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.”
Column contents © Mary Murray. All rights reserved.
Farmgirl
is a condition
of the heart.
Alexandra Wilson
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!
Column contents © Alexandra Wilson. All rights reserved.
Libbie Zenger
Previous Rural Farmgirl,
June 2010 – Jan 2012
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.
Hi Rene’. I just received my first issue of MaryJane’s magazine….just love it! Your note made me think of my last visit with my l yr old granddaughter. I read a picture book of farm animals to her, making all the sounds of the animals. some she tried to repeat after me. Then we went to her mom’s chicken coop and she showed us the baby chicks. I then repeated the "peep-peep" of the chick, and the look on her face, when she realized I was making the sound of the chicks in the book! She gave us a big smile and laughed. It was cute to see her connect the story with the real thing. She then took one little finger, to pat the baby chick. I just love being a grandma! (I grew up in an old farmhouse in CT…and like you my early years were not without some real pain. But having grandchildren (5 in all) helps make up for it…and I feel like a kid again with them!
Keep up the fun stories……O’Dell M.
This is a little bitter sweet. I hope that we will be able to always laugh and play like children, even at 72! 🙂
Wonderful Bloggie Rene’…!
Your photos capture the sense of High Adventure, which enriches the lives of Country Boys and Girls.
I remember vividly going to the barn long before dawn and milking… rolling the cans down to the road on a cart to be picked up by the Dairy truck, and picking up yesterday’s empties with milk money envelope inside, while Ganny gathered eggs. Breakfast from Ganny’s cast iron wood stove, with a pitcher of still warm milk and bowl of ice cracked from the block in the ice chest on the table.
Thank You for the walk down Memory Lane…! and…
GodSpeed to Y’all…!
Gary
in Tampa
Oh Rene,
So true!
I taught Pre-school for 10 years and I truly believe that children need to be children…they grow up soon enough and have to deal w/the issues of life,,,but for now let them play!
There are days when I am out in my ‘garden of weedin’ all grimmy & stinky and I think,,,Ah! it feels good to be a kid again!.
We as a society are losing sight of "teaching Children how to play", not just computer games but actually get outside with a brown paper bag, fill it w/nature stuff, dump the goodies on a table to assess their finds and then glue all those wonderful goodies on an old ceral box that has been cut into squares perfect for holding mini pinecones, twiggs, leaves, snail shells…well you get the picture…In fact I think parents miss out on one of the most wonderful joys & blessings,,,,playing outside in the sunshine with their children….on that note I think I will go out side & be a kid again,,,,I know, I know, don’t slam the screen door!
hugz
>^..^<
I’m admire you for not letting your formative years determine who you are. So many suffer all their lives over a tragic childhood instead of working to put it behand them and creating a new "me". Kudos.
Hedy,
Thank You for that! I feel blessed that I learned, somewhere along the way, that I get to wake up every day and choose who I am and what my life and the life I live will be like and look like. Often, I think we forget that "we" are in the drivers seat. We have a section in the MaryJane Magazines called "Every Woman has a story". And nothing is more true. We all have one and either we are writing it… or we are allowing someone else too. I just decided to pick up my own pen… Blessings to you!
I love the story…. and I love the last photo….. that is so him…. thanks for sharing….
Wonderful post! Can’t wait to talk with you face to face Saturday *U*
Wonderful story!! 5 of my 7 children are adopted…all from backgrounds that were very awful…none as infants, and I am amazed and inspired by them each day.It is wonderful to hear from an adopted kid’s side how things are and to see what a great person you turned out to be!
Summertime is a wonderful time to see them really cut loose and be kids..and what kids!!!
I LOVE that my oldest daughter’s NAME is Summer (wish I had picked that myself!!!)What a fun season to be named for, right? It really fits her too! I work at an elementary school and love that I am off work when the kids are out of school..we work together in the garden and play together…fishing, and exploring. I guess Moms will be kids too, right?
Jenny,
I think I do the mom thing "best" when I am willing to look at life through the eyes of my children.
Great blog, Rene. I was blessed with one child (now 28 years old). She has taught me much about life. She has been a very patient teacher by the way. I could only have one, so I love life everyday knowing that she is in it, regardless of what may happen. To look at how she has responded to the environment and others around her showed me lessons in freedom and being spontaneous and what love is really about.
Love it Rene’,
But its not only the kids that look forward to summer vacation.
I remember when my girls were young and I couldn’t wait for school to be out. No more schedules, no more tears while one of them struggled with home work.
And the freedom for them to do, and be, whatever they chose everyday.
My girls and the neighborhood kids would put on elaborate stage plays ( think "Annie") where casting and rehearsals would take weeks of their time and we parents were rewarded with big Kodak moments when they finally had opening night in August.
The best part about summer for me was once again being the most influential person in their lives, at least for a few months, I didn’t have to compete with teachers and scout leaders, etc.
Oh, for those carefree days
Michele
Michele~ SO true. I am one of those moms too.. Love the more relaxes scheduels that come with the summers.
I just got my first magazine and I love it – it is so much like me. I love growing my own food, raising chickens, letting my kids run around all summer barefoot, hanging sheets on the line and living a slower paced lifestyle. This magazine suits me just fine!! My dream is to one day have my own working farm and orchards and have all my kids and their kids help me around the farm! Great job on MaryJanes’s Farm!
Thanks Missy!
I just got my first magazine and I love it – it is so much like me. I love growing my own food, raising chickens, letting my kids run around all summer barefoot, hanging sheets on the line and living a slower paced lifestyle. This magazine suits me just fine!! My dream is to one day have my own working farm and orchards and have all my kids and their kids help me around the farm! Great job on MaryJanes’s Farm!
Thanks Missy!