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Spring has finally SPRUNG along the shorelines of Cape Cod Bay! Just looking at these daffodils makes my head spin with delight. There’s just SOOOO much to do this time of year. How about you? What’s putting an extra “spring in your step” right now? I know! Let’s walk and talk at the beach! I’ve got a full report! And besides there are more daffodils to see, dahlias too and some dream-work to be done along the way!
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”.
Daffs, Tulips, Hyacinth,Forsythia, Spirea, Hellebores, Primroses, Violets, English Dasisies…Color abounds! I love the photo of the Daffs next to the beach!! Happy Spring to you!!
Happy Spring to you too Julia! I’m ready for all of the above!!! xo Deb
I so love daffodils, what great photos from the beach! I had to pick a large bouquet of daffodils from my yard to enjoy in my house. I must admit I struggle a little with dahlias. I think I need my soil tested.
Have a great weekend!!!
Thanks Junebug! This will be my first year with dahlias. You know I’ll keep you posted for better or worse! 🙂 Enjoy those daff’s . They come and go before we know it! xo Deb
After enjoying your fantastic Spring display of beach-girl "flowery" – I am re-energized to get back outside to shoveling the 2 ton of fabulous topsoil that was recently dumped in our driveway here in Bucks County, Pa. Wheelbarrow load by load: making its way down the hill to my veggie garden. Why needs a gym membership when we have the great outdoors, a big square shovel and a well-balanced wheelbarrow – load after load. This year’s tomato crop should be fantastic! Happy gardening, Joan Marie
Hi Joan Marie! I hear ya! I’ve got two yards of mulch in my driveway now too! Soil coming next week.. No gym membership necessary! Just a good pair of gardening gloves, a hat and a sturdy back for shoveling! I’m ready! I think! LOL Happy gardening to you too! Best with your veggies!
xo Deb
Hi Deb, you are busy. Everything looks so pretty and I envy you sooo much being on the beach. I love the beach. Happy Birthday to you mother in law. My aunt back home turns 90 this year and when talking with her yesterday, she said she just got through tearing down the house next door to her and pulling up the fence and making one big yard. (I hope I have her genes) HA! She works circles around me. Love your little greenhouse choice and I absoblutely LOVE your daughters painting. I think I jumped the gun on getting my garden planted as we have had to cover everything the last 3 nights because of frost. After being near 90?? But alas I think those nights are over and good weather is here to stay. Our Farmers Market opens tomorrow and I can’t wait to shop. Until next time. Keep us posted, I love your blogs. Neta
Hi Neta! Thank you! Oh, I hope I have your aunts genes too! Wow! This spring has been tricky hasnn’t it? We are supposed to be in the high 80’s tomorrow and staying warm all next week too. Should be able to get plenty of work done! Our farmers market opens this week as well and I’m anxious to see what’s new this year! Thanks so much for reading and for the visit! Happy Weekend Neta! xo Deb
Hi Flower Farm Girl!!! Our wonderful large garden is being put to rest this year. Hubs decided that last year it was just not up to par and wants to add much to it and have it ready to start over next year. No one can believe it because we have always had a garden. I think we may build some raised beds closer to the house for some tomatoes, peppers and a couple of other things. It means I will have more time on my hands this summer because there will not be as much canning as usual. I will have to spend more time in my flower beds and maybe try again with my herb garden. I need to do some chicken detouring because they like to scratch my herb beds up and I have one that is almost empty. Your pictures are beautiful as ever. Love the one of the shore line. I could feel my feet in the sand while I gazed at it. Have a great weekend!
Hello sister Brenda! I love the raised bed idea and the fact that you will spend more time in your flower beds too! Glad you enjoyed the trip to the beach! Enjoy your weekend and thanks for the visit! xo Deb
Hi Deb, the spring flowers are all around, along with the sprouting leaves on the trees, finally!, so the trees can match the warm weather we have had this early spring. Your dream plans are very inspiring, and make me want to use my own daydreams to start something new, something farmgirlie!
Thanks for sharing, your cut-flower business sounds awesome!
Hi Laura! Yes! Our leaves are popping out too! Such a rare gift to have this kind of spring here in New England… I’m soaking up every bit of it! You must keep us posted on your " farmgirlie" daydreams and adventures! Thanks so much for the visit! xo Deb
What a breath of fresh air and a delight to see all those spring flowers. We are still knee deep in snow on the Kenai Penn in Alaska. I must confess I was green with envy. You are very blessed. I always enjoy your posts. I too have much shoveling in my yard. It’s called moose droppings, because they lived in my yard this year. Have a great spring and thanks for the great posts. Merrilyn
Hi Merrilyn! When will it start to thaw out for you? Your winter company sounds amazing…but not what they left behind for you! 🙂 Is there any use for Moose droppings in the garden? Just curious!!! As always, thanks so much for reading and have a wonderful weekend! xo Deb
The pictures of the flowers were lovely. We are just starting to get spring flowers here in rural Idaho, but the sage is greening up and I saw wildflowers ready to bloom along the Salmon River today. Good luck with all your plans this year for the garden. They sound wonderful and keep me inspired.
HUGS!!!!
Dear Laura, Oh I can smell the sage just reading the word! What sorts of wildflowers bloom where you are? In Nevada we used to get the bright yellow Mules Ear Daisies. I think that’s what they were anyway! So pretty!!! Have fun with your garden plans too! xo Deb
I love reading your blog!I’ve learned so much. Seeing your pictures of the Spring flowers is getting me excited to start my gardens. I can’t wait to use the information you shared from the Back To Eden film and now the Quoddy compost. I found a garden center near-by that sells it. The only problem I’m encountering is with my husband who still wants to do things the old way. While I’ve finally convinced him to try the raised bed, he still wants to rototil the ground first. I’ve challenged him to do it his way and I’ll do my garden my way; plant some of the same things and see which garden is easier to start and maintain. this should be really interesting!
Hi Linda! Now, I like the sounds of that compromise! Great experiement. We have placed our raised beds right over a large ( not so healthy ) sodded area in our backyard. We didn’t rototil. I’m placing cardboard and newspaper over the ground, then topping the first couple of inches with slightly de-composed organic matter… mostly leaves and pine needles… on top of that we will add the top soil and compost and finally the wood chips for covering. I’m excited to see how this works. Please keep me posted on how your gardening goes ( and hubbys’ too) !
Thanks so much for the visit! xo Deb
Wow! I just love spring bulb flowers! I just read Laura’s comment and chuckled ’cause my husband and I just passed through that area on our little road trip last week. The Salmon River area is just gorgeous! I took some great pics and will send you a few of central and southern Idaho.
Alas, our bulbs in this Spokane neck of the woods are not in the blooming mode yet, but my allium bulbs have popped out some nice plants out back. They are the ones with the long stalk that sports a large purple ball. Very fascinating..It all started with one bulb that mom planted and now there are lots!
PS: I did pick a few branches of Pussy Willow for my bedroom and they are starting to root in the vase. I will be sticking them in the ground soon!
Enjoy your springtime!
Hi Jan! Sounds wonderful! Yes, the bulbs are so pretty this time of year… Nice to have them to admire while we wait for everything else to " green up "!!! Look forward to those pictures!!! I have allium bulbs on my list… they are an amazing flower aren’t they? Thanks so much for popping in as always! xo Deb
Didjya get your dahlias?? Ya know, I’d never given that flower much of a look before. Funny, how we’re all drawn to different posies. We don’t really live in a user-friendly place for the exotic dahlia. But, I’m going to buy one and try it … so that when I see her in my garden, I’ll think of my beachy farmgirl pal.
I did! I hadn’t really given them a second look either until I decided to grow cut flowers. Oh, you’ll have a Debbie Dahlia in your garden? I love that! I think I’ll grow a Shery Sunflower so I can think of you whilst in my flower patch too ! Loved your rusty fieldtrip! You and Michelle sure got some wonderful finds! HUGS! Deb
Where I live, the main growing season is October-May, so I will enjoy visiting often to see how things are growing at your place. I LOVE your daughter’s painting! I sure hope it is framed and prominently positioned. 😉
Hi Becky! Great to see you here! Yes, her painting is framed and hung! I love her early work! Happy Gardening! x0 Deb