The end of summer and beginning of fall bring one of my most favorite things to do…go to a county fair! There’s so many scattered throughout my area, that it’s hard to go to all of them. Come have some ol’fashioned farmgirl fun with me and my family, as we
GO TO THE FAIR!
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 also love county fairs. My daughter, who is in 4th grade, has been sewing for 2 years. This past spring, she entered a shirt she sewed in our county fair. She won a blue ribbon for it! Now, she is really into sewing and wants to make more items. I am so proud of her. We entered a dress she made this summer into our Arizona state fair for next month. The only down side of our fair was that I found it very expensive. It was $15 just for 3 of us to ride the ferris wheel. The prices won’t stop me from going, though! 🙂
Hi Mindy! Congratulations to your daughter for her blue ribbon! Tell her the Suburban Farmgirl says "Awesome job!" That’s a great accomplishment for anyone, but in fourth grade? That’s really something. You must be so proud! As for the prices of the fair, I understand. Some fairs in our area are more expensive than others. Seems to me the smaller ones cost more than the large ones! The Dutchess County Fair surprised me. I found it to be pretty reasonable. I still think it’s worth to go to the fair, too. Thanks for sharing with me! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I love the fair every year and never miss this end of summer event. The quilt and fiber exhibits draw me in. I love the creativity of the 4-H kids and my favorite exhibit this year was a raincoat made out of a Twister game mat! The theme was recycling and it turned out awesome! Such creativity; it sort of made me want to make one for myself!
Hi Maureen! What a great idea for the theme, one of my favorite things as a farmgirl, of course! Bet that raincoat was amazing! Thanks for sharing! Farmgirl hugs, Nicole
Oh thanks Nicole for the trip to the Fair, I didn’t get to go this year so you made it for me. My recall is bringing up all the great smells – yes I like the animal smells too. God Bless
Hi Joan! I love the animal smells, too. It’s all part of the fun. Farmgirl hugs to you! – Nicole
I entered some butternut squash in our local county fair a couple of years ago. I won a ribbon, but I was the only butternut squash, so I’m not sure how fair it was. It was still thrilling to win!
Sarah, Of course! It’s awesome that you grew prize-winning squash. My favorite way to cook it by the way is roasted with butter and cinnamon. Farmgirl hugs, Nicole
Hi Nicole!
Ya know how you said to me the more we talk the more you feel like we have in common? Well gee,
I got that EXACT feeling as I read this blog post! Every year my daughter and I go to the Long Island Fair, at Old Bethpage Village Restoration. We have been going for years! In fact when my daughter was in 4th grade she went as a field trip from school. Of course, I, not wanting to miss out on the fun, tagged along as a chaperone. Well, my daughter entered the " guess how many beans are in the jar" contest and WON! It was really quite amazing considering there were THOUSANDS of entries, and SHE guessed the closest! She was thrilled and brought the letter she received in the mail along with a copy of her $25.00 prize check in to school to show her teacher.
This year she is entering several of her photographs that she has taken into the junior hobby category. She is a budding photographer, and we are trying to encourage her to pursue her love of taking pictures , so we thought this was a great opportunity to do just that. We are really looking forward to it. She has to enter above her age class (she has just turned 13 years old) and the photography category doesn’t technically start until age 14, so she will be going up against 14-17 year olds, but it will be a good learning experience for her.
We look forward to our local fair every year, and this year will be a new experience for us because we will be actual "participants" !
Thank you as always for your wonderful posts, and one of these days girlfriend we are definitely going to get together for some farmgirl fun!
Hugs,
Laurie
Hi Sweet Laurie, I am chuckling as I read this, because of how you mention chaperoning field trips. I have volunteered for every field trip I could that my daughter has had. I think I got more excited over some of them than she did! So proud to hear that your daughter is entering her photos. Good luck to her! Can’t wait to meet you both! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I love this fair as well and the Vanilla shakes are the best at the 4H stand. Well worth the long line, but it goes pretty quickly. We were in Lake George this year camping so we were not able to go. Now I am home for the month of September, since I had to have my left hip replaced. At least I can catch up on some of my craft projects. I loved reading your article about the fair. We all hope to go again next year! Have a great day!Diane
Hi Diane! I wondered why there was such a long line at the 4H shake stand! Next year I will have to get one! Thank you for your comment, hope you have a speedy recovery! Farmgirl hugs, Nicole