I did it. I went on a quest this weekend.
To a Girl Scout Camp.
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Debbie Bosworth
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.’”
Rebekah Teal
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.
Cathi Belcher
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
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.
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.”
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!
Nicole Christensen
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”.
Sounds like fun ! I’m sure you and daughter will cherish the memories!
This was so cool. I also was in girl scouts & loved every min. of it. I am now almost 70 & my daughter is almost 48 & she never wanted to join girl scouts or 4-H but my granddaughter, now 10 is a girl scout, living in Des Moines, IA & last spring I helped her sew on all the badges she has earned the last two years!! Those times with your daughter are precious & time goes by so fast. Hope you get the chance to do more with her like this.
Gosh what a trip. Sounds a fabulous bonding and treasure time together. Even if she does t stay with Girl Scouts I’m sure she along with you will look back on this time together with a very warm heart and a smile on her face. I tend to want my kids to stick out a season and then if they don’t wish to continue then that’s okay. My daughter is 17 and in her last year of school this year. We tend to bond watching Gilmore Girls together – it’s our thing – brushing her hair after she’s washed it and driving lessons. My time with her at home is short now with her planning her gap year away from home – our defence force offers gap year programmes and she’s in the middle of the application process now for it. My daughter would love shopping trips together with me too, not overly my thing, but I do it with her when I can.
To happy moments
Denise
Australia
OH WOW what a fun time, well if you take out the no sleep thing. Now if you don’t do it again at least you both have the memory – yes YOU BOTH!!! Love the Camp names – sure seem to fit. I got to go to Church camp ONCE and to this day – 58 yrs. later – I can smell, feel, hear, and love all that it was. God bless you for doing this.
that was too cool! 🙂
I always love your posts! This brought back memories I made at FFA/FHA camp many years ago but I couldn’t imagine any of my children loving it as I did. Your question “should I let her quit next year?”,sort of jumped out at me. As a mother of 5 grown children (my baby turned 45 in Jan.) & 15 grandchildren I think you should ask yourself – is this about her or is about you reliving your wonderful childhood memories thru her hoping she will experience that same wonderfulness you felt. She is not you, she is your most treasured blessing so enjoy the “wonderfulness of what she enjoys while she is making her own childhood memories with the most wonderful mother in the world.
That was the most fun blog ever in the whole world!! (Did I say that like a 13 year old?) I wasn’t “allowed” to be in Girl Scouts (mom never gave me a reason for that decision), but as a family, we camped all the time on our own and three times a year with a YMCA family camp group… making life-long friends that I will forever treasure. Your daughter may not be into girl scouts, but I’m sure she knows that she was just treated to a life experience that she will remember and treasure forever. Oh, and I’m with you on those noisy nylon sleeping bags! Ugh. Cotton with flannel lining is the best!
so the real question is – will your daughter stay in scouting – – I hope so for her own sake. I was in scouting all through high school and also in college with an Explorer Troop (BSA co-ed branch) and its one of the smartest things I have done. I am still in touch with a couple of my scout-mates from high school and another member of my Explorer Post is my SO of almost 35 years. Scouting is a real good thing…
Such a fun blog to read! I was only in Girl Scouts a short time and our leaders didn’t really teach us much. However, I LOVED Girl Scout camp. Cried when I left home, cried when I left camp and all of my new friends. I’m sure it is from my Girl Scout experience that I got so excited to learn about the badges from Mary Jane’s Farm Girls:) So glad you had this experience together.
Awesome blog as usual. I wish that my mom & I could have had an experience like yours. :o)
I always look forward to reading your posts. They always feel so honest and real. They’re always so fun to read, and make me smile. Just thought I would pop in to let you know! I am sure your daughter will treasure these memories you’re helping to making. Sounds like a great experience!
Keep encouraging your daughter to continue with Girl Scouts. Sent my older daughter to camp when she was 8 and did not want to return the following year but I “made” her go again. 15 years later and she could not wait to return to be a camp director. Younger daughter followed as well. They both have wonderful memories and life long friends from all over the world (their camp in Maine had many international Staff).
How flip flopping awesome! Does your Daughter want to stay in scouts? After that weekend I surely would. By the way, I have patches made up for my Glamper Jackets that say Camp like a Girl or Camp like a Lady! I like them because is says you can still be girly or lady like and go camping. Glamour camping = Glamping! Not necessarily girly but bringing the comforts of home mixed with a little quirkiness. I don’t know if that was the meaning of your camp sign but just thought it would let you have another perspective. Love your posts!
Your girl scout camping story took me back to some “good ole days”. I especially loved the bit about Flip Flop Lady and your mother Teresa (mis)quote! I will always remember that funny way to be charitable when others aren’t. Though not a girl scout, my daughter and I had similar experiences going to the cabin on Lake Minnewawa, MN. Once, while sunbathing on the shore of the lake, we discovered we must be in a dragonfly hatchery as millions of dragonflies began to slowly move and rise into the warm sun all around us! Nothing can beat the serenity of a canoe ride gliding slowly along the waters’ edge. Thanks for sharing your great photos too!
Great post, brought memories of my Girl Scout camp days. My counsellors names were Cricket and Seal. I was very homesick during my one week stay at summer camp, but now at 64 years of age cherish the memories. I hope your daughter decides to stay in scouting, it offers so many life skills. My husband and I never had children, but we became scout leaders to a wonderful group of girls that gave us much joy.