Happy New Year, Farmgirls!
It’s been awhile; and while so much has happened, much is still the same. I hope this finds you all well after a successful and joyful holiday season. This was the first holiday season for our family of 6 (after Covid derailed it all last year), and it was a wonderful couple of weeks with lots of family time, food and, of course, gift giving.
Nova loves the holidays!
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”.
I am glad you did not have a lot of damage. I can’t imagine those winds! Here in Chesapeake, Virginia, we had 50 mile an hour winds last week during a rain storm. My suburban hens hunkered down in their run. However we do have many snowmen arms all over the yard. I love your use for broken branches. There are pine cones all over. I guess opportunities for crafting. I pray for those who lost green houses, had frozen pipes and more. Community is everything.
Finding joy and satisfaction in each day is a goal I will look forward to. Our children should be treasured daily. Thank you for sharing.
I know our community will step up and take care of everyone! We are waiting for a little “warm” snap next week to see if there are opportunities for the little ones to lend a hand. Yes–our children should be treasured daily!
I stumbled on your blog this morning….so enjoyed it! Mary Janes Farm was a magazine I read years ago and enjoyed. Best wishes to you and your sweet family. Thank you for a reminder to slow down this busy life a bit and enjoy each and every day. Thanks again!
Welcome, Tess! Hope you find some time to relax and enjoy in the New Year!
So Happy to here from you. Have loved your blog from the very first one, to baby #1 2 3 and now four. Hope this is a wonderful year for you and yours. Love Light and gratefulness.
Donna
Wow, thanks, Donna. It’s pretty awesome to think of the people who have been on this journey with me since the beginning. Cheers to you in this New Year. Sending you love!
This is beautiful – both the content and the pictures. I am going to try to forward this to my daughter and daughter in law, who live in Florida as I do. The world is not made up of just the area in which we live, and it is good to see another area and therefore another perspective. Thank you
So true, Joyce! Thanks for sharing. Hope you and yours are well!
Your home looks like a cozy, safe nest!
I remember fondly the break between the old year and the new, when my girls and I were free from our normal schedule.
I’m glad you and your family are safe and I hope your community survives the next round of bad weather. Keep up the good work and your humorous way of looking at life!
take care,
laura
Six degrees in Indiana today. My people and my chickens are all tucked in, safe & warm!
Oh, that sounds cold for Indiana, Laura! Winter break is my favorite of vacations–a time to slow down with our loves. Thanks for checking in!
Enjoyed reading your article and wishin you best year ahead filled with many blessings. Take care and may God bless your sweet family…..
Thank you, Michelle! Sending blessings your way, as well.
I’m glad you made it through that windstorm! I’m surprised we didn’t hear anything about it down south here in Washington state. We are just coming out of three weeks of snow that started on Christmas. More snow than we usually see here, and for a much longer time. It did serve the purpose of slowing life down so I had a really long reset. Our adult children were here for some of the time, and it was just lovely. Everyone got home safely, and I managed to get 2 of them to the ferry dock and back. That was 13 days ago. I haven’t left since! We’ve had a power outage that lasted several days and is over now. US Highway 101 was closed on Hood Canal where I live for 3 days while fallen trees and power lines and poles were repaired. We spent a lot of time helping neighbors and checking on property for people who weren’t here. Now I am just waiting for the 18 inches of snow to melt. It’s too wet for snowshoes any more! I will always remember this glorious Christmastime, though!
That sounds pretty magical, Joanie! I saw that you got a ton of snow down there. Normal wind speeds up here are newswrothy in other places, so it’s no surprise that this storm wasn’t broadcast elsewhere. I’m glad to hear you made the most of your snowy holiday!
Thank you for sharing. Love the kiddos pics. I am older and there are no children around. I miss playing with children. They really know how to have fun!
Be well and safe!!
Thanks, Brenda! Yes, I love seeing kids in the snow. Ava (almost 8) and Opal (6) are getting into prime kid time! They can spend hours outside in the coldest weather in their own world. Love it.
Alex, wow! is all I can say. What with the wind blowing so hard, it is a wonder more damage wasn’t done. When the wind blows here, which it has for many, many, days now, but not real strong, but it is cold – our temps are now 15 degrees – warm compared to other parts of the country, but cold for us as it has been many years we have had warm winters and I was always hoping for a colder and snowier winter like we used to get years ago. We do have snow, but on Christmas it was warm and no snow and I was worried we would have another warm winter, but so glad to see snow once again. So glad you all were not damaged as so many others were. I love the pics of the children out in the snow, reminds me of my childhood. I lived in NY and we had close to 4 or 5 foot of snow and we made tunnels and forts and had so much fun. Take care and hope this year will be better than 2019 and 2020.
