was born in, and lived his entire life, in the big city of Houston, he loved nature more than anything. From the time I could walk, I remember taking walks with Dad, especially in the hill country, the property he owned for fifty years, Quail Run Ranch, that we always affectionately called “The Farm”. We spent countless hours driving the property on an old 1950’s tractor, with me on his knee.
My daughter and my Dad pose on his tractor, mid-2000’s.
As a child, during the summer at the ranch, Daddy taught me about plants and insects, and we would study all the many butterflies we’d see in the summer.
At the Butterfly Conservatory, 2006
When Audrey was little, he sent her the Butterflies of North America book, and took her to the butterfly conservatory, a day we both still remember.
My dad was voted “Mr. Bellaire” in the 1960’s. He looked like a movie star.
When my dad was a young man, he was insanely handsome. I always thought he looked like a movie star. Daddy could be so charming, with a gift for gab. No matter where he was, he could talk to anyone, and knew how to make a stranger a friend in just a matter of minutes. My dad could also be a prankster! In middle school, he rode a motorcycle through the halls! In high school, he would ride a horse standing up and flip off of the back of it, like a trick rider. He drove his first car, a convertible hot-rod, at twelve years old, a gift from the Pro Golfer, Jimmy Demaret who lived across the street, who wanted my dad to drive the famous golfer’s mother to her errands.
He was going to be an architect, but found he had a gift for sales. As a young man, he worked at the upscale men’s clothing store in Bellaire (a part of Houston, Texas). During that time, he was voted ”Mr. Bellaire” for his dashing good looks.
Looking dashing in the 1980s
For much of his career, Daddy was a traveling salesman. When the “red phone” in the home office rang at night, I knew it was my dad, calling to check in. Sometimes he was in New York City or at the Dallas Trade Mart. If he was on a particularly long trip, he would always bring me home a “surprise”. You never knew what treasure or trinket Daddy would bring home, a momento to let me know he was thinking of me when he was away. The best part, however, was when he would pull up in front of the house, and I would run out the door, and jump in his arms. He was a polished salesman, hair always neatly combed back with his little pocket brush that he never went without. Daddy always smelled so good – a mix of soap and cologne. How I wish I could hug him again, and breathe in that cologne.
I was always running around with a Polaroid camera and snapped this photo of my dad when he had arrived home from a long trip.
For many years, he worked in the wholesale hosiery business for brands such as Hanes and L’eggs, and would always joke that he was an “undercover agent”. During the sock and leg warmer craze of the 80’s, I thought he was the coolest dad ever, because I got the latest trends before any of the other kids at school could.
Long before “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” was a “thing”, on a few occasions in the 80’s, when Daddy was working locally, he took me with him to visit clients. Later, when he worked locally in an office for a wholesale company, he would take me with him during the inventory days, and I would spend the day helping count the inventory – to me it was so fun, and I was so proud to get to go with him. I learned how to really talk to people from my dad.
Daddy was the most creative person I have ever known. Before Pinterest, decades before influencers”, there was my Dad. He could look at something and see something else – an original repurposer. He could build anything, perfectly, beautifully, and often without any plans. He loved to make signs, and would do so with the most beautiful free-hand script. He could, and did, build an entire house. He taught me how to make rock fences and borders in the garden, and to use what you have to make things beautiful. When we bought our house here in Connecticut, Daddy helped build our storage shed, and the baby gates that we use to this day for the pups.
The flowering quince my dad bought and helped me plant as a housewarming gift 30 years ago bloomed fuller than I have ever seen this year.
He always loved to help clear brush, and some of the plantings in my garden beds are from my dad. He loved seeing the wildlife in the area, especially our sightings of his favorite animal, the white-tailed deer.
2017 – one of my most favorite photos I took of Daddy
My attention to detail came from my dad. Daddy was incredibly artistic and creative, with an exceptional attention to detail in anything he did. As a child, Daddy made the holidays magical. The best Christmas present I ever got as a child was the amazing dollhouse he spent weeks building in his backyard workshop. It was beautiful and perfect and detailed. He even had porch lights by the front door, which were his repurposed cufflinks.
My dollhouse made by my Daddy (complete with teenage brother in background).
Dressed as Santa in the early 80’s
Daddy could wrap presents with such perfection, they looked like movie props. He was very creative that way. He also made sure I believed in Santa, with ho-ho-hos and ringing bells outside as I was going to bed, even climbing on top of the roof. One year, my dad cast a shadow with a red light in the shape of Rudolph the Red Nosed reindeer across the ceiling of my room. It was fantastic, and to this day, I still don’t know how he did it.
I spy shish-kabob! I can still taste it. Yum!
I also inherited his love of cooking. My dad was an incredible cook! His dinners were the best! He could smoke and bar-be-que meat like no one else! When he made breakfast, it wasn’t just a plate of eggs, it was a symphony of deliciousness, with all sorts of goodies chopped up into those eggs with the precision of a skilled chef. I have dozens of recipes Daddy sent me, and my favorite cookbooks are the ones he sent, with little messages written in the front covers.
Dad would always send Christmas cards, and his handwriting was always such a beautiful script. Up until his hands stopped working properly, Daddy always drew little cartoons on notes. I still have several notes where he wrote he was “thinking of me” with little cartoons, and a chalkboard in our kitchen still has a cartoon of Audrey he drew when she was two.
It’s still there!
Each time he visited, he laughed that it was still there, and it became a little “joke”. Over 21 years later, it still exists, and I can’t imagine erasing it now. Until the day he went to the nursing home, Daddy always mailed me articles out of magazines he thought I’d be interested in, and he was so proud of my own writing. He was thrilled when he was a part of my blog, and when I wrote about his mom and shared her recipe, he was brought to tears. He never was one to really lavish praise on his kids, so to hear when he was proud meant a lot.
Daddy was also an amazing gardener. From the time I was a small child, Daddy taught me about gardening. I think my dad could grow anything. We had a big backyard garden when I was a child. In the early 70’s, we planted baby trees together in the hill country, that last I heard were still there and as tall as skyscrapers. We always talked of gardening and houseplants, and farmer’s markets. It was in honor of my dad that I became a Master Gardener, something he always had wanted to do, but never got around to. I think he could have taught them a thing or two. He was my first gardening teacher and I learned how to grow the best and biggest tomatoes from Daddy. Later in life, he kept beautiful roses on the side of his house, and a mixed flower bed that was spectacular. He was especially proud of his shrimp plants. He and Karen also volunteered together at a victory garden, where Dad built beautiful raised beds. He had a knack for making his surroundings inside and out beautiful.
Dad and Karen’s cutting garden in the suburban Houston area.
Like many men of his time, he could be stubborn and set in his ways, but there was also a soft side that I don’t think many knew about. Before the internet and constant “sharing”, before there was a constant flow of insincere “notice me” philanthropy that exists today, my Daddy would do things just to be kind.
1970s in my childhood kitchen
In the early 1970’s, my mom, dad and I were on a trip to San Antonio. We had stopped for lunch at a busy fast food restaurant in the tourist district. Everyone was in line to order, when all of a sudden the line parted into two sides and the room became quiet. All eyes were disapprovingly staring at the man in the middle. He was homeless. You didn’t see many homeless people in Texas back then, especially in that area, and I had never seen anyone like that before in my young life. Everything about him seemed “gray” – his dirty clothes, his wild, untamed hair, his overgrown beard. There this man stood, a few clinking coins in his dirt-caked hands, looking at the menu, then nervously looking at the money in his hand, trying to decide if he could afford anything to eat. No one in the crowded counter area spoke to him, just stared at him. Without any hesitation, my father stepped forward, touched the man on the shoulder like he was an old friend, and slipped a $20 bill in the man’s hand, a lot of money back then. “Get yourself something good to eat”, was all Dad said. In the early 80’s, Daddy once helped a family we knew that had three kids, when the father had suddenly been laid off. And long before internet campaigns, for as long as I can remember, my dad always would give blood. He didn’t speak publicly about it, he just quietly went and did it.
