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Hello Farmgirl Friends!!!
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I’m very (VERY) late on this blog post!! I’m not going to give you all the crazy excuses but I will tell you this one: I went out west to spend some time with my mom and I brought her home with me for the winter again this year. Which is wonderful and awesome and perfect. But it’s also thrown me way off my routine and I’ve hardly even been capable of meeting the deadlines on my calendar this month! Smile!
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”.
What a beautiful picture, you are blessed have a wonderful Christmas and a healthy New year to you and your family.
Kathy Gaughran
Hi Katherine! Thank you! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas as well.
~ Dori ~
Oh, how wonderful! Reminds me of my Grandmas (both of them) and their patchwork wonders made for family and friends. My own (now 90-years old) Mom passed on the love of sewing and quilting to my sisters and I, as well. I especially LOVE making aprons, and will make one, for anybody that shows even the most remote interest in wearing and using one. In the past couple weeks, I’ve made at least four, with more already cut out. Thank you for sharing your Mom, family, and love of fabric. Have a wonderful day, and may God’s Peace be with you.
Hi Colleen! Those patchwork wonders were the absolutely best! I hope you’ll sew along with us!
~ Dori ~
I love it!! Will follow along from beautiful Washington State!!
Hi Laurel! YAY!! Super happy you’re going to sew along with us!
~ Dori ~
How exciting! I love aprons and am always looking for new patterns, especially ones of older days. And the best benefit for me is that I can use up the many, many scrap pieces of materials I have lying around in boxes!
Hi Terry! I love aprons too… this is going to be fun and I’m excited you’re going to sew along with us!
~ Dori ~
I can’t wait to start this sewing project! It’s so great to bring back old patterns, recipes, etc.. My sisters and I just sent all our nieces and nephews projects we did in memory of our mom. When she had time, she liked to crochet, embroider dish towels, and bake. We did an embroidered dish towel, a crochet dishrag, and a copy of a recipe we found in her handwriting. They are so excited to get these packages! I’m retired now, so I’ll start finding material for the squares!
Hi Ginger! YAY!!! So excited you’ll follow along with us!
~ Dori ~
What gifts you share on all levels! Thank you for these memories and pattern!
Hi Jill! Thank you! I hope you’ll follow along on the sew-along!
~ Dori ~
Thank you Dori, I am going to work along with you
and try to make the apron. It is so pretty and looks like fun. I am not a seamstress at all but I do like to try.
And it is such a lovely photo of you and your girls with your Mama.
Enjoy your mamas visit and have fun.
Farmgirl Hugs,
De#2682
Hi Deb! YAY!!! So excited to have you sew along with us! You’ll love it! And here’s the thing… it’s not hard! If you can sew, you can do it!!
~ Dori ~
Beautiful photo Dori of you, your Mama and girls such beautiful smiles.
I love the sweet little apron and it looks like fun to make. Even though I am not a seamstress I want to try and make it.
Thank you so much for offering the sew along.
Enjoy your Mama’s visit.
Farmgirl Hugs,
Debbie
#1582
Dear Dori,
What a beautiful group of ladies! Glad to hear that your momma is with you for the holidays and through the winter. Enjoy the Christmas preparations 🙂
Tammy
Hi Tammy,
Thank you! I hope you have a lovely holiday as well!
~ Dori ~
So happy your Mom can spend the winter with you again! Merry Christmas!