Finally! After a freezing winter, the Northeast is thawing out and greening up. There are signs of life! Our kids were treated to a nice week-long spring break from school. (With so many snow days, we thought that might not happen). When Mother Nature finally gives us a break, it’s amazing how quickly things go from “drab” to “fab” in the East!
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”.
Hi Nicole,
Sooo glad that it is spring time for you now! I love that tick twister – I’m going to have to look for that here. It looks like a nifty tool.
I’ve only ever been to Niagara Falls in New York and I know that doesn’t really count – I’d love to see some of that state. As well as all of the New England states. Someday. I bet staying at your friends lake house was so enjoyable. What a gorgeous area.
– Dori, the Ranch Farmgirl –
Hi Dori, I think you should really think about a trip to New England, hint…hint…;) Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Hi Nicole, like you, I can’t wait to get to my vegetable garden! My seedlings are doing very well, but it better get warmer quickly because my bean plant is sending out tendrils to my plant stand! Yesterday morning, I saw a bluebird at one of my bird feeders! I haven’t seen one here in 18 years! I got a bluebird box and pole and will be installing it tomorrow.I hope the bluebirds nest there! Of course I’m thinking about spring cleaning, washing my woolen sweaters, opening the windows for fresh air! I love your photos especially the farm in NY. You are right most of NY is rural with lots of farms. I used to see them driving to Syracuse University. I hope they’ll always be there! Hugs, Jackie
Hi Jackie! I love that you saw a bluebird! I hope you get little babies in the box. Keep us posted. I cleaned out my sweaters yesterday and and putting the rest up for the summer, too. Good idea to wash all the woolens. Good luck with your beans- hopefully we have a nice growing season; I think we earned it, don’t you? Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
What a fun trip!! thanks for sharing. We aren’t quite that Spring’y along – only 38 here at about 9:00 a.m. and a cloudy day too. We don’t do a whole lot until after Mother’s Day – just not safe for most outside things but fun to see yours. God bless.
Hi Joan! We’ve had some chilly mornings this week, too, but next week the weather forecast is all warm! Yippee! Hang in there…Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I enjoyed your blog. I have already taken your advice and switched from plastic to Pyrex. What a difference it made.. Glass is so much better to cook, store, and clean..
Thanks! Isn’t it, though? And there’s no funny tastes or smells when food is stored in glass in the fridge. ~Nicole
Like you, I love spring, and the first thing I noticed some baby daffodils. I saw my columbines put some shoots out and some leaves, as well as my red raspberry buds on the vibe. Thought I would snip the tops off, maybe tomorrow. But today I modes the law. And I actually did that in one hour a d 30 minutes, but my time was less by 30 minutes. Then I cleaned around my hibiscus bed. Can’t wait til summer gets here to see them in bloom. I need to get some mulch tomorrow to cover the bed where the hibiscus lie. Then I will work on another bed. I did see one Hollyhock pant that/came back, but only one. I was kind a disappointed that more did not produce more. I am just ticketed out after being outside this afternoon…..but it did feel good to be outside today. Hopefully .longer tomorrow.
Loved your pictures especially if the lake.,,,we have quite a few in the stare if New York I wish I could share photos…..
Hi Susana! Yes, doesn’t it feel like a “good” tired when you come in from working on the garden after a long winter? I don’t mind the sore muscles one bit! Soon it will be full speed ahead with the gardens and planting. Enjoy! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole