At last count, we have nine newborn calves. We’re just entering calving season and pretty soon, there will be baby beefs snuggled under every sagebrush at the ranch. When we ride to check on the mother cows and their babies, the latter can be hard to find. Just yesterday, I had a heck of a time finding a new calf here at home where we keep the first-calf heifers. But, while I was looking for the little dickens, I did find something else … a treasure!
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”.
Shery Another GREAT read!!! I love the sink project, and I’m surprised my Pinterest addiction hasn’t lead me to find that particular project yet, it is an amazing thing to have as a DIY guide!! Also I Love the weather vane it’s a real beauty! Glad to hear that calving season is off to a good start for you, and I hope the weather cooperates better for you than it has for us. We just finishing making some comfy straw beds for our herd as the weather man says we’re in for a few more blizzard like days! Sending Blessings to you for Easter and Calving too!
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Thanks Lacey! Yes, finding Pinterest happened for me via my sister. It has been especially timely since we are doing so much to the house this year. Going idea hunting there has been a lot of fun and it inspires you to get it done! shery
Ahhh another wonderful trip with Shery – what great fun y’all have – sure worth the drive. Wheweee a real good look’n horse weathervane and you didn’t have to mortgage the ranch – now that’s a great find and the sink for free – I’d say you are on a roll. The porch and your yard are going to be spiffy for sure. And then calving – oh how I feel the love – there is nothing like babies on the ranch – they make life anew. Thanks again for such a fun read and Happy Easter to you and yours.
I luv the "work in progress" on the Ranch….
and fyi, I nearly spewed coffee out my nostrils when reading your comment: They’re (horses)also shedding big-time now which for a ranchy farmgirl means no lipstick or lip balm unless you like furry lips, "
lolol!
>^..^<
Good Morning Shery! Just had to let you know that you gave me the laugh of the day with the comment about no lipstick or lipbalm unless you like furry lips- only a farmgirl can understand that!!!! Good luck with your calving- we are about halfway finished and the babies look good. We are so blessed to do what we do…..
Have a great day! Meredith
Good Morning Shery! Just had to let you know that you gave me the laugh of the day with the comment about no lipstick or lipbalm unless you like furry lips- only a farmgirl can understand that!!!! Good luck with your calving- we are about halfway finished and the babies look good. We are so blessed to do what we do…..
Have a great day! Meredith
Well, our critters aren’t roaming like the cattle but they certainly are producing this time of year. Sixteen piglets in three days…imagine we started out with only one two-day old wild boar..Butch…and now a mere 18 months later, have well over sixty hogs…..whoa. Our biggest concern is the mamas rollin’ over on the piglets. We check often. And like your little calf, we have lost a few piglets. The brighter side to this, my daughter and granddaughter were here this week and were able to see the process and care for a runt piglet that is needing a little extra care. They did "good" for city slickers! My little ranch is alive with piglets, puppies, kittens, birds, chicks….oh my! It makes me more alive too. Next! Just waitin’ for those fresh onions and garlic to be ready….yuuummm! Have a glorious Easter y’all….the sun (son) is rising!
Hi Shery, Happy Spring and Easter to you too. What a find with your horse weathervane!!!! It is really good looking and in such good shape. I also love the sink garden project, what fun. I have my pansies and violas planted in pots out on my front porch now. Oh, how I love flowers!
I loved seeing the pictures of some of your new babies, sooooo cute!! My Dad raised Black Angus for a few years and I always loved the new babies.
It got warm, actually hot here the first of April so the horses started shedding really early. With the rain and the shedding they have been quite a mess. Worked on them a few days ago, but they still need more grooming.
Love seeing your progress pictures of your house project, it looks great!
Always look forward to your posts.
Until next time.
Jan in KS
I kinda figured you were out playing around…not on Pinterest as much. Forgot to tell you that there is a Morgan Horse Farm about 1/4 of a mile up the road from us. Have a good one Miss Shery. He is Risen!
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Hi Terry! Remember when Dad couldn’t remember your name and he called you Twyla? :o) He told me the other day to say HEY to ‘Twyla’ and he was happy to know you are well. Ok, you must tell me what the name of the Morgan farm that is near you! I bred them and was very involved in the Morgan community for many years. I may know them. shery
Love this post! You so artfully tie together all the elements of spring. I miss being on the ranch at this time of year, but sometimes paths change. It is also wonderful to hear the love and devotion you have for the wondrous things in your life. Thanks for sharing so eloquently!
Happy Easter! Happy Spring! Happy Rejuvenation!
Know all about that waiting to get your projects done. We moved into our "fixer" 6 months ago. Progress is slow we got a new roof, need a foundation on the back side but the garden is beckoning. Still no heat except for little floor heaters and d*#% those things run up the bill.
I have been riding a litle more lately though we are now having a cold snap again in Northern California. My horse Lee looks like I could pluck her like a chicken.
And yes you are right Spring reminds us how beautiful our world is. I try to remember what a gift it is to us.
Yes, He has risen!!! Loved the lesson! What sweet faces, male or female. Cannot wait to see your sink planter. I am now a certified Farmgirl #4048. Badge and certificate came in today’s mail. Have a wonderful Easter Sunday! Blessings from our home in the woods.