When my dad and mom divorced, I was a teenager. It was awful! Being a teenage girl can put a strain on any father-daughter relationship, but a difficult divorce added to the mix makes it worse. My teenage heart was so disappointed when my favorite band at the time, A-Ha, was in town all the way from Norway, playing a concert in Houston. I could not get tickets for the sold-out show. I don’t know how he did it, but my Dad not only got tickets for me and a friend, but he got us front row, stage-front tickets. I know he must have spent a fortune on those tickets. I can still see my dad, sitting stuffed in the venue chair, loud 80’s pop music blaring, his ears stuffed with earplugs, while hundreds of screaming teenage girls jumped around the stage. I can still see the uncomfortable look mixed with sheer horror that my dad had on his face, and it wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized how much going to that concert back then meant to me, or how horrifyingly uncomfortable it was for him.
Growing up, I also adored Princess Diana. When my daughter was a baby, I went home to Houston for a visit. Daddy surprised me with two tickets for us to go to the Princess Diana exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural History. Diana’s clothes, including her wedding dress and some personal effects, were on tour. This wasn’t something my dad was interested in, but he knew it was something I would love.
My favorite photo of my Daddy as a little cowboy!
Dad’s favorite movies were westerns, especially those starring John Wayne. He was incredibly artistic. He had a passion for collecting all sorts of things. He also loved his little dogs and his cats, and had a special connection to our little chihuahua, Pip.
Dad could give good advice. If he didn’t know what to say, or something was just not “fixable”, he would comfortingly say, “It is what it is”, or “It’s just one of those things…” He also had funny little sayings like, “Lawdy Miss Clawdy”! I will miss his stories, as he was a natural-born storyteller. The last time I talked to him on the phone, he’d had a great day, sounding like a little kid when he told me, “Can you believe I played BINGO today for the first time? And I WON!”
My daddy’s last words to me on the phone were “I love you”.
On his last visit to Connecticut, 2019. We were so happy – he had just gotten off the plane and we stopped for a bite.
Though he loved seeing New England, and thought it and our home here were beautiful, Daddy never quite “got over” that I moved out of Texas. He would always suggest we move back. He often worried that we were all alone. Back home, Daddy did not have a service or memorial. My dear friend, Susan, felt that we should have a “Celebration of Life”. I wasn’t sure who would show up, since Susan was my only friend here who ever got to meet my dad. My Daddy’s last lesson to me came when Susan’s house was filled with dear friends, all gathered to celebrate my dad and the life of a man they never met! I hope he was watching, and could see all the wonderful people with us that day, and know we are not alone. None of us ever are, really. I hope my daddy is somewhere beautiful, whole and mobile again, riding the wind like the wild-white tailed deer he adored. Daddy, I miss you so. I love you, always.~Nicole
Hi Farmgirls! Wow! Spring has sprung in New England! We’ve had a wonderful, busy month. Outside, suddenly, everything has just “popped” – we’ve gone from grey to green, there’s lots to do and see, birds are back, and so are the insects – some that are so beautiful! Not all insects are bad; so many are beneficial. Don’t grab that spray can of nasty chemicals, help shoo away unwanted pests naturally!
Our redbud tree is full of leaves!
It was a kind of a weird spring. It took forever to get warm, and when it finally did, we made up for the drought we were in with rain, rain and more rain. Last week, we got ten inches of rain, and over two this week.
When the clouds finally cleared, and the rain stopped, it seemed like spring was here, abruptly. Trees have leaves, greenery is sprouting everywhere. Birds are singing and nesting, flowers are blooming, and insects are buzzing. Mother Nature is alive again!
Every evening, we hear owls hooting all around, like this beauty who hung around one morning, right outside my bedroom window. What a magnificent, stunning creature!
Nothing makes me more sad than seeing a post on Facebook about an owl or a beautiful fox (like the one we see often on our cameras at night), that died because of ingesting its prey that had been poisoned with rodent poison.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love animals, but I HATE finding evidence of rodents in my living spaces! I am not against old-fashioned, fast snap mouse traps, (but I hate to use them). Poison is cruel and can hurt your own pets, as well as other animals. In my vintage glamper and in the basement, I swear by Grandpa Gus’s Potent Mouse repellent! I spray it around the perimeter and potential entry points, and it really works! I’d rather not have mice come in anywhere at all, so repellent is a good choice. I use the spray several times a year, and now that it is spring, I use it to repel mice that might be looking to come in a basement or camper to nest.
Made from mint and cinnamon oils, this actually smells nice! I got it at my local hardware store but it is also sold online and in many stores.
Because we had a warm up in early spring while the ground was still frozen, some gardeners here lost plantings. Sadly, I lost one of my two year old peach trees. The outside temperature was warm, but the ground was still frozen, so the roots could not get the water they needed. However, once everything finally thawed out, this has been one of the prettiest springs I can remember, with blooms galore!
The blooms on my flowering quince are more full than I remember seeing! My daddy bought that for me decades ago as a housewarming. I wish he could have seen the blooms this year.
All of these beautiful blooms also attract insects. I have already noticed butterflies, and a lovely Nessus sphinx hummingbird moth in my lilacs this morning.
I thought it was a true hummingbird at first, the buzzing was so loud!
I love that my flowering bushes and trees are “buzzing” with the sound of bees, busy at work. Bees are one of our most important beneficial insects; if we lose them, we lose much of our food!
Look at those bees knees full of pollen!
It always amazes me how gardeners want to attract beneficial insects, but also want to spray everything with chemicals as soon as they notice any sort of pest. If you do need to spray for an infestation, use organic products like neem oil or insecticidal soap, and use them in the early morning or late evening, when beneficial insects are not as active. Most insects are just “passing through yards and garden spaces!
A cart full of beautiful!
I was so excited to find beautiful, full geraniums at a great price! Geraniums are my favorite – easy, simple and beautiful, and last here until fall when I switch them out for seasonal mums. They remind me of my mom and my childhood; Mama always had pots of geraniums around the house outside in summer. I’ve seen hummingbirds and butterflies attracted to my beautiful flowers.
In just a couple of weeks, it will be time to put the veggies into the vegetable garden (the soil temperature is still too cool just yet; right now I am hardening off my seeds that I started indoors). One of my favorite ways to garden organically is to do companion planting, using plants as my ally in warding off bad insects that can harm my plants. Each year, I plant basil in between my plants, such as my tomatoes and peppers. Not only does it ward away pests such as whiteflies and aphids, but I can also clip fresh leaves all summer for yummy dishes. At the end of the season, I harvest the remaining basil and make pesto (which I put in canning jars and freeze for up to six months).
I first started planting garlic when I read about using the scapes in MaryJane’s first book. I have been hooked ever since, and plant garlic each fall for a summer harvest.
I plant my garlic around the border of my veggie bed – not only do I get delicious scapes to eat (the best part, in my opinion), and yummy fresh garlic to harvest, but garlic also helps protect nearby plants from pests and fungus! We have lots of different types of fungal issues in Connecticut, due to our wet springs and often wet autumn seasons.
Also around my vegetable garden and other garden borders, I plant dwarf Marigolds. I love marigolds! Deer and other critters don’t eat them.
Marigolds also last through summer into the fall, adding fall color as well as working hard all summer to keep pests such as aphids, whiteflies, and nematodes away (just make sure to plant dwarf varieties so you don’t shade other plants).
Indoors, most homes in New England get problems with spider mites, due to our dry homes with our dry, non-moving winter air from wood burning stoves and forced heat. Opening windows on a cool spring day often lets in flies or mosquitoes, and I have noticed a few times nasty fungus gnats from the soil in my houseplants. In early April, I ran into a local garden store to get a last minute need for a gardening class I was to teach one evening. While shopping, I noticed the store had venus fly traps! The plants were tiny, and so cute that I just could not help it. I purchased one, and brought it home.
Venus fly traps are not your typical houseplant; they are a carnivorous plant native to the bogs in the Carolinas. They need lots of light, with four hours of bright light a day during the growing season. Never water your venus flytrap with tap water; only use rainwater, spring or distilled water, placing it in a dish (mine is so tiny, I have it in a teacup’s saucer). They do not like regular potting soil, and skip the fertilizer. I’ve had mine for over a month, and it has grown, with many new “mouths”…I even witnessed a mosquito get “munched”!
Everyone needs that one friend who can have fun with you, even going just grocery shopping! My friend, Susan, is that friend. We have been friends since our children were toddlers, and can have fun together anywhere! On a recent Costco run, we both picked up beautiful, large lavender plants!
I love lavender – lavender soap, coffee, and of course, plants! Inside, dried lavender is a great alternative to nasty, toxic moth balls. I use it in drawstring muslin bags, like a sachet, and tuck it in with my sweaters on my closet shelves, and in my yarn stash to repel moths. Inside, dried and fresh lavender helps repel all sorts of nasty insects that can come indoors, including stink bugs that like to find their way into homes in the Northeast. In warmer seasons, I love fresh lavender on my porch – it smells amazing and helps repel bugs like mosquitoes.
Rosemary is another good companion plant – it helps repel a variety of pests, including aphids on lettuce. I always have lettuce in a giant pot on my deck, with rosemary next to it. Perhaps that’s why I have always had healthy, aphid-free lettuce in my pot! Rosemary is also one of my favorite herbs to cook and bake with!
Love porch sitting? Hate flies? I swear by this, an old trick I learned eons ago in Texas, from true Texas Bar-be-Que restaurants, where the smoky meat draws flies. Hang clear a plastic bag full of water. That’s it.
I keep one on my “shabby chic” porch, and one in my chicken coop and get no flies (and we have horse flies, house flies, and bottle flies in Connecticut). It has something to do with interfering with their vision, so flies steer clear of the area.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day! Mine was lovely. I was spoiled – breakfast in bed with fresh bagels, and my daughter surprised me with a garden-themed “surprise book box” – a box that is packed with all kinds of surprises, like socks and organic coffee, centered around a signed book. Then, in the afternoon, we had a beautiful sunny day, and my family took me to my favorite restaurant for lunch, and afterward to a local garden center. There, I picked out the cutest bee-themed wind spinner, and a big, full citronella plant.
In the geranium family, citronella repels mosquitoes, and I don’t have to spray myself with some awful chemical to enjoy my time on my porch!
Speaking of gifts, I finished Dori’s special gift and mailed it out to her! I love the quilt jacket she made me so very much, and wanted her to have something, special hand made by me, too. I went to one of my favorite yarn stores, and found a soft, colorful yarn to hand knit a lacy scarf. I wanted a yarn that would not be too heavy or too warm for her area. This lovely yarn is from Berrocco, called “Sesame”. It’s a blend of wool, acrylic, cotton and nylon. Dori says she loves it, and I can’t wait to see photos of her wearing it this fall!
I really hope Dori loves the scarf I made her, and thinks of it as a “farmgirl hug” when she wears it!
Hi Farmgirls! It’s been a crazy busy month for me here. How about you? It feels like spring comes and BOOM! We are “off and running”! There’s so much to do with the changing of the season from cold to warmer, and then everyone is busy with holidays like Easter and Passover, too! It’s still a wee bit chilly here in New England, so grab a cup of tea and come visit a bit with me!
Here in New England, you never know what April will bring. We have daffodils peeking outside, and if you want to have a vegetable garden planted using seeds, seeds are started inside. Mine are doing quite well, but it will be several weeks before anything can be planted outside into the veggie bed. We start thinking of spring, but Mother Nature reminds us that it can still be cold.
Yesterday, we woke up to a layer of ice. (It’s gone now).
It’s not the cold that slows chicken egg laying down, but more the lack of light in winter. Thankfully, my chickie girls have started laying again, even though it has felt like the sun has been sleeping away behind the clouds most days.
Not only was I surprised at the price of eggs this winter, but look at the difference in color and freshness of a store-bought egg (runny and pale), compared to the egg from my happy backyard hen. So fresh!
They taste better, too. I can’t wait until I have fresh tomatoes, as well. Even organic store-bought tomatoes are forced to ripen with ethylene gas, so they don’t taste as good as one slowly ripened from a sunny day in the backyard. C’mon summer!
Speaking of eggs, look how cute this is! My dear friend Julie sent me a goodie box for my birthday. I love the little fried egg “candle rug” she included. It looks like it’s made from a repurposed wool blanket or jacket. So clever!
Also, talking about eggs, Easter is coming up soon. It feels like it snuck up on me. I usually like to put my box of Easter decorations out as soon as St. Patrick’s Day is over, but I have been too on-the-go-constantly-busy the last few weeks. I love my Easter bunnies, but I have to admit, there’s something “eggstra-special” about Easter decor with baby chicks, especially when it’s something vintage or vintage inspired! It may still feel wintry outside, but inside it feels like spring!
The bunnies are vintage by Lefton, a company whose heyday was in the 1950s. The eggs are German, but reproduction. The embroidered runner is circa 1940s with chicks, bunnies and eggs, a long ago thrift store find.
Another sweet piece by Lefton, the chick on an egg is vintage. The wee little pieces are no more than 1/2” in size, by Renaker, who made tiny collectible animals from 1945 to 2021, found in five and dime stores and gift shops. I remember collecting them as a kid in the 70’s.
Speaking of Lefton, these very old, made-in-Japan salt shakers are life sized! They “crack”me up, pardon the pun. They grace the Hoosier cabinet for Easter.
You can tell what season it is by the Hoosier cabinet, the hub of the kitchen.
More Easter “littles,” some from when I was a kid.
More little tiny Easter chicks. The pompom chick is actually made by Steiff.
I love displaying vintage ephemera like this early 1900s Easter post card in antique flower frogs. The book was my one of my favorites as a child; I think it belonged to my older brother first. The little Lefton chick and bunny are $1.00 thrift shop finds. I love vintage pieces – they are so sweet and whimsical.
It may be cheery and spring-like inside, but as I mentioned, this past month here, the weather has been dark, dreary, windy, rainy! Even when it has been sunny, it is still colder than it is usually at this time of year. However, I am not going to mind the cold, because how can you not be cheerful when you wear…
wait for it…
AN AMAZING REPURPOSED QUILT JACKET FROM OUR VERY OWN DEAR RANCH FARMGIRL, DORI!
