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”.
Because I have never experienced a Snipe Hunt personally – this story has truly opened my eyes. However, not in a surprising sort of way. You see, I’ve been married to the Mark of the story for 32 years and understand that there is definately a reason that Rene and I stay on the same side of things. Having a support group is invaluable! Thank you Rene for giving me the first hand version of this story! Aunt Ronda 🙂
I loved this article..it reminded me of the tricks my cousins played on me when we were kids…
A well-written story, if not objective, but I wonder if Ronda perhaps should have written about "a first-hand version", rather than "the first-hand version". It would seem reasonable not to form an opinion and/or lend one’s support based on just one person’s account. Hmm!
This "story" (and some of the comments after it) seems to have a lot of questionable material following a statement such as "if memory serves". I am really hesitant to point out that as one of the accused I am over 50 years old and my memory may not be quite as sharp as it could be, but not quite as hesitant to point out that the "victim" is not too many years younger (as pointed out in the article), which could affect her memory. Obviously she is not all wrong, because her description of her "way too cool" and "smart" uncles is very easy to believe!!!
I’m not sure what put the bee in my bonnet (perhaps relatives akin to yours), but this reminds me of the time that I convinced my high school boyfriend that minces (as in mincemeat pie) were an animal similar to a rabbit, but more long like a weasel, common to the west (he’d recently moved to CO from NY) and without a lot of meat on them, so best cooked in a pie!
Thanks for the comments everyone. I love hearing from you all. Well that is, except Mark who it saddens me to think that senility has taken its toll on some one so young……
GreenMeAllison,
Your "tale" is priceless I can see that you would have fit right into the Knopp family.
Snipe hunts!! A rite of passage when I was a kid and now my own kids are going through that stage too. I grew up in rural Calif and our snipe hunts were loud and long..lots of older cousins. Since I am the oldest of my own siblings I loved my chance to take my brother and sister and younger cousins on a snipe hunt. My oldest kids (now grown) were taken by my younger brother and my youngest kids..still home….have been on snipe hunts all but the youngest two..who are both 12 and will surely go on their first hunt this summer at scout camp and girls church camp. They do it a little different here in Utah..but it is basically all the same…good clean fun. My older two kids at home can hardly wait to take their younger sibs and have kept it quiet now so they don’t suspect a thing. I love it. Thanks for the memory!
I grew up in Eastern WA too. I am still here actually. I so relate to this snipe hunt thing. Yes yes yes. They tricked me so good.
I grew up weeding beets, rolling hay, milking cows and so forth. Loved it so much. Great blog.
Jan
Hey Jan,
Thanks for the compliment. Beets, hay, cows……. are you in the Basin?
I rememer those "rites of passage" well. Grandpa telling us to pick a long piece of grass and touch it to the electric fence….we "wouldn’t get shocked"!! Yeah right!
My favorite memory is turning 16 and driving. I was sent to town to get "axle grease". I was told to not come home without it as it was needed on the farm. I must’ve stopped at a dozen garages and gas stations inquiring about ‘axle grease’ to no avail. I vividly remember my grandfather, uncle and some farm buddies standing outside the house grinning from ear to ear as I pleaded my case as to why I didn’t have any. That’s when I learned, there IS NO SUCH THING AS AXLE GREASE! I had to drive to another town for months to get fuel to avoid embaressment!
Ha-ha-ha! Love that! As I was reading your story, I thought, hmmmm! Why are all the shananigans at the hands of our "FarmBOY" family members….Guess they thought they had better get us while we were young, as no doubt they’d never get us…. don’t cha think? Just once i’d like to send one of them into the fabric store………………………
Ha-ha-ha!!Loved the blog, seems like Snipe hunting was an International sport! Had the same experience up here in Canada,but I’m a bit surprised that no-one ever sent you to find a left-handed monkey wrench!!
Ha-ha back! "left-handed monkey wrench"? How long were you out looking for that one? LOL
hi rene, I ejoyed this very much ,have a geat day good blog,blessed be the mo farmers daughter,carol branum
Thanks Carol.. I hope you will "come back often" as farmgirls, I am sure we will have "like" stories to share.
longer than I like to admit!
I remember snipe hunts as a kid…
But I was AMAZED to find out when I looked up a bird I found in our farm orchard in a birding book, that it was a SNIPE.
I found one without looking!!!
Brenda,
Ha-ha, where was that little birdie when I needed him?
Just today I received a noticed about the MaryJanes Farm magazine in the mail and naturally I looked up the web site. I’m a country girl from central Texas and grew up on a peanut farm in the late 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. Now I live "in town" with a population of 2000. I also remember the snipe hunting but since I was a tomboy and lived in the country, I was the one that helped take the "city girls and boys" snipe hunting. I lived so far out in the country on dirt roads that when I was dating, if my date go stuck in the mud bringing me home, I would walk barefoot to the house, get the tractor and pull him out, send him home and then I would go home on the tractor.
Marsha,
(ok I had to fight the urge to say that three times).
Ha-ha! I can so picture you hoisting a truck out of the mud with the tractor, been there. I have never been a city girl, but apparently a little nieve’ when it came to my knowledge of birds. The town I grew up in was 300 when everyone was home and we were an hour from any real "shopping". I am thrilled that you found the magazine and the blog. I hope you will also check out our farmgirl connection and our sisterhood program. If you go to http://www.maryjanesfarm.org then click on either Join our farmgirl chatroom or Join the Farmgirl Sisterhood you will find the info you need.
So very glad that you found us…Welcome!
HA Snipe hunting! Thanks for the memory Rene. I remember well going snipe hunting with the youth group and after we had all fallen for it, hearing Pastor Wes up on the porch laughing…..(probably near the same field you were "snookered" at. Thanks for the memories, I think I have a snipe hunt to plan for my two young children..
Ha-ha~ Yes Wes had that same mischievous "bent"…Although, I do love knowing that I wasnt the only one that fell for that…
I really like your post. Is it copyright protected?
My work is copyright protected. If you check the front page of my blog, just below my bio. Thank you so much for the complement.