Summer’s midway! While we’ve been busy doing some favorite summer activities, sometimes things don’t turn out as planned. Stopped at a light the other day, I noticed a bumper sticker, about the sport of golf. It read, “I hate golf, I hate golf, nice shot… I love golf!” Gardening can kinda be that way sometimes, too.
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”.
Here’s an idea that I caught on a cooking show a few days back! Slice summer squash and/or zuc in thin slices and toss in a bag with flour. Brown on each side in oil. Cook some pasta reserving some of the cooking water. Toss together pasta, romano (or similar cheese), grated garlic, fried squash, some cooking water, season to tast. Yummo…Thanks for the veggie packet idea!
By the way, my garden eater is a small baby rabbit that lives adjacent to my beans. One row gone down to the stems but I retaliated by starting some seeds in a raised bed, complete with plastic screening material..I just love my rabbits…
Janice, that recipe sounds delish! Thanks for sharing! Good luck with your raised bed. Yesterday I had a small bird in my garden, as well. She slipped through the fencing. I was able to free her unharmed. Thanks for reading! -Nicole
Thanks for the wonderful visit – love the bumper sticker – will use it as a fun thing at our upcoming Garden Club brunch – it really speaks to most in our area this year – we had late freeze and then hail. Today it is only 55,foggy,cloudy,breezy and unless this all goes away – to ripening today. Still oh how beautiful the flower gardens look swaying in the breeze,with droplets of fog dripping from them – something different – something beautiful.
Joan, wow, 55 degrees! Today we are at 80 but have gotten so much rain this week. Then down in Texas is a drought! What a strange summer it is! I was at the Organic Farmers Market here in town yesterday. They said they are all having late ripening veggies too – made me feel somewhat better! Enjoy your Garden Club brunch – sounds fun! -Nicole
Nicole,
I’m really getting the "hang" of this! Let me say that your site inspires me, I get done reading & get off my "duff" and get busy doing SOMETHING. I appreciate you, please keep up the excellent posts…
Wow! Patricia, thank you so very much! It means a lot to me! -Nicole
Thanks for all the ideas. I guess it just takes something simple and you can relax, eat and be happy. By the way,, I can’t wait to try that casserole.
Farmgirl Sister #2555
Let me know what you think when you make it! I just picked up some more squash myself….-Nicole
Great post, Nicole. I can’t wait to have my own backyard someday so I can have a veggie garden and flowers. Thanks for the recipe, too – looking forward to trying it, as well as Janice’s recipe!
Strange gardening season all across the country it seems. We are just now getting ripe tomatos which is a bit late for our Soutwest Colorado climate. My pests in the garden have been squash bugs. Bad as I hate to I grab those buggers and squash em. My gourds are absoultely beautiful?? Go figure.
Will try your recipe too. Thanks for sharing.
Nicole- As always your blog is a pleasure to read…I look forward to reading it just as much as I look forward to receiving my latest issue of MJF! Thank you for sharing a glimpse into your "suburban" farmgirl life. Living in suburbia across the sound on Long Island I can totally relate to your stories. Enjoy the rest of your summer my friend!
Smiles,
Laurie
Farmgirl Sister#1403
Thank you, Laurie, enjoy your summer, too! -Nicole
Nicole –
Love your posts! It’s so great knowing that I’m not the only one with an abundance of green tomatoes :/ But I’m learning so much in this, my first, year of gardening. I have used your recipe for treating powdery mildew on my plants, and it saved our summer squash (yay!) but I think we may have gotten to the pumpkin and spaghetti squash too late (boo!).
Great to see your little porch-sanctuary 🙂 I have a back porch area that helps wash all my gardening woes away (or at least relax while I plan my attack for next year…like planting my first cut-flower garden:)
Thanks again – Blessings to you and your garden!
Great stuff, you helped me out so much!
Congratulations on the little corner of heaven that you have there! I really enjoyed your post!
Have you tried tomato leaf tea? Soak tomato leaves in water over night, drain out leaves, use as spray on garden. It is good for most soft bodied bugs like afids. Diatrimatious Earth, made of powdered sea creature skeletons, found in the pool section. Lightly puff on vegetable garden for most exoskeleton bugs, like ants, fire-ants, and crickets. Gets in their joints and dehydrates them to death. Must reapply after rain. Completely harmless for humans and pets to touch, although avoid inhaling the dust. I did notice the application on the plants needs to be a dust, if you apply to heavily, it seemed to dehydrate the plants.Great Blog. Thanks.
Hi Barry,
I have only recently heard of the tomato leaf tea, but have not tried it, and have never heard of the other method. Thanks so much for the recommendation – I will keep it for next year and try. Always good to get new suggestions. Thanks for reading and commenting. -Nicole