Yep, every farm has to have one.
And my own farm didn’t come with one.
I’ve looked around, to see if I could find one to move to my farm.
But no.
So I finally built one.
I’ve been dying to show it to you.
-
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”.
My husband, who is over 6 foot cleaned our outhouse to make it usable. He assured me all was okay. However, when 5 foot me went in, I could see the large mud dauber nest under the toiler paper roll. YIKES!
I think originally the crescent moon was cut out for ventilation, but I like your window better. A man wouldn’t bother! Very cute, and artistic, and your sewing is fine!! The fabric is perfect with all your lovely colors. p.s. What color did your cabinets end up?
Love it! You need to buy an Old Framers Almanac. They come with a hole punched in them so they can be hung up inside the loo. Really, that’s what the hole is for.
Awesome outhouse.
Love this story. My grandmother had a two holer as we called it. Only one person was allowed at a time. In her days, the outhouse was usually way in the back behind the house. Hollyhocks were planted along a path so the genteel ladies knew where the ‘privy’ was located without asking. Hated the smell of that sulphur.
Rebecca- That is TOTALLY awesome!!! I think that is just the cutest thing ever!!! Outhouses are becoming almost extinct and you have “preserved” or created a thing of the past, how absolutely wonderful!!! You are great!
We have one on our property that my 4 and 6 year old girls have called “the scary potty” forever. Funny part is, they love it!
Oh OH OH – Loo Outhouse!!!!!! what a beauty!!!! Great job woodworking and painting and the window is super – love the curtain. What a great idea to have on such a large property – we had one that we called ‘never fails’ – bet you get why it was called that. About the corn cobs, we had catalogs and cobs, we would rub the pages on the rough cobs to soften the paper, never used the cobs without the paper. And now about the snakes, we always had large, new rope all around inside, up and down and Snake a Way all around the outside – that is a product that is so wonderful, not harmful to animals but the snakes hate the smell. Also we would crush moth balls and lay around out and in – can you tell – ‘it’s me and my phobia’ talking. As I was typing I had to scroll back up just to take another look – another big smile for sure. Thanks for sharing. God bless.
This brought back the memory of our outhouse at our family lake cabin! Mostly mom putting lime down ‘there’ and her scrubbing it out with bleach water. That was the only potty that we had at our cabin in those days. The boards were rough hewn cedar.. I love your window w/curtain and the cheery colors! Now I am going to Google ‘black snake’ so that I can get more terrified by seeing what one actually looks like-
Have to chuckle because those are the colors of my bathroom in the house. Teal and periwinkle. Beautiful combo.
Oh my word. I love this. My farm does not have one… but I think it needs one! It’s really darling! – Dori –
Spot on perfect!!!
Looks fab and cute. Sewing a great 🙂 enjoy
Just love the blog about your Outhuse aka Loo!! The colors and window give it a kick up on the Loo meter too!! Speaking of snakes my husband told me today that our resident snake is still in our backyard and he believes it is about two feet long. Gotta go and check out the snake!!
Wow-it’s fabulous. I have never thought about building an outhouse. You are brilliant.
Love the colors and the curtains. Memories of “Latrine Duty” @ Girl Scouts Camp. Those outhouses weren’t even cute like yours!
Your old friend, Wesley Walraven also built an out house in the rear of his property.
But it has a chandelier, marble floor, heater, I’m not sure if the wifi reaches from the house, but it probable does. Ask him for a picture.