I am a skilled farmgirl in many ways and love all sorts of crafts. I am an expert knitter, but while I do sew (and collect sewing machines), I am nowhere NEAR the level of skill with a sewing machine as Dori. She is absolutely amazing, especially with her fantastic quilting skills! Not only is Dori an amazing talent, but she is also one of the most genuinely sweet and kind farmgirls EVER!
When I complimented her upcycled, beautiful, repurposed quilt jacket she made, I was so surprised and overjoyed when she contacted me and said she would make ME one!
I thought this 1940’s “cutter” quilt from a local thrift shop would be a good candidate for a jacket. It had all my favorite colors, lots of character, but was too worn in places to be used as an actual quilt. Still so soft and vibrant, it had life left!
Dori and I texted back and forth many times over the next few weeks. She was so adorable, sounding just as excited to make me a quilt jacket, as I was to receive one! We had so much fun in the process. Dori is a blessing to know, a truly beautiful soul.
Then, one day, she sent me a text with a tracking number. I thought I would burst with excitement! Of course, somewhere along the way, the box got delayed in Pennsylvania (no doubt due to crazy weather).
Then, on a day that had started out stressful, (as our elderly cat needed to go to the vet – we were so worried, but she is fine now), I came home to find a large box on the porch! I was overjoyed and couldn’t wait to open it!
I texted Dori right away that it was here! I was so thrilled to open it, and my daughter filmed me so that Dori could see how excited I was!
The jacket is beyond expectations – it is truly a work of art! The seam binding she picked is so beautiful! I LOVE the big pockets!
The jacket is STUNNING, and so soft and cozy! It’s just right for jeans or dresses in the cool weather. It fits me perfectly, and feels like I am “wearing a hug”, it is so cozy! Again, I am amazed at Dori’s talent and skill, and am so touched by this beautiful, gift, a reminder of how special the sisterhood of farmgirl friendship is.
I could not WAIT to wear it, so the very next day, I wore it into town for a few errands. I got so many compliments – and told them how it was made for me by a special, kind friend.
Of course, I have been working on a special surprise for Dori, too. I am BURSTING with excitement for her to receive it! I wish I could show it to you, but it’s not quite finished yet, and I don’t want to ruin the surprise, so you will have to stay tuned!
Woo-Hoo! Spring is peeking her beautiful face around the corner! Birds and butterflies, flowers and leaves will all be prevalent soon in my area. However, let me introduce you to some creatures that will also be showing up soon, that can have some negative consequences (and how to avoid them).
Don’t get me wrong…I do love spring, especially after this icy, dark winter we have just experienced here in my neck of the woods. It was a really long winter for New England, with really cold temperatures showing up as early as late fall and lasting until, well, just last week.
Snow frozen into thick layers of hard ice were prevalent everywhere, including at our favorite walking trails of Fairfield Hills.
We had deep snow, which was followed by sub-zero temperatures, which made for solid, non-walkable ice everywhere, that lasted longer than we usually have. I even got stuck in my long, steep, curved driveway one day, something I haven’t done in twenty years!
Finally, this past week, we thawed out, and today’s temperature will be in the high fifties!
Yay! Robins are busy again and starting to be seen, as well as other migratory birds, too! POOF! Just a few warm days and all the ice is gone!
While we always get a “cold snap” around St.Patrick’s Day, and can even have snow as late as late April, the worst of winter is over and we are all thinking of spring! I can’t wait to have my hands in the earth, and to see all the flowers blooming, hear the birds sing, and the insects buzz. (One of my favorite sounds is that of summer insects “trilling”).
However, there are some insects that will show up, that you may already have in your area, if your temperatures are now warm. These are a few things that I do NOT want to run into. These are two insects and an arachnid that can have a devastating impact on human lives.
The first insect that you should beware of is the Spotted Lanternfly. A large, invasive planthopper native to Asia, it can’t bite or sting a human due to its plant-sucking mouthparts, but its capability to devastate and kill trees, grapevines, and other major food crops is downright scary! (Think of a super-large aphid on steroids). First seen in the USA a few years ago in Pennsylvania, the Spotted Lanternfly is now found in eighteen states and is quickly making its way across others.
The Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicata) has several life stages. They first start out tiny, with four instar stages, the first three having black and white spots on their tiny, crawling bodies, changing to red with white and yellow as they grow larger. Finally adults are large, with fuzzy-looking black legs (that look to me like eyelashes coated with too much mascara), with grey wings that have black spots. This makes them hard to see, “camouflaged”, until they open their wings or fly to show their colorful, red, yellow and white underwings.
Some red is shown here, but you really do not see the color until they open their adult wings fully.
We saw masses of adults on a trip to the Poconos to see friends in the fall of 2023, with so many on the sidewalks it was hard not to step on them. It is important when driving in areas that are infested that you inspect your car and wash it before heading to other areas, to help stop the spread.
Our very first sighting ever of one in Connecticut was a few years prior, on a shopping trip near the Connecticut coast. The grey building and parking lot was covered in these awful, destructive insects. I snapped this photo to show how they can easily be missed when their wings aren’t spread.
The preferred host-tree is the Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima), considered an invasive plant here in Connecticut, but the Spotted Lanternfly will devastate and kill a variety of plants, including stone fruits and hardwood trees, hops, and many of our food crops. They lay eggs in masses with a hard, waxy shell, on hard surfaces such as trees, vehicles, and buildings. Scrape egg masses off with an old credit card, and inspect your trees and surroundings often. The USDA has a great, dedicated Spotted Lanternfly webpage, with photos of all stages of this insect, and tips on how to eradicate and avoid them. (One thing that kills them is hand sanitizer, by the way). If you see them, destroy them!
Another harbinger of spring are bees and wasps. While we need them, (and I love bees), there is a wasp that can be awful if a human or pet comes in contact with them. I know first-hand, as I had a run in with these aggressive creatures last year.
The Bald Faced Hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) isn’t really a hornet, but a member of the same species of wasp as the yellow jacket. Named for their color and size, Bald Faced Hornets have creamy white faces and marks on their large black bodies. I do not have a photo of one, as they are way too aggressive for me to get near enough to photograph, but do an online search and you will see plenty of photos of these easily-recognized flying devils.
This nest was on the door of my camper a few springs ago. It developed very quickly, as they are fast builders. I was lucky I did not get stung then when I opened the camper door.
These very large wasps can be found in most of the United States, with the largest concentration being in the Southeastern states. We did not have them in my area until a few years ago.
These nasty spawns of Satan quickly make large, dome-shaped paper-type nests that can be found in trees, bushes, on rocks, or hanging off of buildings.
A nest hidden in a redbud tree.
We once had a nest in a redbud tree. It was pretty large and scary, and had to be professionally removed. I also know someone who once had a HUGE nest appear quickly, right on her upstairs window, dangling over her driveway!
All wasps are beneficial, and the Bald Faced Hornet is no exception, pollinating plants and flowers, and eating other, bad insects. (These wasps actually think of yellowjackets as a tasty snack, and can eat and kill so many that their nests can look yellowish at the end of the season)! However, because the Bald Faced hornet is so aggressive, these are particularly scary and dangerous to humans, so you will want to beware if you see a nest, and get an exterminator out quickly if they build a nest close to your home or garden. Bald Faced hornets do not have to have their nest disturbed to attack, as they will aggressively go after anyone or anything that they perceive as a nearby invader. They will sting over and over, and are unique in that they also try to spray their venom into the eyes of a warm-blooded interloper, causing temporary blindness. Their stings are also considered one of the most painful stings you can get.
