My Farmgirl Sisterhood Chapter and I recently spent an afternoon learning a new skill and making some very beautiful Christmas gifts for friends and family! Grab a cup of tea, your sewing machine, and some girlfriends for an afternoon of creativity and fun!
I knit, sew, and craft; I recycle, grow organic herbs and veggies, and flower garden. I do canning, bake bread and make just about everything from scratch. I crave the outdoors. But there was something missing…something that would make me feel like a real farmgirl… having chickens! Backyard chickens have been my dream forever, having even blogged about “chicken envy”! Now I’m crossing “chickens” off my bucket (pardon the pun) list. As a new “chicken mom” of four adorable chicks, I’m elated. Feed stores in Connecticut don’t sell chicks this time of year. How these chicks came to be is an interesting tale….
Every generation has “fads”. I still can’t look at a Rubik’s cube without an instant migraine. “Beanie Babies” induce feelings of extreme guilt. This year, kids everywhere are trading bracelets created from little rubber bands, similar to rubber bangles I traded with friends when I was a sixth grader, that matched all of my neon eighties outfits {shudder}. Fads can be fun, especially for kids. Right now, my home is also abuzz with another current craze… it’s “Fox Frenzy”!
Heading to a slumber party in fox shirt, with fox stuffed friend
I’ve always been curious about beekeeping. It’s a hobby that goes hand-in-hand with living a simpler, organic, environmentally-aware lifestyle. Not knowing where to start, I was thrilled when my family was invited to learn the art of beekeeping from another local family during their fall honey harvest!
Fall is such a cozy, beautiful season, and it’s this time of year that New England is in all her glory! In late September, everyone starts setting out colorful mums and hanging autumn wreaths tied with jewel-toned bows. Spicy hot apple cider wafts through the air as changing leaves dress the trees in water-color shades of red, yellow, gold and brown. But the star of fall for me is the pumpkin. I love pumpkins! I guess you could say I’m pumpkin-obsessed. Those plump little orbs of orange, yellow and white make me grin like a jack-o-lantern on Halloween! This fall, I’m thrilled to add “Backyard-Pumpkin-Farmer” to my repertoire! Come take a peek at my garden, then let’s head to the kitchen for some tasty autumn goodies!
Last week marked my twenty-first wedding anniversary. I’m a lucky girl having married my handsome, sweet Dane. I’m also blessed for another reason: my in-laws. They’re my “bonus” and I love them to pieces! Last month, we got to spend two weeks together when they came for a visit. We so enjoyed them! Living so far away, we always cherish the time we have together. In honor of my beloved in-laws, Torben and Ulla, join me on a “virtual tour” of Denmark, and enjoy some of our favorite Danish recipes!
Recently, our relatives visited from Denmark. The first week was spent at our house; the second week, we all recharged with a trip to Florida! It was not easy to sync so many schedules – six adults and three kids from two countries! What a fantastic week! Disney World is thrilling, but there was one particular day that has us still beaming. How often do you get to cross something off your “bucket list”? We couldn’t imagine traveling from Connecticut to Florida, and not visiting someone very special!
.jpg)
The end of summer and beginning of fall bring one of my most favorite things to do…go to a county fair! There’s so many scattered throughout my area, that it’s hard to go to all of them. Come have some ol’fashioned farmgirl fun with me and my family, as we
GO TO THE FAIR!
“There’s no place like home.” Dorothy stated those iconic words more than 70 years ago, and I think one of the best places to be in summer is New England. It’s hard to believe, but summer 2013’s winding down; the start of a new school year is right ‘round the corner. The question directed at me frequently was “What camps is your daughter signed up for?”, followed by surprised looks when I answer, “None”. As a really grateful SAHM in a not-so-great economy, the budget for fun can be limited. But my daughter’s not sitting around bored, or plugged into a mobile device all day. We’ve been as busy as bees! Join me, the Suburban Farmgirl, as I share my recipe for a blissful “stay-cation”.
There’s animal people…and then there’s animal people. I fall under the second category. Now, I’m not talking reality-show, animals-piled-to-the-top-of-the-ceiling-animal hoarders, but we’re a multiple-pet household. Not only that, but a multiple species household. And now we’ve gone and done it again…
Meet our newest family member!
is a certified farmgirl at heart. She’s happily married to her beach bum Yankee husband of 20 years. She went from career gal to being a creative homeschooling mom for two of her biggest blessings and hasn’t looked back since. Debbie left her lifelong home in the high desert of Northern Nevada 10 years ago and washed up on the shore of America’s hometown, Plymouth, MA, where she and her family are now firmly planted. They spend part of each summer in a tiny, off–grid beach cottage named “The Sea Horse.”
“I found a piece of my farmgirl heart when I discovered MaryJanesFarm. Suddenly, everything I loved just made more sense! I enjoy unwinding at the beach, writing, gardening, and turning yard-sale furniture into ‘Painted Ladies’ I’m passionate about living a creative life and encouraging others to ‘make each day their masterpiece.’”
is a “MaryJane Farmgirl” who lives in a large metropolitan area. She is a lawyer who has worked in both criminal defense and prosecution. She has been a judge, a business woman and a stay-at-home mom. In addition to her law degree, she has a Masters of Theological Studies.
“Mustering up the courage to do the things you dream about,” she says, “is the essence of being a MaryJane Farmgirl.” Learning to live more organically and closer to nature is Rebekah’s current pursuit. She finds strength and encouragement through MaryJane’s writings, life, and products. And MaryJane’s Farmgirl Connection provides her a wealth of knowledge from true-blue farmgirls.
an old-fashioned farmgirl with a pioneer spirit, lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. As a “lifelong learner” in the “Live-Free-or-Die” state, she fiercely values self-reliance, independence, freedom, and fresh mountain air. Married to her childhood sweetheart of 40+ years (a few of them “uphill climbs”), she’s had plenty of time to reinvent herself. From museum curator, restaurant owner, homeschool mom/conference speaker, to post-and-beam house builder and entrepreneur, she’s also a multi-media artist, with an obsession for off-grid living and alternative housing. Cathi owns and operates a 32-room mountain lodge. Her specialty has evolved to include “hermit hospitality” at her rustic cabin in the mountains, where she offers weekend workshops of special interest to women.
“Mountains speak to my soul, and farming is an important part of my heritage. I want to pass on my love of these things to others through my writing. Living in the mountains has its own particular challenges, but I delight in turning them into opportunities from which we can all learn and grow.”
Dori Troutman is the daughter of second generation cattle ranchers in New Mexico. She grew up working and playing on the ranch that her grandparents homesteaded in 1928. That ranch, with the old adobe home, is still in the family today. Dori and her husband always yearned for a ranch of their own. That dream came true when they retired to the beautiful green rolling hills of Tennessee. Truly a cattleman’s paradise!
Dori loves all things farmgirl and actually has known no other life but that. She loves to cook, craft, garden, and help with any and all things on their cattle farm.
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!
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”.
Weekly Blogs and Recipes