Yep, lately I’m living a homesteader’s version of the unofficial USPS motto:
“Neither snow nor rain, hail nor sleet, tornado nor flooding stays a farmgirl from the swift completion of her appointed rounds.”
Oh yes, this month has been a doozy, but let me back up…
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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”.
As a fellow Ohio farmgirl, I hear you about the weather lately! I’m sorry to see your beautiful arbor as a casualty. Luckily the only damage we had from some hail was a tarp that we had planned to replace soon anyway. I can’t think of anything to add to your list, but I’m going to be making copies of documents to store in the basement. That’s one thing I forgot all about. Thank you for the reminder.
Hi Heather – yes, we Buckeye Farmgirls (like most of the country) have really had our weather ups & downs. I think we’re really falling into spring now – it’s getting too warm for any more snow! Well maybe – who knows!
Thank you for all the great tips.. There were some I never thought about.
You’re welcome, Dale…I hope they help. And let me know if you think of anything else to add to the list!
Yes, our weather has been all over the place… From flooding due to melting snow, to blizzards bringing 31″ of snow, to flooding from melting snow (again), and then from drenching rains with some severe thunderstorms thrown in as well as a few tornado watches and warnings, we’ve run the gambit all within a few weeks. We are under another flood watch for tomorrow with more storms rolling through and up to 3″ of more rain. We’re so saturated. Then a cool down and we’ll be back in the 40’s for highs and 20’s for lows. A real rollercoaster. You have some great tips. I have to admit that I’ve become very lax about preparations. I’m fortunate enough to have a whole house back-up generator (unless lightning strikes it too and puts it out of commission like a a year or so ago)…and the basement is semi-finished…having a bathroom, frig, freezer, etc. but I remember growing up on the farm where we did not even have a proper basement…just an old root cellar that was only accessible from the outside. We had 2 tornados go through the farm property and never once did we take shelter there…it was just a matter of “weathering te storm” and trusting what would be.
A whole house generator would be amazing – what a blessing (maybe someday here!) I’m pretty sure, like your old farmhouse, that our basement/cellar was an outside entrance only once upon a time. We enter it from a room addition that was already here when we moved in. But when we redid the drywall, I could see where there had been clapboard siding, and also there’s the outside opening for a wood bin that fills the bin in the kitchen. Sigh – I laugh and call some of these “improvements” remuddling vs remodeling!
Great checklists for folks to have on hand. Here’s praying that the storms are kind to you and your neighbors. Blessings…
Thank you Daisy – it seems the weather is still a little up and down. Feeling the scorching heat one day, and then had a fire in the fireplace along with a freeze warning last night! But it’s just one of those years, I’m sure we’ll settle into a routine. I’m looking forward to getting the garden in!
What a beautiful picture of June. The weather is delightful many days, but in Kansas this year it has been a turbulent roller coaster so outside coffee and rest times have been really special. Love your canning memories. My Dad would help Mom with the canning, and would always make picalli which I dearly miss. He grew up on a farm. I canned for many years but unfortunately have stopped. Maybe this post will inspire me. Thank you for spending your time delighting your readers with beautiful pictures, recipes and joyfulll
Inspiration.