Monthly Archives: February 2014

So Long February. Hello, March Madness!

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Beach Farmgirl Deb Bosworth

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“The most serious charge which can be brought against New England is not Puritanism but February.”
–  Joseph Wood Krutch

Dear Sisters,

Of all the months of the year February has got to be the most challenging. I know for certain this is true for good old New England! Winter doesn’t really get going until February in these parts! If it weren’t for the freezing temperatures I’d probably go a little easier on February but it’s snowing again today and my romance with Old Man Winter is beginning to cool. As a matter of fact, I’m tossing him out on his ear muffs right here and now with you as my witness! It’s not that we haven’t had some special times together because we have.
It’s just that I’m feeling a little antsy these days. The garden is calling me and I’m ready to grow baby grow! How can I do that if he’s still hanging around cluttering up the place with his wet blankets of snow and ice? Continue reading →

Here's to the Generous

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Rural Farmgirl Alexandra Wilson

“Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need. ” ~Khalil Gibran

Some recent news out of Minnesota shocked me–no, it wasn’t the consistently terrible below zero weather or disastrous snowfalls (I’m actually very jealous of the snow!).  It was the news that school districts had been throwing out low income students’ hot lunches if they couldn’t pay the 40 cent reduced price lunch.  If the lunches were replaced, it was with a cheese sandwich (I’m sure the “cheese” was a far cry from the real thing), and a carton of milk.  I guess something is better than nothing…but students need much more nutrition than a highly processed sandwich and ultra pasteurized milk.  These are probably the same students who come to school without good breakfasts.  How are they expected to perform well in school if they don’t have proper nutrition?  How could this happen in my home state?

But there was other news that piggy backed with this that made me SO thankful for genuine generosity.  A tutor in Texas figured that his students were probably experiencing this same thing, and he took the solution into his own hands.  He donated about $500 to cover the outstanding balances on 60 students’ lunch accounts so they could once again receive hot lunches in their school.

So…Here’s to the Generous!

Baby Ava proclaims: "Here's to the Generous!"

Baby Ava proclaims: “Here’s to the Generous!”

Continue reading →

Here’s to the Generous

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Rural Farmgirl Alexandra Wilson

“Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need. ” ~Khalil Gibran

Some recent news out of Minnesota shocked me–no, it wasn’t the consistently terrible below zero weather or disastrous snowfalls (I’m actually very jealous of the snow!).  It was the news that school districts had been throwing out low income students’ hot lunches if they couldn’t pay the 40 cent reduced price lunch.  If the lunches were replaced, it was with a cheese sandwich (I’m sure the “cheese” was a far cry from the real thing), and a carton of milk.  I guess something is better than nothing…but students need much more nutrition than a highly processed sandwich and ultra pasteurized milk.  These are probably the same students who come to school without good breakfasts.  How are they expected to perform well in school if they don’t have proper nutrition?  How could this happen in my home state?

But there was other news that piggy backed with this that made me SO thankful for genuine generosity.  A tutor in Texas figured that his students were probably experiencing this same thing, and he took the solution into his own hands.  He donated about $500 to cover the outstanding balances on 60 students’ lunch accounts so they could once again receive hot lunches in their school.

So…Here’s to the Generous!

Baby Ava proclaims: "Here's to the Generous!"

Baby Ava proclaims: “Here’s to the Generous!”

Continue reading →

Will I Ever Be A "Real" Farmer?

Posted on February 24, 2014 by City Farmgirl Rebekah Teal

How exactly does a person LEARN to farm? I guess what I really mean is how do you LEARN to make a comfortable living at it?

Owning a farm and knowing how to make a living on a farm are two entirely different things. Most people I have met since we moved to the countryside have an off-farm day job and farming is their second job. Actually, I think everybody I’ve met fits that bill, part-time farmers, full-time something else.

Now that I have a farm of my own, I’m trying to learn how to farm AND trying to figure out how to make a living on these beautiful acres. I should add: I happen to be completely untrained and uneducated in farming. So far I’ve “trained” by talking to people who have farmed and by reading books about it.

This weekend, though, I did something else. I went to a farming conference.

Continue reading →

Will I Ever Be A “Real” Farmer?

Posted on February 24, 2014 by City Farmgirl Rebekah Teal

How exactly does a person LEARN to farm? I guess what I really mean is how do you LEARN to make a comfortable living at it?

Owning a farm and knowing how to make a living on a farm are two entirely different things. Most people I have met since we moved to the countryside have an off-farm day job and farming is their second job. Actually, I think everybody I’ve met fits that bill, part-time farmers, full-time something else.

Now that I have a farm of my own, I’m trying to learn how to farm AND trying to figure out how to make a living on these beautiful acres. I should add: I happen to be completely untrained and uneducated in farming. So far I’ve “trained” by talking to people who have farmed and by reading books about it.

This weekend, though, I did something else. I went to a farming conference.

Continue reading →

What a Winter!

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Suburban Farmgirl Nicole Christensen

Winter 2014 has proven to be a hard one!  With over three feet of snow covering the yard, ice everywhere, and everyone, including the chickens stuck indoors, how do we keep from going stir crazy?

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Continue reading →

Beachgirl Romance

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Beach Farmgirl Deb Bosworth

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Dear Sisters, Boy has it been cold, wet and white here on the shorelines. The Farmers Almanac predicted a stormy, bitter cold winter for the northeast this year and they were spot on! I think it’s snowed 4 times in the last two weeks alone with temps in the single digits! I know many of you have had the same treatment and worse in some places. Despite the harsh weather I actually like certain parts of winter. I enjoy having my ” chickens ” close to the nest where I can love em up good with healthy, heart warming meals, snugly blankets at the ready for family movie nights and yummy homemade sweets. In some ways, I wish I could freeze winter right now just to make these moments last a little longer. Instead, I’m beginning to feel that old familiar tug at my heartstrings pulling me back to the beach I love so dear. Where cherished memories rest and new adventures await on the not so distant horizon. I think I feel a summer romance coming on. A Beachgirl Romance! It’s a lot like Farmgirl Romance only beachy-er. Follow me! I’ll show ya what I mean! Flip flops are optional! Continue reading →

The Newest Farmgirl in Town

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Rural Farmgirl Alexandra Wilson

Hello Farmgirls near and far!  Sorry I missed you for my previous post, but I was busy meeting the newest love of my life: Ava Maureen Wilder.  She is the best thing!  She was born eleven days past her due date on January 28 at 1:03 p.m. weighing 8 pounds 2 ounces and measuring a whopping 19 inches long.  We are pretty sure she’s a genius already, scoring 9 out of 10 on her Apgar right out of the womb.  Labor was long and laborious, but one of the first thoughts that came to my mind when it was over that I could do it 5 or 6 more times (that thought has since calmed down a bit)! The little munchkin is happily cooing and staring at her Grandma Gail right now, so come and meet her while I have a chance to write before getting drawn into staring at her beautiful babiness!

ava and mama eyes

Proud mama cuddle time.

Continue reading →

I Don’t Like the Turn, Turn, Turn

Posted on February 10, 2014 by City Farmgirl Rebekah Teal

You know a post that has “Turn, Turn, Turn” in the title is surely about there being a season to everything, a time to live, a time to die. You’re right on that.

It is a stark, unfortunate truth, there is a season for everything.

Yes, death is a part of the circle of life. And sure, I can sing that song too. (“from the day we arrive on the planet…”)

But knowing the words to the songs doesn’t mean that I can deal with it. And being able to quote Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” doesn’t make it so.

I am faced with the “turn, turn, turn/circle of life/loved and lost” concept much more frequently since I moved to a farm. And, quite frankly, I don’t like it. I’m not so happy about that part of farming. (I keep saying that I should just stick with turnip farming.)

You have heard me talk about one of the sweetest, most friendly chickens ever hatched, our Sicilian Buttercup we called TyGee. She was the tiniest in the flock. She was also the most loving in the flock. She’d rather be held by me or my daughter than to eat.

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She was sick last week. I did my best to nurse her back to health, but I failed. Epic failure.

Continue reading →

I Don't Like the Turn, Turn, Turn

Posted on February 10, 2014 by City Farmgirl Rebekah Teal

You know a post that has “Turn, Turn, Turn” in the title is surely about there being a season to everything, a time to live, a time to die. You’re right on that.

It is a stark, unfortunate truth, there is a season for everything.

Yes, death is a part of the circle of life. And sure, I can sing that song too. (“from the day we arrive on the planet…”)

But knowing the words to the songs doesn’t mean that I can deal with it. And being able to quote Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” doesn’t make it so.

I am faced with the “turn, turn, turn/circle of life/loved and lost” concept much more frequently since I moved to a farm. And, quite frankly, I don’t like it. I’m not so happy about that part of farming. (I keep saying that I should just stick with turnip farming.)

You have heard me talk about one of the sweetest, most friendly chickens ever hatched, our Sicilian Buttercup we called TyGee. She was the tiniest in the flock. She was also the most loving in the flock. She’d rather be held by me or my daughter than to eat.

P1130978

She was sick last week. I did my best to nurse her back to health, but I failed. Epic failure.

Continue reading →