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Dear Brenda, Welcome to the sisterhood! It is fun to get that much more MJF in your farmgirl life. Congrats to another Clucker! :o) shery
Shery…I remember those baby days before I had to move south and give up all my farmgirlin’. What amazed me was something my Jersey milkcow used to do. When she was in labor and about to calve, she would turn her head around to her rear, (where the baby was coming out), and make the most lovely, soft moo sounds. She was lovin’ that baby before it was even born. It just about made my heart burst! A few humans on this earth could take lessons from mama cows! I love your Wyoming blog. My daughter used to live in Cheyenne. Beautiful country! That and Montana!!!!!!
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Victoria, Yes, you are so right about mama cows having an entirely different kind of voice when they talk to their babies…especially the newborn. It is a very soft, melodic moo-coo. When we witness such things, it is pure love and love is food for the soul. shery
I would be interested in seeing what you do with the galvanized tubs. . .love the sink.
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Hi Ann, I think they will have either flowers or veggies in them. I found another one today at the ranch near the site of an old homestead. I DO want to make a fairy garden. I don’t know why it appeals to me, but I saw one in an old tub and it just looks like something I would have played with for hours as a little girl. I guess I still like to ‘play’. Thanks for stopping in! shery
Aaaawww I want one of the babies!!! They are so cute! Just tonight I was looking at my neighbor’s paint, I know its spring when they open up the back pasture for their horses! Also watching all the traffic which is the tractors driving up and down my road means spring. Time for me to clean out my garden and get it ready…love the dirt in between my fingers!
Happy Easter!
Yep, it is calving season. I had a little catastrophe yesterday here on our ranch. We had a still born calf with a first time mother cow. She was beside herself. Well, as luck would have it there was an older cow that had a healthy baby but she did not want her. The poor little creature got a kick every time she tried to nurse. I tried to put her on the mom that was crying for her dead baby, but she would smell it and then turn away. Well, my grandfather taught me a trick. I skinned the hide off the dead baby and made a little jacket for the healthy baby. I took the calf over and the mother smelled the jacket which had the smell of her baby and hot damn she let the little heifer go to nursing. By late afternoon I took the hide off and there was a happy mom and baby in the pasture. Ah, life on the ranch-there is nothing better.
Now, listen Shery! You got me hooked on this Pinterest site. I LOVE it, but spend way too much time there. LOL! I never knew there was such a site with everything in one place to spend hours gathering so much information. I have to set a time limit or I could be there all night!
Happy Easter and Happy Spring!
Treese/Colorado Cowgirl
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Hi Treese, I think we should blame my sister! She told me about it! I just started a ‘ranch’ board; it really is a great place to store info online.
Yeppers, that is also how we graft calves. It has never failed us. It is a little graphic for the faint of heart, but the dead calf can save another in need of a mama. The ‘cape’ tied on with baling twine fore & aft works like a charm. Pouring old perfume and other so-called scent helps to accomplish a successful draft RARELY work unless you have a granny kind of a cow that will take anything. That just doesn’t happen with range cattle. If it isn’t HER calf, you can FirGET it! The smell of her calf and the graft calf mingle and then become one. Everybody is a winner! Hope the rest of your calving goes well for you! shery
Hi Shery! I’m glad to see things are thawing and greening up in your neck of the " high plains".
I love the little sink you found, and the way you got to find it too! Lucky farmgirl you are out on horseback doing your "junkin"! Thanks for sharing the images of the baby calves… so cute… I bet those Bull’s grow out of that phase in a hurry though! Is that red room your porch? I love the red walls and yellow chest together… so bright and cheery! And, the weather-vane is a precious find too! I sea you are off to a great start this spring. Happy Easter and happy ridin’ my dear!
Love,
Deb
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Hi D-Boz!! Thanks for the kudos, sista. Yes, the red room is the porch…going with barn colors inside and out — saves on paint color choices around here :o) I giggled at your possible spelling booboo: sea instead of see, but in YOUR case it fits!!! ha. ~ shery
Shery: I am re-living my farm and ranch days through you. You are such a good writer and photographer and I just can hardly wait until your next blog. Your home project will enhance your life and the sink will be perfect. Happy spring!
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Oh Bonnie, Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kind encouragement!!! shery
Oh geeze! That was a spelling error!!! But, you are right. It fits! hahah!!! Your porch is going to be farmgirl fab a licious! Happy spring my dear!
Thank you for sharing. Not too many people in your position are so gracious. Your article was very poignant and understandable. It helped me to understand very clearly.
Hi Shery,
A quick question, our Dexter had her first bull calf this past December. I milk the momma and love it! Now we are choosing the future of the calf, of course we are a bit attached! Do you sell most bull calves at auction? Or raise for beef yourselves? Thanks Terces
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Hi Terces! Yes, we sell ALL of our bull calves which are steers by the time they’re 2 months old (castrated). Like you, it is really easy for me to get attached to animals and so I do NOT go there with the cattle. I do have some favorite gentle cows that will eat treats from my hand, but they’re not really pets. We haven’t raised a beef to butcher. Sometimes there is a dry cow, but we haven’t done that either for several years . We’ve never held a steer back. Friends of our’s always butcher a beef and we buy from them. I help them cut & package and go home with full coolers. A whole beef is just WAY too much for my husband and I. We do not eat beef all the time. My husband could, but I have to have a more varied diet! Confession: venison is my favorite meat. And, I don’t eat meat everyday either. I love vegetables better than anything else. shery