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.”
Column contents © Mary Murray. All rights reserved.
Farmgirl
is a condition
of the heart.
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!
Column contents © Alexandra Wilson. All rights reserved.
Libbie Zenger
Previous Rural Farmgirl,
June 2010 – Jan 2012
Libbie’s a small town farmgirl who lives in the high-desert Sevier Valley of Central Utah on a 140-year-old farm with her husband and two darling little farmboys—as well as 30 ewes; 60 new little lambs; a handful of rams; a lovely milk cow, Evelynn; an old horse, Doc; two dogs; a bunch o’ chickens; and two kitties.
René Groom
Previous Rural Farmgirl,
April 2009 – May 2010
René lives in Washington state’s wine country. She grew up in the dry-land wheat fields of E. Washington, where learning to drive the family truck and tractors, and “snipe hunting,” were rites of passage. She has dirt under her nails and in her veins. In true farmgirl fashion, there is no place on Earth she would rather be than on the farm.
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Good Morning from Noel Missouri,
We homeschooled for 8 yrs, our kids grew up in the mountains of Montana with goats, pets, a huge garden, and lots of fun with homeschooling.
Our daughter graduated at 15, and because of her high score on her GED, she got a scholarship to go to any college for 4 yrs. Our son owns his own business in Tulsa.
Yes, we stayed in pj’s half the morning, we took days off to play in the snow or go to the "big city" of Missoua for a day out. We also got the kids up at 3 a.m. to sit out in the yard to watch the glow of northern lights for hours,
and then slept in the next day!
They also were able to do many things their friends couldnt, like participate in activities in the local rest home and learn from many hands on projects
public school didnt offer.
We did join our local home schooling group that had regular activities for the kids, I would encourage everyone to do that or start your own group.
It was a great experience for all of us, with no regrets!
Happy Homeschooling to all! Diana in the Ozarks
Howdy Diana! Such great experiences for your kids and memories for you all! Love it!
Thanks for sharing! xo Deb
No halo here either, Deb…lol…next year I will start my 20th year of homeschooling. What? How on earth did that happen? We sure have a lot in common regarding our homeschooling approach. My two adult children are thriving in this crazy world and my almost 11 year old is enjoying the reward of Mom learning her mistakes on the first two..ha! My son is in college….transcripts are easy to type up. Entrance in to college was easy. He took care of it on his own with the exception of the transcript I typed up from a form I found online. I might add that he is paying for his 4 years of college himself from money he has saved working since a young age in the field of ophthalmology because his homeschooling schedule freedom allowed it. After working since age 18 full time with full benefits at a clinic, he realizes he wants to make a career as an Optometrist with the encouragement of the doctors and company he works for. My adult daughter is a musician and fiddle teacher with a band of her own and fiddles for another band. Her brother is also her guitar player and best friend. They have traveled together since they were teens. They would save money, plan a trip to New York City or Hawaii, etc. and head off together. After a few trips on their own, this Okie mom quit worrying and was thrilled they can feel confident at a young age to travel and what an education it was for them. Homeschooling is a lifestyle. Learning is always happening and more times than not it isn’t while doing "book work". I never tell anyone to homeschool, I just tell them that it works for our family with no regrets…..Raynita
So true Raynita,
Your comment will quiet some doubts for a newbie homeschooler for sure! It just takes time and a lot of faith to quiet those homeschooling nerves! Thanks so much for sharing your homeschooling experiences… Xo Deb
I fully support homeschooling….wish I had done it for my 3 children. Public school is tough and limited. My oldest daughter decided to homeschool her oldest daughter. She had a really bad year at public school, narrow minded, biased teachers made for a bad year in eighth grade. She lives on a farm with all the pleasures of a farmlife..(her mother is a Mary Jane Farmgirl)! She did very well, hands on learning in so many areas, whereas in public school she would be limited and discouraged to learn. So ninth grade she felt she was ready for public high school…at registration time, they immediately put her in a higher class…the reputation for homeschooled kids is amazingly higher than public school..as she has excelled, honor rolls, and a great self confidence!!! Home school is the way to go!!
Thank you Donna for sharing your daughters homeschooling story with our readers! I love the success stories! xo Deb
I homeschooled my 3 girls and would do it again in a heart beat! They now are all mommy’s, my oldest is now starting to home school her 5 year son.
My girls are well rounded, social, intelligent young women. 2 did sports through the public school, the other did music. None had any difficulty getting into the school of their choice, and they thrived!
I do have a hard time with the unschooling thing. I saw a show about it, and saw 13 years old still not able to read. One kid had the attitude that he wasn’t going to work, but just hang out. One parent said he wasn’t concerned that his daughter at her age couldn’t read, as she was just teaching herself by learning to text. