Though it hasn’t felt like it with the wicked hot and humid weather, summer in New England is winding down. Like squeezing a wedge of lemon in a glass of iced tea, we’ve been squeezing in a bit of our favorite things about the season. Come visit with me – I’ve got some tips, tricks, and some good conversation to share!
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”.
That was fun! Thank you for taking us along on your adventures and day to day. I feel a little bit rejuvenated, some how. 🙂 And Love the nosy tomato!!
Great visit Nicole!!
Thanks Nicole for sharing all that fun stuff.
As usual, I felt as if I was there too.
I could hear the loon calls from here.
(P.S. You are such a handsome family)
Hugs&Squeezles…and continue to stay safe!
Loved this post 🙂
Great blog Nicole, will we ever get back to normal? It just seems like when you see a small light at the end of the tunnel somthing else happens. But glad you folks made the best of things and carried on. Great pictures.♥️
Yummy yummy. Sounds !like some good times. We also had a fair. And loved every minute of it
Great up beat post. Thanks so much for the morning smiles.
This post did make me smile…and I loved to see the baby bunnies – I only see one at a time in our yard. Now on to making tomato sauce from all the ripened tomatoes that showed up overnite!
Thank you for the lovely post! Viewing your pictures was like a mini vacation for me
So glad you were spared major damage from the passing storm!
Take heart, cooler autumn days and hot apple cider are just around the corner. ❤️
Happy September!
Bonnie, in Oregon
A wonderful post Nicole. I was born in New York and I loved upstate NY and the beautiful woods and mountainous areas. Your post brought back memories of my time there. I know the last two years have been strange to say the least, and I hope everyone can get back to normalcy of some sort soon if not sooner or maybe many have already. We do the best we can and trust in God for answers. God bless you and your family. SO glad the hurricane didn’t reach you except for the rain; we had rain from it too and we had another system just before that one where I stayed on our porch and watched the rain and listened to the thunder all day. It was one of my favorite days – seeing God’s magnificent power working.
Loved your blog as always…
Enjoy the heartwarming pictures…Thank you for your fried chicken recipe…I unbelievably
HAVE all the ingredients here to make it..
Tonight, Sounds SO good..
Where’d the summer go? Thanks for your uplifting “banter” that helps those of us, who have felt especially “isolated ” feel Happier…
Thank you for sharing your experiences and mini vacation ❤
Thank you for sharing your perspective and fun!
Fun post, Nicole! The last few days here in Minnesota the high temps have been in the 70s after so much heat. So refreshing! Our garden has been producing so many tomatoes this year. We have donated about 100 pounds to food shelf so far! We are spending our last summer week at our lake place with our three grandsons, they are water skiing today despite the chilliness. We are in a super drought here, the lake is down at least a foot. Fall will come soon. Until next time…………..
Glad you had a good time with your friend. Thank You for sharing your reunion.
Marilyn
It sounds like your family has had a summer of memory-making…yay! That’s the best part of summer. Glad to hear the storm missed you…we know that frenzy of checking food storage, generators, water storage, etc. It’s very stressful. And Gidget, oh my! A narrow escape! I’m always worried about Maizy…to be honest, she spends most of her time on the farm as a little camp-out for my daughter and me, or sometimes, just me! Two little wheels and top-heavy, I’m always expecting her to topple over…I can’t imagine taking her on a freeway. So one vintage camper owner to another…a question I just can’t find the answer to. I keep Maizy covered with a tarp if there’s even the slightest chance of rain…why weren’t vintage campers designed with a better roof? Maybe there’s no answer…it just seems like the main problem so many of us have. Why couldn’t they have been designed like cars…no worries about my car roof leaking! Thanks for sharing your latest adventures…always fun to read.
Hi Mary! Thank you. I understand what you mean about Maizy (did you name her after Maizy Mouse, by chance?)! We only have taken Gidget on the freeway a few times. I think once when we first brought her home, and maybe one other time. Otherwise, we stick to back roads. To be honest, I avoid the freeway as much as I can. It has gotten so much worse since the pandemic started. But I digress…as for the rooftop, when we first got Gidget, hubs “painted” the roof with a marine grade sealant, just in case. We have not had any leaks. We did cover her with an RV cover in the winter and have gone without. Honestly, for that, I do not know which was best. Thanks for reading and commenting! Have a Happy Fall! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Hi Nicole, thanks for your reply…I know, crazy question! Designs change over time and get better.
Oh, and Maizy was what my grandmother called me when I was little…just a nod to her memory. Hope you’re having a lovely fall…time for bonfires and s’mores! Mary
Hi Mary, actually, it was a very good question! Love the nickname! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Hi Nicole.
I really enjoy your posts. You find such fun things to do. I love that you fry things in coconut oil. We use it all the time! So healthy! I watched as that crazy storm came up your way. We are used to those storms coming in the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, today, Hurricane Nicholas came on shore in Texas. It was headed right towards us in Spring, but veered away. We had such nice fall weather here today. Cool and breezy!!!
Thanks again for sharing with all of us.
Hi Nicole.
Always love your posts. You find so many fun things to do. Also, I love that you fry things in coconut oil. We use it all the time. So healthy.
I watched as that crazy storm came your way. Living 75 miles from Galveston in Spring, Texas, we see a lot of those storms in the Gulf. In fact, today, Hurricane Nicholas came ashore a little further down the coast. It was headed right towards us, but changed directions a couple of times. We actually got to enjoy a fall-like day with cooler temps and lots of breezes. A taste of my favorite season! Thanks for you posts. I look so forward to them.
Hi Jackie, thank you! I am glad that you did not have Hurricane Nicholas hit head-on! I was so worried there at first, watching it head for Texas. Also, I have family in Spring, and downtown Spring was always a favorite destination of mine! I haven’t been in so long, sadly. This week, in late September, it has been weird – Houston, Texas was actually cooler and more fall-like than we were! It was hot and humid for a few days, but today, I pulled out a sweatshirt, so fall is in the air! Thanks for reading and commenting. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
My sunmer wasnt all that bad, but mowing the grass took its toll on me. I also did more weeding than usual with all the rain we got here in Niagara Falls. If anyone knows how to get rid if wild onion, thistles, wild morning glories and ragweed please tell me. Its hard to stay ahead of
it all. . As the vinegar and baking soda doesn’t seem to solve the problem. But i been busy despite not getting much tomatoes or zuchini squash this year. The rain killed the plants thats how much rain we got. Hopefully nexts years garden will be better.
Hi Susan, I hear ya! The weeds were especially hard this year, and I am still pulling, pulling, pulling. Let me research and I will see if I can get you an answer on your question on the specific weeds. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole