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 not sure if what I feel and know inside will come across in words, but I’ve found that the entire way we tend to look at food and diet and nutrition to be off base.
I had the opportunity to attend a meditation retreat led by Thich Nhat Hanh in 2004 and before eating we said or read the following: This food is the gift of the whole universe – the earth, the sky, and much hard work. May we live in a way that makes us worthy to receive it. May we transform our unskillful states of mind, and learn to eat in moderation. May we take only foods that nourish us and prevent illness. We accept this food so that we may realize the path of understanding and love.
Key points: food is a gift; eat in moderation (don’t be wasteful of your food or harmful to yourself); eat food that nourishes us (I loosely interpret this to be the body, the soul and or the mind); accept the food with compassion (be kind to yourself).
Often times we know what we ought to eat for optimum health, but eating purely for health is not necessarily fun. We also eat socially or we eat for piece of mind or because of a memory of what a certain food (experience) tastes like.
For me, being able to cross over, and understand, really understand in my core, that eating foods that make me feel bad later (whether that be mentally, physically, biologically) is just not worth it…food is nourishment for our soul. And so, I take the time to appreciate a fresh sweet carrot, savor its crunchy nature, just as much as I might a piece of rich chocolate. And, when I am served (or serve myself) something that is not healthy (and that generally means also filled with unhealthy ingredients) I don’t eat it…
As a caveat, when it comes eating sweets, occasional indulgence is healthy, especially if the sweets are made with whole, pure ingredients, just like grandma would have made them!
Just discovered your blog today. Love it. We also grew up on a farm in Eastern Washington, now we are in Puyallup, WA. You know home of the Puyallup Fair, last time we checked it was the 7th largest in the nation! Anyway, life on the west side of the mountains is different than the east side. We are trying to bring a bit of the country life to Puyallup on June 13 &14. We are putting on a big antique show and flea market full of awesome cool junk. We love to repurpose things and have found alot of other people do to. Go to our blog to check it out http://www.funkyjunksister.blogspot.com. We will check back to your blog often!
Take care,
Linda & Dixie
The Funky Junk Sisters
Hey girls,
Thanks for the info… I marked it on the calender. We have our 2009 Farm Fair July 3-5th Farmgirls come in from all over the US… Come on over, we’d love to meet you in person! got to our website and click on the farm fair button… http://www.maryjanesfarm.org
Again thanks for the info
SharleyAnn,
Beautiful post, thank you. I think there is a lot of value in your words…conecting with eating as a "re-fueling process" is key~ Any chance you could just be a "bug in my ear" until I know it by heart? 🙂
Wow…we must be long lost sisters!! I am the same way….love to study nutrition, and am really valiant when it comes to my kids, especially eating right..but I tend to fall off the wagon myself (due to the devil bread and cheese mostly..haha) and this weight problem is always still just that…a problem. I know what is right and good and mean well, and eat the right things, and then …well…don’t again. sigh. I AM glad I am not the only one. I feel in good company.
A little birdie tells me that there is "farmgirl" help on the way in the way of a new book… I dont know all the details but I for one CANT wait
Your Bloggie on food is head-on Cool Rene’…!
The experience you describe of connection between organic vegetarian based diet, with some free range dairy, is exactly what I have experienced since making the changes.
I am vegetarian and also eat free range organic dairy and eggs, and I buy free range meats to prepare meals for my Cat and Doggie, because they cannot metabolize plant protein and need meat.
The benefits go beyond just a feeling, as I have been taken off two medications since I made all these changes, and like you said… I feel Great now…!
Thank You and…
GodSpeed to Y’all…!
Gary
in Tampa
Gary,
Apparently Hippocrates had it right, "let thy food be they medicine". Seems so simple, why do we fight it?
Hey, that’s me too. I have a huge interest in nutrition and holistic medicine. I have lots of books and read a lot of info online. I started a blog this year and this month started a feature called "LillySue’s Health Tip Tuesday". You can read what I have posted on health and fitness if you hit those subjects in my post list. I actually got serious with myself last year and am doing sooo much better. I have now finally got into the habit of thinking about each thing I put in my mouth….will this benefit my body or will my body have to compromise other systems to deal with this. I would love to have you pop over for a visit. apeaceofbliss.blogspot.com Also, are you going to be at the FarmChicks sale June 6th? We will probably be moving over 4th of July and most likely will not be able to attend MaryJanes shindig.
Blessings~LillySue
Lilly Sue,
I can’t wait to check out your blog, thanks for the address, I am heading there now. I doubt that I will make the farmchick event as my head is buried in the "details" of FarmFair July3-5, as well as classes we are hosting at the MaryJanesFarm Store June 4th ~ But I hear it is a great event and I hope you all have a blast. And really, farmgirls getting together, how can you go wrong. Thanks again!
love the new blog Renee! I’ll put it on my blog’s roll *U*
I love reading your blog. This is a subject close to my heart too. I too have a load of books on nutrition and natural healing, as well as practical knowledge on the subject. I like to keep up on the the newest trends in nutrition but try to find the middle road in following them. Preachers of all nutrition ilks, really bother me…maybe because I have that tendency too. We just need to decide what we want to do ourselves and I get nervous about getting caught into a way of eating that is "correct". Being in my mid fifties now, I can see the same pattern of being on track, and being off. I guess that’s just the way of life…how quick can we get back on when an event, or thought, knocks us off. So, eat and be happy!
Judy,
Ya, my grandpa ( who is so wise) said, "anything will work if YOU work it".. hahahah.. hate it when it comes down to being that simple :)… Instead of complicated like I think it is…..:)
tks for the effort you put in here I appreciate it!
I am new and wanted to make a my very first thread to acquaint myself. My name is Maryann and I stumbled here by a quick search and wanted to just say hello. I would like to participate in future discussions and look forward to talking with everyone.
Please also check out the farmgirl connection at http://www.maryjanesfarm.org click on "chat with other farmgirls.
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Sweet site, I hadn’t noticed http://www.maryjanesfarm.org before in my searches!
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