This is the time of year that most of my left over energy goes to our cut flower garden business and keeping up with all the other outdoor work that I enjoy so much. Usually my sewing and quilting gets put (somewhat) on the back burner.
.
But this summer I’ve jumped neck deep into a project that is very different, very emotional, and even hard to talk about but yet so fulfilling that I’m eager to share it. So I will go back about six months and share with you from there.
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!
Ahhh, the merry month of May! This month seems to put a spring in our steps and beckon us outdoors…the days feel easy-breezy! If you stopped by the farmhouse today, you’d find the windows open and see the old tobacco cloth curtains gently swaying back and forth. What a joy to feel that breath of fresh air…almost as if it’s blowing all the stuffiness out of a home that’s been tightly buttoned up against months of Winter storms.
“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.
Weekly Blogs and Recipes