Last summer, I fed my chickens and then proceeded up the steps of my deck to go inside. I was suddenly aware of a “thumping” sound, which were multiple wasps hitting my face HARD and stinging me.
I screamed, and ran six feet or so to the door, but not before I was followed inside by these evil flying demons, and was stung at least six times around my lips. They had tried going for my eyes, but I had on sunglasses that thankfully protected them. Luckily, my daughter was home late that morning, as her schedule at work started later than usual. I popped a Benadryl and she and I jumped in her car. It was rush hour, and traffic on the freeway was a dead stop – to get to the local hospital would take too long. Thankfully, we have a wonderful walk-in emergency clinic in town, ten minutes from my home, and they were open. By the time we arrived, my face had already swelled so much I looked like a sick platypus. The waiting room was filled, but they took me right away. To make a long story short, I did not realize in the moment just how bad off I was until the end of my ordeal, when one of the nurses hugged me, saying they had not wanted to scare my daughter, but that I had really scared them! I now carry an Epi-Pen, and to say I am afraid of wasps is an understatement. Taking Benadryl and seeking medical attention ASAP saved me. The worst part is that these mini-diablos did not have a nest in the bushes next to my stairs the day before, and the nest was so hidden it was difficult to remove. The venom also caused pain, redness and swelling for several days.
I will garden again, but I will be extra-vigilant when near bushes or other areas where wasps can build nests next to my home. Keep an eye out, and if there is a paper-looking, football-shaped nest near where humans or pets reside, have it professionally removed right away.
By now, the entire world is aware of Lyme disease, (first named for a town in Connecticut), and how tick-borne illnesses are prevalent with tick bites. However, not everyone is aware of how one tick in particular, the Lone Star tick, can really have devastating consequences to some who come in contact with it. The Lone Star Tick is a deer-type tick that is named for its singular white spot on its body. Unfortunately, this type of tick can cause what is known as “Alpha Gal Syndrome”, which can cause an allergic reaction to red meats such as beef, pork and lamb, as well as an allergy to dairy, in the host.
The Alpha Gal Syndrome from the bite of the Lone Star Tick can cause allergies to beef, pork, and dairy. One theory is the thought that the tick that bites the human bit an animalpreviously.
Some people only have mild symptoms, but for others, it can be life-threatening and severe, even causing anaphylaxis! I have a family member that now has a severe, life-threatening allergy to dairy and beef, who can not even get dairy on their skin without a burning rash, all because of this tick! Gelatine in things such as gel-cap over the counter medicines, or in gummy-type candies can also cause problems. It’s frightening to know that something as small as a pinhead can change a person’s life in such a drastic way. Enjoy the outdoors, but make sure you do daily tick checks on yourself and your pets, and when you know you will be gardening or walking, do the things you can to help protect yourself against all kinds of ticks. While some tick-borne illnesses are treated with antibiotics, this allergy that develops is not. Luckily, it’s still somewhat a rare thing, but we personally now know of three people in our area with this allergic condition from a Lone Star tick bite.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be the grim reaper of the outdoors! Spring, summer and fall outside are wonderful, especially here in New England, and I can’t wait to enjoy the outdoors again. We need the bees and other insects to pollinate our crops and flowers, and to keep balance in nature, so please do not spray everything in fear!
Enjoy the spring…just be aware. Bring on the butterflies! Bring on the flowers, leaves, and green!
Speaking of green – Happy St. Patrick’s Day, dear readers, and remember to leave me a comment below so I know that you dropped by!
My brother just called a few minutes ago to catch up. He was sitting on his patio, enjoying the beautiful Texas weather – currently about 69 degrees with full sun. I was just stirring a pot of toasty homemade soup on the stove, after taking my dogs out with ice cleats on my shoes, since there is no ground here that is not covered in a thick layer of frozen, icy snow. “I don’t know how you do it!” I hear that phrase from many of my “warmer weather” family and friends. Still, each season has its own charm, and there are some things that are wonderful in winter, no matter where you live!
New England has four distinct seasons. I love the summer, with its fresh veggies and warm, sunny days. By the time I have had enough of the heat, that wonderful cold snap of autumn rolls in, followed by the cozy charm of the winter holidays, that carries us straight through to mid-January. I’m sighing, as it is still “nesting” season here. I’ve kept busy through January, but now I am “chompin at the bit” for a “thaw”!
I do love the snow. One of my favorite things about it is the “scent” of snow that wafts into the air before a storm. My father always laughed about the first time I saw snow, phoning him at 4 AM to shout, “It’s snowing! It’s snowing!” We lost him last fall, and I am missing just talking about the weather with him. This past month, I enjoyed all my relatives and friends texting ME pictures of the several inches of snow that recently fell in the south, something that had not happened in quite some time. A small snowfall happened in the Houston area in 2021, but measurable snow had not fallen since 1895!
Tea and dish towels are one of my favorite things to give and receive. Everyone can use them, and they add such personality to a kitchen.
I must have sounded really “homesick”, because one of my dear, sweet farmgirl friends, who also lives in Texas, sent me this adorable tea towel this week. So sweet! Over thirty years later, I still miss the sight of Texas bluebonnets. The nice thing about warmer climates is when you get a cold snap, it only lasts a bit. The tea towel lifted my spirits and warmed my heart, and looks adorable in the kitchen. Farmgirls are the best!
Here in Connecticut, however, when things do close up for weather (rare, but we will have the occasional ‘snow day’, usually in January through March), it is typically only for a day or even a few hours.
The highway was clear just hours after a big storm. Drivers need patience and need to let the plows and salt crews do their thing, and then it is business as usual. We are so thankful to our road crews!
Still, we get tired of the frigid cold and ice on the ground. I love animals, but I would like to have a few words with that groundhog! At least six more weeks of winter…ugh.
I don’t know how the local wildlife feels about winter, but I know it must be hard on them. Our ‘resident’ fox was recently in our yard again. He walked one way, then ran the other, with something in his mouth.
“It’s so FLUFFY!”
He looked so happy to have found something to eat. (Rest assured, it was not one of my chickens. “Fowl Knox” has proved too hard for him to get into – I have seen his prints all around the coop).
The little opossum tracks I found near the house in the snow are the cutest! Finding tracks is one of my favorite things about winter.
We see you…
We also spy deer, walking through the woods, looking for spots to bed down or for food. I feel sorry for them this time of the year.
1940s knick knacks are the cutest!
On a brighter note, February brings Valentine’s Day! I’ve got my Valentine’s decor out. The red, white, and pink look so festive and bright against the winter light.
Have you seen these adorable throw pillows? Y’all know I love a cherries motif! My daughter picked it for me on a recent Target run. At $5.00, they are a bargain, to boot!
After being married over thirty years, my sweetheart and I still celebrate Valentine’s. Sometimes, we have a special meal at home, or pick up a heart-shaped pizza from a local pizzaria. This year, we were both so excited to give each other gifts, we celebrated early. He got me a cross body bag that I had been eyeing for awhile. I just can’t stand carrying large purses or bags anymore, and when it arrived from Amazon, he knew I could really use it, and couldn’t wait until the 14th to surprise me.
Winter isn’t so bad when you have a sweet fur-baby to snuggle!
Our wee pup is our “baby”, so my gift to my husband was this cute little oil painting that looks like our dog, found for under $20 in a local antique/consignment shop.
Chocolate is always a good choice, of course. Our family loves chocolate! My favorite is Justin’s, an organic brand. I’ve noticed after going organic years ago, that I can really tell the difference how I feel when eating things that are not, especially with artifical colors.
