The weather’s warming up, slowly but surely. Blooms are popping up, and trees have buds. The forsythia is yellow, birds are nesting, and the grass gets greener everyday. With all the beauty and promise, there’s also a lot of clean up after such a long, hard winter. Relatives in Texas are already harvesting some garden goodies, but for those of us in colder climates with four seasons, nature takes her time. Some days are still chilly, and real heat won’t hit us for another few months. It makes for great weather to open the flowerbeds, get the gardens going, and take moments to enjoy outside. We’ve been busy adding backyard beauty and family fun on a budget. Come see what we’ve been up to (and bring some marshmallows for toasting over the new fire pit).
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Debbie Bosworth
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.’”
Rebekah Teal
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.
Cathi Belcher
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
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.
Mary Murray
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.”
Alexandra Wilson
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!
Nicole Christensen
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”.
First, do NOT paint the milk can. Leave it as is: it’s a wonderful reminder of the past. The porch is lovely. Another thing you can do on your fire pit is put a grate over the top and do some outdoor cooking (corn on the cob wrapped in aluminum foil, veggies in foil pouches, hot dogs, burgers, etc.). If you can put a tripod over the fire pit that will hold a Dutch oven, you can have dinner cooking or bake some biscuits. Just some ideas. Enjoy!
Adrienne! I love all your ideas! We will do that…thank you for the inspiration! My husband just asked if I can help him translate an old Danish recipe he remembers from his childhood for a type of hotdog with a fast-baking bread that goes around the dog (similar to a corn dog) and cooks on a stick over an open campfire. I will have to post it once we get it translated. The fire pit we had as a child at my dad’s ranch had a grate over it. Many meals were cooked “cowboy” style…lots of fun memories! Farmgirl hugs, Nicole PS…thank you for your input on the milk can. I’ve been so undecided on what to do with it, and I do like it all “rustic”, too.
So beautifully you have decorated your porches and the fire pit is superb, such nice times you can have gathering in your well appointed sites. We had a blizzard last night so another day of not working/being outside today. We mostly wait till at least Mother’s Day, if not Memorial weekend to plant then we have until Sept. Oct. when we get our 1st frost/snow, so it is a short season for us, so seeing your area helps make the day. What great memories for Audrey and her BFF. Thanks for sharing. God Bless.
Hi Joan, thank you. Audrey and her BFF had a perfect afternoon, reminding me of when I was a kids with my friends toasting marshmallows. Your season is similar to ours. My lettuce and snow peas are planted, but everything else is waiting still. My husband just built me a new veggie garden, so I can’t wait to get out there! It’s a cold, rainy day today, but we don’t share your blizzard! Warm thoughts and wishes to you! Farmgirl hugs, Nicole
Hi Nicole,
Everything looks GREAT!!!!! Love the décor on the back porch, the new rocking chair out front and that firepit!!!!! Love it all!
Audrey looks like she is in her glory with her friend and marshmallows!
I am hoping to set up my back decks this weekend since it is supposed to FINALLY be nice!!!
Have to get all my cozy goodies out, I LOVE sitting out there after dinner and just reading and relaxing! It truly is the simple, little things in life that make it complete!
Big hugs to you my friend!
Love,
Laurie
Hi Laurie! We spend a lot of time out on the back deck, too. I also love to drink my coffee out there in the morning, listening to the birds and taking a quiet pause before the day gets hectic! I haven’t spent much time out there this week, as the cold, raw weather has returned again! Tomorrow is supposed to warm up a bit more, though. Happy porch sitting, dear farmsister! Farmgirl hugs, Nicole
Such a sweet surprise to wake up to this morn, your pictures are so gorgeous.
We too have built a rock bonfire pit in our yard, the grandkids love coming here and eating dinner over the fire and Smores for desert. it is the highlight of their visit, it brings us all together every night.
I love your ideas about budget decorating, I would much rather shop at a flea mrkt than a mall in my old age!!
Your post is so cozy and comfy on this cold Ozark morning, thanks for sharing all your “bounty on a budget” ideas, they are precious!
Sending you Happiness from Noel, Mo…..Diana
Hi Diana, Thank you so much, I’m so glad you enjoyed today’s post! Farmgirl hugs, Nicole
Love the porch, Nicole! If you didn’t live so cotton-pickin’ far away I’d come over and sit a spell and chat with you on your porch! We have a deck (no roof) on the east side of our house which we love for mornings until the sun gets too intense, but we LIVE on the deck in the late afternoon/evenings in warm weather!
We’re looking forward to outdoor opportunities to come . . . still a bit chilly most of the time here.
Thanks, Nicole!
CJ
CJ, I know, wouldn’t that be fun if we lived nearby? We’d have a blast, I just know it. Ya know, I’m still hoping you will make a Glamping Trip to the East Coast one of these days! From what I have seen of your state from pictures, it looks breathtaking. Enjoy that porch of yours! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Really enjoyed the blog. Fire pits in the back yard is a fun way to bring friends and family together to socialize (beats texting any day).
I completely agree! -Nicole
Let’s face it: We’re all spending way more time at home these days, so it’s more important than ever to make our backyards welcoming and special. And in northern climates, we need to make the most of those precious few warm weather months! Any backyard can be made a little cozier with our best tips and tricks for making your space more beautiful, useful and fun. And you don’t need to spend a lot of money or hire a landscape designer to make over your backyard. With these simple ideas, you can create a restful oasis for you and your entire family (pets included).