GoodGollyMissMolly! Things ’round this outfit have been busier than usual. Must be the close of a season – as in the door officially slammed shut. There are still several things I/we need to do before winter sets in. One of the ‘check list’ assignments was to take senior photos for a young friend [Jessica] during her favorite season … Fall. Here is one – taken on a high bluff at the family ranch. C’mon in to see the rest and some of the other ‘ranchy’ goings on … in every nook & cranny.
Dear Sisters,
I hope this post finds you well and knee -deep into the gloriousness of harvest season. Here along the farm coast in New England there’s no shortage of farm stands packed to the gills with fresh produce, mums a plenty, corn mazes, pumpkin patches, hay rides and harvest celebrations. Right now it’s Cranberry harvest time and I have it on good authority that it’s going to be a record year for Massachusetts Cranberry growers! What do ya say we take a ride through CRANBERRY COUNTRY? I’ve got a soft spot for cranberries. Come on in for the whole SCOOP!
I think we’ve done it. We’ve surpassed that hump of “are we completely insane?” and “I wish we had never done this.” It is a good feeling. This progress into being a pseudo home-owner has progressed much like any good Shakespearean dramatic plot structure. We began with the feeling of “a yurt would be super cool.” We progressed to late yurt arrival, into constant rain, into being broke and annoyed, into being nearly smoked out of our new home. The rising action was nearly unbearable until…until we reached the climax of getting our chimney and rain cap checked out. I was about ready to throw in the towel, to be honest. I was about ready to move into some boring apartment with stained carpet, a funny smelling fridge and a postage stamp sized dog yard.
Now, we have tentatively entered the denouement. The possibility of yurt life for this coming winter doesn’t seem so unlikely or doubtful. It’s getting better all the time…
A finished wall for the loft, a nicely stacked pile of wood and a woodpile that warms rather than smokes make this Farmgirl a happy camper.
I’ve always been curious about beekeeping. It’s a hobby that goes hand-in-hand with living a simpler, organic, environmentally-aware lifestyle. Not knowing where to start, I was thrilled when my family was invited to learn the art of beekeeping from another local family during their fall honey harvest!
I’m standing in the cold mountain stream that runs in front of our farm.
The water is freezing, but I’ve got my muck boots on so my feet are cold, but dry. (cold feet, warm heart, or something like that)
I’m here to harvest sand for my chickens….
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I’m loopy about pumpkins. Well, actually, Autumn is the root of this love for ‘Her Royal OrangeNess’ ~ the undisputed Queen of the fall parade.
Fall is such a cozy, beautiful season, and it’s this time of year that New England is in all her glory! In late September, everyone starts setting out colorful mums and hanging autumn wreaths tied with jewel-toned bows. Spicy hot apple cider wafts through the air as changing leaves dress the trees in water-color shades of red, yellow, gold and brown. But the star of fall for me is the pumpkin. I love pumpkins! I guess you could say I’m pumpkin-obsessed. Those plump little orbs of orange, yellow and white make me grin like a jack-o-lantern on Halloween! This fall, I’m thrilled to add “Backyard-Pumpkin-Farmer” to my repertoire! Come take a peek at my garden, then let’s head to the kitchen for some tasty autumn goodies!
Dear Sisters,
Do you ever get a hitch in yur creative git a long? It’s rare that it happens to me, but I’ve got a slight case of it right now. Hey, it happens to the best of us! I’ve got a list of fun fall things to make and projects to do but I just can’t seem to get at em… It’s as though something’s blocking my way. I always call this sort of lull ” the calm before the creative storm”. Don’t panic sisters! I think I know the CAUSE AND the CURE to my SLOOOW FALL conundrum. Can you relate?
Many of you have been asking in the past several weeks for updates on the yurt and yurt life. However, there hasn’t much to update you about! Living in the yurt is still very much like glorified camping. The interior hasn’t changed too much, and I’m still too embarrassed by all of the stuff spilling out of boxes to post real pictures of the interior. I have been living in a kind of suspended animation since the end of September for several reasons. Nonetheless, I can give you a small idea of what living in the yurt has been like.
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Our yurt exterior. We are in a beautifully wooded area, the neighbors are fairly close, but it’s okay for now!
Late last week I attended a legal conference.
Legal conferences are not usually a serene, enchanting, pleasant affair.
But this one surely was. It wasn’t the conference that was serene, it was the venue where it was held. And my trip back home.
It was in Asheville, North Carolina at the Grove Park Inn.
Autumn was in the air.
Leaves were beginning to turn from green to red, yellow, orange.
Pumpkin Spice coffee.
Gingerbread.
Apples.
Life is tough, I tell you.
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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”.
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