We always have “emergency chocolate” on hand…don’t you?
I really love Justin’s dark chocolate, candy-covered peanuts. The colors of the shell are muted, because they aren’t made with nasty, unhealthy dyes but rather with vegetables. They are scrumptious! (My friend Judy and I also shared a Justin’s organic peanut butter cup on a recent outing. So delicious, too). It used to be that if you wanted organic chocolate, it cost an arm and a leg and only available in specialty shops. I am finding this competitively-priced brand in mainstream grocery stores.
I love a good book on a snowy, February day. My daughter and I are now “Book Buddies” – a “book club of two”. We love all kinds of genres – classics, biographies, history, fantasy, mystery, romance. Sometimes I want to read something “heavy”, other times I need a “lighter” book.
Our current “book club” discussion is actually two books – “It Ends with Us” and its sequel “It Starts with Us”. Please, no spoilers in the comments!(Marlene, I am using the book marker you sent in your Christmas card)!
Favorite books become treasures! My daughter is the same way. Now that she’s an adult, we will read the same book, then discuss it over dinner or coffee out (it’s a bonus if there is a movie to go with the book)! An avid reader who can read a book in a day, Audrey has been “collecting” books since she was in high school.
Books can be expensive, especially when they are “current”. Our favorite source? Thrift Books! Thrift Books is an online source, selling new and used books in both hardcover and softcover. Their prices are the best and shipping is fast! With their points program, the more you buy, the more points you get to use for book purchases. Many of the books my daughter has bought us have been free or under a dollar, and we’ve found books that we can’t find anywhere else. Cut down on your clutter and get rid of books you no longer want or won’t read again (or dvd’s) with their “sell” feature, as well. You can do all of this through the website; they also have an app.
Speaking of books, have you seen the latest trend – painted edges! There are editions of books with “painted”, metallic, or patterned edges on the pages. It makes the books even prettier, especially on a shelf, and this trend is across all genres of books. Most times, painted edges are the same price as traditional editions.
A few of my daughter’s fanciest “painted edge books”. They look amazing on a book shelf.
Another favorite winter activity of mine is knitting. In addition to blogging here, I have been teaching knitting professionally for over 15 years. I’m always amazed at the knitters who do not know about Ravelry! Ravelry is an online source of all things fiber related. The site started in 2006 and is now international. It’s the BEST source for patterns and inspiration, and is an amazing community of yarn lovers worldwide!
With all the ice and snow that is on the ground right now, it’s hard to believe that we will ever thaw out and be able to be outdoors for more than a few minutes again. But it will happen. Having houseplants is a favorite thing to do, year round. Right now, I also have a pot of red daisies that I have overwintered indoors for at least four years now. The pot sits on my deck during the summer and early fall. I forgot to water it recently and it looked dead, the leaves shriveled and brown (the room it is in gets very dry with the forced heat). Hoping it might come back, I watered it, but made a mental note to empty the pot when things warmed up a bit. When I went to water the other plants in the room the following week, I looked down to see my forgotten plant.
It now has new leaves and has graced me with the biggest, reddest, BRIGHTEST bloom ever! It’s a good reminder that things will thaw out eventually!
For now, we will hunker down a few more weeks, knowing soon the seasons will change again.
Stay warm and cozy, Farmgirl Friends! Happy Valentine’s Day to all!Leave me a comment below to let me know you stopped by!
HAPPY NEW YEAR, FARMGIRL READERS! Here we are in 2025, and the start to my FIFTEENTH year blogging here as the MaryJanesFarm’s Suburban Farmgirl! It’s hard to believe – time just speeds by. January is probably the least favorite month among most people, but I think January is a good month to rest, regroup, get organized, and look ahead to a fresh, new year!
In New England, January can seem like it lasts forever. I always call it my “nesting month”. It’s been cold this winter, but sunny, so I don’t mind. We’ve had a few small snowfalls. Snow is so peaceful.
I like to get my Christmas decorations put away the first week, especially outside before it gets too cold or snow-covered. However, getting outdoors, even if it is for a short time, is a great mood-booster. We took a quick, refreshing New Year’s Day walk on a Connecticut beach.
As I put away the holidays, I think ahead to next year, so I don’t stress. Organize supplies like wrapping paper, and make notes on your calendar for what you’ll need. Our local TJMaxx sells beautiful rolls of vintage-print wrapping paper, made from recycled material, in the fall. If I see my stash is low, I’ll write on my calendar to pick it up in October, so I am not stressing in December to wrap gifts. Now is also a good time to organize gift bags, throwing out any that are too worn to reuse.
Primrose are showing up in stores and are a great winter brightener! However, if you suffer from seasonal allergies, you will want to skip these!
After all the indoor Christmas decor is put away, I like to give things a good “spring-like cleaning”. Clutter can bring on stress; having things organized also helps save time in the long run. I’ve got my routine down pat, and what tools to use so I don’t spend too much time on chores.
My forecast for 2025? I’ll be vacuuming Christmas tree needles until June, haha! After a good vacuuming, I neaten up the fringe on our throw rugs with a comb-out, using a teasing comb meant for hair. I remember my mama doing this tip back in the 1970’s.
After the holidays, with all the food and baked goods, I give the pantry, fridge, and freezer a good cleanout, and check expiration dates. Groceries are SO expensive these days – I want nothing to go to waste! I am not much for New Year Resolutions, but mine this year is “no food gets wasted!”
In the pantry, repurpose plastic produce bags to keep open boxes of crackers, chips and cereal from going stale. (This is another tip I got from my mama, who did this when I was a kid)!
I love that in my area, I have an old-fashioned bakery to get fresh baked goods from, and an old-fashioned butcher for meat. By stocking up on basics and picking up meat in bulk a few times a year, we rely less on expensive take-out. However, buying in bulk and freezing is only economical if you don’t throw out food that got buried, forgotten and past its expiration.
To keep track of what I have on hand at any given moment, I bought a small dry-erase board and keep a running inventory of what I have, so I don’t buy more of what I don’t need, or forget about what I have.
On snow days where we might get a later start, I’ll make a big, hearty breakfast with homemade muffins, eggs, and the occasional treat of bacon.
To clean my cast-iron skillet of the grease, I’ll throw uncooked oats on the bacon grease as the skillet cools. The oats soak up the grease, which I give to the chickens as a treat. Cleanup of the skillet is a snap, without ruining the seasoning of the pan, no grease goes down my drain, and the chickens LOVE their treat. It’s a win-win.
A big pot of homemade cream of turkey soup was a delicious recent comforting meal, made from leftover turkey.
I also always keep frozen and canned veggies on hand. That way, I can throw together a pot pie or a soup from leftover meat cooked for the previous night’s dinner. I also freeze dinner portions of casseroles like lasagna for great comforting dinners on busier nights when I’m too tired to cook. Cook once – enjoy several times!
In the laundry room, we changed our washer filters this week, which I mentioned in last January’s blog post. I also cleaned my iron. It’s amazing how much gunk builds up!
Using an old cloth or towel, you simply run your hot iron over the cleaning paste. Mine was really nasty! After a bit, your plate is as shiny and smooth as new! What a difference!
I knew a lovely lady who still ironed all of her sheets when she changed her linens! I don’t do that, but I do like to iron my vintage linens, such as decorative vintage dish towels, for example, or my all-cotton clothes. I love that crisp, fresh look. Many people do not iron anything anymore…do you?
