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Hello Farmgirl Friends!!!
Have you ever had your eyes wide open looking, looking, looking for a certain antique item and you just can’t find it? I’ve been in that spot for literally YEARS (I’m talking 12 years here). I’m sure you’re dying to know what in the world it could be!
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 celebrated with you, Dory, for finding your perfect Hoosier cabinet! WHAT A FIND! It looks perfect in your area. Thank God for daughters who bring a different perspective to space and told you to “buy it we’ll find a space”
Absolutely gorgeous. I am so happy you found what you were looking for. It was well worth the wait.
That is such a great story! Thank you for sharing!
I would love to have my own Hoosier cabinet! It’s definitely a bucket/wish list item! 🙂 I’m starting small, as I found the bottom half of a cabinet at a local thrift store for a steal. It has metal bottom drawers and a beautiful oak patina. One day, I hope to find the real McCoy! Your cabinet is amazing in the corner of your room. How can you not smile when you look at it??! Thank you for sharing your story! 🙂
I am so happy for you…and your joy at finding the perfect Hoosier is evident in every word – I can almost hear the squeals of excitement! I love how it looks with all the vintage touches you had just waiting for it, and the original papers still inside, they are the best! I have an old Boone…it was listed for such a good price, I had to go see it. My daughter and I drove country roads that took us “in back of beyond” as the saying goes. When we arrived, the seller was so happy because she’d just found the Hoosier of her dreams and needed to make room for it…she even lowered the price of the Boone – how could I not bring it home? She and I were both winners! One of my favorite sayings is: Never Stop Making Wishes, and this proves that dreams can come true…love it!
Mary
I love Hoosiers too and was happy to find one myself to bring home. It’s so old, has a tin top that slides out, a lined bin drawer, and a very little, metal plate on the front that is stamped “May 15 1906”. I had been looking “forever” for one. You have set this up so perfectly, it’s adorable! Motivating for me to make mine a cuter set-up, as right now it just holds my “desk stuff” in a nice hidden way.
Hi Dori,
I truly enjoyed reading your article! As an owner of the Michigan Hoosier Company that we closed many years ago, I have worked on both restoring and building many new Hoosiers and Side Cabinets with my family. You have a rare find and an absolutely beautiful one. I too have studied the history and visited the original shops at different times and love to decorate my Hoosier. Enjoy- I am so happy for you.
Kim