Hi Sandi! Yes fingers crossed this year is better. I can’t help but feel kinship with anyone who hopes for cold and snow. I hope your winds die down and the snow accumulates!
Appreciate your point of view: the reflecting, regrouping, moving forward. Also your mentioning that disastrous times can remind us of the goodness in people as they show up to aid those less fortunate than they. So much of the current news is filled with just the opposite!
Thanks, Sharon! Emergencies do have a tendency to remind us of what is truly important. Maybe some day we can more readily remember that more often without the disaster element.
I was smiling as I was reading about your holiday celebrations and then BAM! things took a turn! Regarding the holidays, we also lay out a snack type buffet. It’s just way more relaxed that way (while waiting for families to do barn chores, milk cows, dump peeps-yes we got two houses of chicks Christmas Eve night- etc) and we get to enjoy each others company for a longer stretch of the day. Here in PA we just got our first snowfall and it looks nothing like where you live!!! I’m really hoping that everyone comes out of that okay! Those pictures were really something! Blessings to you all!
Thanks, Amanda! Fortunately, it sounds like everyone is coming out of the storm okay. The community is really coming together to clean up and dig out. The snack buffet is the best! It really allows for more family time which I have been craving.
As a neighbor a couple of hundred miles north of you, we also have experienced this winter’s fury. The 3 back to back snowstorms with 2 inches of rain in the mix turned our 20 inches of snow into rock hard ice trapping us at home. We waited patiently for the man with the loader to come and dig out our road. Being trapped at home for 2 weeks really gave me time to think about days before loaders, electricity or what I would do if I couldn’t go to a grocery store for milk. I sent a prayer to the lineman out restoring power. I was grateful we had a wood stove and lots of chopped wood. Summer garden produce stored and a well stocked cupboard. Fresh baked chocolate chip cookies keeps the house smelling wonderful. It’s wonderful to hear that your family has done so well and always love your post with the kids enjoying our life here in the far north. I think of the great “reset” as the “re-learning” on how to experience our daily lives in the moment. Your family is doing a great job understanding that concept.
Breakup will be here just in time! So with that said, Happy New Year and Solstice blessings to you and your beautiful family.
Thanks, Marji! Our state has gotten battered this winter! That rain on top of all of that snow was worrisome. I’m so glad you got dug out and were prepared for the long haul. I did not put up much last summer, but luckily had a well stocked pantry. I figured we would stay put up here until the storm was over…didn’t need to be causing any more problems in town!
We were looking at pictures from summer the other day and said to ourselves, “oh yeah! summer is a thing :).”
Thank You for this interesting post. Glad you are all safe and did not receive too much damage. Wishing Opal a year of happiness and blessings. God Bless.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY OPAL
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Joan,Marion and Marilyn
Thank you Joan, Marion and Marilyn! Happy New Year to you, too!
Hi Alexandra,
Happy to see you back and get a glimpse into your full and rich rural life in Alaska. I have been reading since before your children, so I am always so interested in seeing what you are up to with your precious, creative, and lively family.
I was thinking today how you are like a favorite character in a book series that I read. So it is like I get a new chapter or episode to look forward to when I see your new blog posts. I hope you keep them coming, as your refreshing and reflective attitude and creative celebrations are certainly inspiring.
Greetings from the east side of the country,
Laura
Gosh, Laura, you have me tearing up. What a meaningful and powerful note. Thank you! I will be writing seasonally this year. Four kids is a lot of work, but I love to write so we are trying to find a low stress balance. Thanks, again!
It is good to have you back. I have missed you, your family, and your reports from Alaska. Glad to know everyone is healthy again.
Thanks, Janet! We are all doing well aside from the normal kid crud that circulates. I will be posting seasonally! Looking forward to keeping in touch.
Dear Alex,
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and events of the past several weeks. I really enjoyed your post–except that I am sorry about the damaging weather for your community. Stay safe and stay warm!
Tammy
Hi Tammy,
Thanks! Our community is rallying and helping each other out. There were no major injuries or losses, so it’s looking good.
Love the lack of pressure! So true. ♥️
We have enough pressure already, right? Hope all is well with you!