It’s good to look forward and try new things. I’m a true, simple-life loving farmgirl, but I did something not so “farmgirl” last year. Though I really don’t like change, I am open-minded to trying new things. New foods, new exercise classes, new books to read, and new experiences are just some examples of things that make life interesting. Now in my 50’s, I had not been to a big concert since my 20’s (growing up in Houston, I used to go all the time as a teen). Especially since the pandemic, I had no desire to go to a concert – I don’t like crowds, I don’t like being out late, but when my daughter was a teenager, she made me absent-mindedly promise that I’d go with her to a certain band’s concert if they ever came to town. Little did I know that over seven years later, she would hold me to that promise, in November 2023. She bought tickets six months early, as a birthday present to herself. Five bands would play; she promised we would leave if I felt uncomfortable at any time. I like what I like – in my house or car, most of the time I’m listening to 1940s Big Band and Swing music. Honestly, the day of the concert, before we left I was actually scared to go, to the point of tears (the crowds, the being out late…the HEAVY METAL)! I never thought I’d like it, or end up enjoying one band so much that I’d WISH to go again! So…for Mother’s Day last May, we went to see the band again (a Swedish HEAVY DEATH METAL band – can you imagine me there – what a hoot!) This time, it was “standing room” only, and we ended up right at the stage. It was phenomenal.
Me and my daughter, all “goth” and “glam” for our Avatar concert.
Waiting in line to go into the venue, one young “goth” man opened his umbrella for us to stand under while he got soaked, and while inside waiting for the concert to start, several young ladies standing with us said how much they wished their moms would go with them! We had a wonderful time, (and I actually was not the oldest one there)! It was a perfect evening with my daughter, an experience I will never forget.
After that, I ended up unexpectedly going to two more concerts in 2024. One of my best friends got tickets for her birthday for us. This time, it was all 80’s bands, such as Thompson Twins and Psychedelic Furs (be still, my Generation X heart)
In Bridgeport, CT for the 80’s concert. “I’ll Stop the World and Melt With You…” Generation X had some great music!
Lastly, for our 32nd anniversary, my daughter treated our family to a weekend in Boston and a Glass Animals (modern pop) concert.
“Glammed up” again for Glass Animals in Boston last fall..the family that plays together, stays together!
My point is that getting out of our comfort zones, and thinking “outside the box” keeps life fresh and interesting. I also think it’s important to have something to look forward to. I’m looking forward to going to another concert with my daughter later this spring.
I’m also looking forward to a new, upcoming garden season, and all that comes with a fresh, new year. I hope that 2025 is a great one for us all! I can’t believe I have blogged here for 15 years! It means so much to me that you all are here! Thank you so much, MaryJane, and dear farmgirl readers, newer and past. Wishing you all a great winter, and a very Happy New Year!
Tell me, what are you up to in the “nesting season” of winter? And what are you looking forward to in 2025? Leave me a comment…I want to hear from you!
Merry, Merry, Readers! It’s Christmas! It’s my favorite time of year, and there is Christmas charm by the bucketful here in New England. We shouldn’t stress about the holidays; it’s not what Christmas is really about. Come make a cup of something hot, and enjoy – for me, when it comes to the holidays, it’s all about family, friends, good food and charm! Let me share with you some of the best traditions of the season!
Having four seasons in New England is wonderful. Each season has it’s charm, but Christmastime is extra-special. I REALLY love Christmas. One thing I love about the holidays is having something to look forward to. Activities don’t have to cost a lot; many of the fun things around Connecticut are either low cost, free, or by donation.
Almost every town or hamlet in Connecticut has a “town green”, and a tree lighting. Our town actually has two.
My daughter and I love going together. We see friends, there are families and people of all ages sharing cheer, and carols are sung. It almost feels like we are “extras” in a special episode of the old “Gilmore Girls” show (also based in Connecticut).
There are so many wonderful, old churches all over the state. They are all so beautiful. The South Britain Congregational Church hosts a Victorian Tea, open to the public, each holiday. My friend, Linda, and I have been attending each year together for so long, we now know the ladies who work so hard to make it happen by name, and have even gotten to know some of the other attendees!
This year’s desserts were all so fantastic!
It is a wonderful, festive luncheon, with good food, good cheer, and a lovely area of handmade gifts for sale, as well.
Another wonderful tradition, the Annual Gingerbread Village and Christmas Bazaar at St. George’s Episcopal Church, in Middlebury, Connecticut, is something my family and I won’t miss.
We’ve been attending since my daughter was a baby. This year marked the church’s 56th year for the annual tradition! Each time, I think I must have seen it all, and each year, they wow us again! This year was no exception. I am in awe at the detail (everything, except for the actual lighting, is made from edible material).
Look at the details! These bakers are artists!
My mind is blown by all their beautiful, hard work, as I am great at tedious tasks and details of all sorts, but have never been able to make a gingerbread house look so wonderful as these amazing bakers do.
Cranberries are such a big part of New England, and one of my favorite ingredients in so many foods this time of year. I also love homemade gifts. Homemade gifts are made with LOVE! I may not be able to make a good-looking gingerbread house, but I am a whiz in the kitchen. One of my favorite things to make and give, especially this time of year, is homemade jam. This year, I made “Christmas Jam”, and my family has declared it my best jam ever! After going over many recipes, I really found none I liked. They either had too many ingredients, too much sugar, or included butter (we have a family member with a dairy allergy, unfortunately). My version of “Christmas Jam” uses simple ingredients, similar to my other jam recipes, and only four cups of sugar. What’s also nice about canning jam is you can use the water bath method, and do not have to use a pressure canner. The naturally bright, red color of this jam makes it a stunning holiday gift. It’s delectable on fresh bread, or served as an appetizer atop a cracker and a nice cheese like a sharp cheddar or brie. Here is my gift to you, dear readers, my recipe for “Christmas Jam”. Enjoy!
Nicole’sChristmas Jam
1 and ½ 12-ounce bags of fresh cranberries
1 large container of fresh strawberries, hulled
1 mandarin or “cutie” seedless orange
4 cups of organic sugar
4 TBSP of low-sugar pectin
¼ heaping tsp. each of ground cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and a pinch of nutmeg
½ cup water
Wash and pat dry all fruit. Prepare six half-pint jars for canning.
Zest the mandarin orange. Peel, discarding the peeling. Set aside the fruit.
In a blender or food processor, coarsely chop the cranberries, and place in a large pot. Puree the strawberries (do not over-puree, I like lumps of strawberry). Add the zest and orange to the pot, and using a potato masher, smash the fruit a bit more and then stir together, along with the zest and spices.
The fruit will look chunky at this point. The cranberries will soften up as they cook.
Add the water, and place over low heat, stirring constantly.
In a separate bowl, mix the pectin with ¼ cup of the sugar. Stir into the pot with the fruit, bring to a rolling boil, and then add the rest of the sugar, stirring constantly.
Boil and stir for one solid minute, skimming any foam as needed. Remove from heat and let sit for five minutes. Ladle into hot prepared jars, leaving ¼” headspace. Process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, letting jars sit for five minutes before removing and cooling.
Enjoy!
Me and my sweetheart – we love decorating for Christmas and picking a fresh tree.This is our 33rd Christmas together.
There are so many wonderful, small, family farms in New England. One of our Christmas traditions in our family involves getting a fresh tree from Jones Family farm in Monroe.
We are the Griswolds, LOL!
What a beautiful tree we got this year!
Another tradition is enjoying a delicious ice cream sundae in the cozy, decorated room at Rich Farm, in Oxford, before they close up late in the month for a bit in winter.
Another thing I love about New England is how everyone decorates. Stores, streets, and homes – inside and out, are all dressed up in twinkling lights and decorations.
My personal favorite decorations are all old, vintage, or vintage-inspired, and I love to incorporate decor that I already have, making it more “Christmas-y”.
Everything on this table has been gifted to me through the years. Warms my heart!
My “shabby chic” porch for Christmas
My daughter’s childhood skates are now part of Christmas decor.
We have had two “Christmas Snows” blanket us already, which just add to the festive feel of the season here in New England.
Trooper disagrees. “Who ordered this? I did not!”
Someone said to me recently, “No one sends Christmas cards anymore!” I beg to disagree. Yes, the price of stamps has gone up. But sending cards at Christmas should not be looked at as a chore!
This year’s cards so far – the holder is one I bought over 30 years ago.
I love to send cards, and work on mine gradually, while drinking my morning coffee or watching television at night with my family. We’ve already received quite a few, in the mail, and at my doll club meeting, and it is a tradition I love! I cherish handwritten cards I have kept through the years, from special friends and family that are no longer with us.
This is me at four. My face shows how I felt about Christmas.
Honestly, it is how I feel about it now, and think I am actually part elf. In all seriousness, though, I think we adults sometimes forget that childlike wonder. Letting ourselves enjoy the magic of the season is what brings the true joy and meaning of the holidays. It’s been a rough year for so many. Personally, this has been an awful year, with the passing of more friends and loved ones than any other before. My Christmas card list has sadly gotten smaller, and I truly miss those who have departed. I hold them close in my heart as I embrace the joy of this wonderful season.
Tail wags and Farmgirl Hugs!
From my family to yours, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and have a Wonderful Holiday Season. Holidays are what you make of them. May the next few weeks be full to the top with joy, happiness, love, and wonder! Please drop me a comment so I know you have visited!See you all in January!
Greetings, readers! Do you love holidays? I do. But what kind of a holiday reveler are you? Are you listening to Christmas Carols the day after Halloween, and already ”decking the halls” , or do you still have carved jack-o-lanterns on your porch, growing “scarier” each day with rot?
I personally really do adore holidays – be it Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, or July 4th. My grandma always said “Holidays make life special”, and they do – a chance to spend special times with friends and family, make different foods, and change the scenery, so to speak, with festive decor. However, currently I am feeling a sort of “Holiday Purgatory” this month – fall decor seems a wee bit “tired” now that Halloween is over, but it’s not quite time to haul out the holly! What ever happened to decorating for Thanksgiving?
One of my favorite things about New England is that everyone decorates for the different seasons. As soon as there is a fall nip in the air, there are pumpkins and corn stalks decorating every porch and corner.
I also LOVE Christmas, with its lights and warmth and cheer, and the fact that I can completely cover everything with glitter and nobody bats an eyelash.
A restaurant in Southington, Connecticut is KNOWN for its over-the-top decor each season… this is just the ceiling in one of the rooms. I LOVE IT!!!!
But when do you start decorating for “the holidays”, such as Christmas?
To me, Christmas is the start of winter, and Thanksgiving is still, technically, autumn and harvest time.
When it comes to decorating for any holiday, my favorite finds are vintage and thrift-shop finds from yesteryear. Once the ghosties and witches are packed away after Halloween, I pull out Thanksgiving-themed pieces, such as my vintage Gurley candles. Only a few inches tall, some were found thrifting, and some were a gift from a friend and fellow vintage-enthusiast.
Only a few inches tall and made of wax, I am always amazed at the detail of Gurley candles. I wonder how many people before me chose not to burn them over the decades?
Made from the 50’s through the 70’s, the figurine-shaped candles were once sold at five-and-dime stores. My small collection of Thanksgiving candles feature turkeys and pilgrims.
In the mid-nineties, my mom sent me a red glass, covered turkey candy dish from Williams and Sonoma. It graces the dining room at the start of fall, and with its deep ruby color, stays out on display through to New Year’s.
The turkey candy dish often holds cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving. The little red candleholders match it, and stay out until New Year’s. Hallmark made lots of little Thanksgiving themed figures in the 70’s, like my little rag doll, and the platter was an inexpensive flea market find years ago.
A few years ago, our grocery store offered reprints of Beistle and other vintage-type crepe paper ornaments, harkening to holidays past.
Thanksgiving themed Hoosier!
In the kitchen, the hoosier has a tray decorated in leaves, and a ceramic turkey that someone probably painted in a 1970’s ceramic class (I made one just like it as a child). Both were inexpensive Goodwill finds, relics of the “forgotten holiday”, that hardly anyone decorates for anymore.
Also in the kitchen, displayed are old spice tins from the 30’s, 40’s and 70’s. I love them, though it does freak me out a bit that they are still full of spices.
Do you know what these are? They are old steamed pudding molds – I like that they look like acorns.
Here and there are vintage early-1900’s Thanksgiving postcards, from a time when mailing cards and letters was the way to let friends know you were thinking of them.
I love displaying old postcards in vintage flower frogs.
Another Goodwill find is this glass “cornucopia”. I wonder, do kids today even know what that is?
Vintage turkey salt and pepper shakers grace the kitchen and dining room tables.
My turkey baster broke last year. I picked this one up at our grocery store for around $5.00 – how cute is that?!
It’s also hard to think “Christmas in New England” when it has been so hot – often feeling like June, with hot and dry weather, the threat of wildfires very real here lately.
I also think I am not “feeling” the Christmas decorating bug because this fall has been so warm. We’ve been melting on walks with 80+ degree heat, something unheard of for this time of year in New England. Nothing felt weirder than when I went to Hobby Lobby with a friend, the store all glittery and covered in “Christmas” like a giant, red-and-green-frosted sugar cookie, Christmas carols blasting over the speakers, and my friend and I dressed in shorts and sandals, the day after Halloween.
It’s a tradition on Thanksgiving Thursday to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade on television, something I have done with family since I was a child.
This snowglobe from Macy’s was given to me a decade ago, and comes out the day after Halloween.
The “official” start to the Christmas holidays for me has always been when the parade is about to end, and Santa Claus makes his appearance. That moment has me imagining reindeer, behind gates like racehorses, chomping at the bit for Christmas to start. That’s when it feels really exciting to decorate for the holidays! Full speed ahead!
I think Thanksgiving is even more lost, an invisible holiday in modern times, because of hectic work schedules, fast-paced modern life, and Black Friday. Honestly, to me there is no deal so special that I would go out shopping in the crowds and craziness on Black Friday, preferring instead to stay home and eat leftovers, and decorate the house fully for Christmas. If the Black Friday shopping rush is your thing, I say go for it! But for stores that open ON Thanksgiving Day, instead of waiting until our bellies are full and letting employees spend time with their families, I say shame on them! Stop pushing our festivities into one big blur.
Because Thanksgiving also falls so late on the calendar this year, many people are decorating for the holidays earlier than usual. I’ve seen full-blown lights and trees already twinkling away. I think this year, I will start to bring out Christmas gradually – bottle brush trees first, small pieces here and there. I just don’t feel like rushing things.
So, since I am not quite ready yet for reindeer and Santa, I will keep enjoying my pumpkins and turkeys for just a wee bit longer.
From my family to yours, wishing you a peaceful and Happy Thanksgiving!
Tell me, do you decorate for Thanksgiving, or go straight to the holidays? When do you put out your decorations? What are your family traditions? Share with me in the comments, or just 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.
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