Happy February Farmgirl friends! I hope you all had a lovely “Love Day” as Ava calls it. We’ve been plastering hearts on things for awhile now in anticipation of the holiday, but I’m afraid it passed without much fanfare. Heart-shaped pancakes are very good though!
Opal having a blast at Ava’s birthday party!
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”.
Thanks for taking me to a place I’ll never go. It was an amazing and interesting trip.
Ditto! Enjoyed the “trip”.
Alex, I loved every word of this blog. Wanderlust!!! My mom always called my dad a Gypsy because we moved so many times and as a child I traveled across the US many times between the east coast and the west coast. The old Route 66 was our road for many a year. I loved traveling and seeing the many sites and towns we drove through. Our route changed over the years and we traveled the higher Interstates across the US. It was an adventure for a young girl growing up ‘on the road’ sort of. I saw many places I would have loved to stay in and spend some time but we were always moving on to new places until we reached our destinations where members of our families lived. Traveling around in the late 40’s and 50’s in old cars and pickups across miles of lonely roads, through deserts and small towns and mountainous areas and valleys was to me a great way to live. But I was just a young child and memories are distant but welcome today. Thanks for stirring up a memory of a time past of a safer and friendlier world than we have now. May many more adventures await you.
I am extremely jealous of all you have accomplished while I sit here in front of my computer wondering what I will make my hubby for dinner. I have only been out of the states once and that was to go to Canada and yet, look at the magnificent things you have learned and explored.
Thank you for sharing your story. Walking with you let me experience something I never could have otherwise. You are a charming tour guide!
Thank you for sharing your remarkable experience. I relished every word and photo. At 67, I’m not an adventurer but I enjoy reading the journals/diaries of those who are. No wonder you are so well adapted to live in Alaska, you’ve experienced life in CAPITAL letters. Again, thanks for sharing.
Your adventure sounds like an amazing experience. I’m glad you shared your stories and personal journal. It’s very interesting to hear what others experience and how they experience those moments. I definitely agree that children change our experiences. Many things that I use to do are now altered because of my boys. Just getting out of the house is a whole new experience with boys! Thanks for sharing.
What a great post. I enjoyed reading about your adventures.
Thanks for the superb trek! May this have raised you high. Love them babies. God Bless
That was very brave of you taking that journey by yourself. I can’t imagine going that far out of my comfort zone. Kudos to you, Alex. Now you’re on a different kind of journey. Good luck and happy times for you and your family.
Becky
What a treat to read parts of your journey and what a journey it was. Thank you so much for sharing. All beautiful memories to last you a life time, a place you can always revisit in your day dreams, truly a treasure.
What a great memory. What a trip you had. Thanks for the travel adventures with your past.
Alex, what an amazing adventure! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing this amazing journey. This coming weekend we will be leaving for a month to explore “alternative” winter habitats. It pales in comparison to your trip, but has helped set the stage for an exciting journey nonetheless!
Thank you for sharing your adventure. I don’t know if I’ll ever do something like this, but it was a real treat to read and see all your lovely photos.
I’ve found life is really an adventure, with some big deviations and smaller deviations from the planned path, but all life and character building.
If you have more adventures to share, please do.
Take care from Australia
Thanks for sharing your adventures!! I feel like I have lived vicariously through your journal entries- What an amazing adventure!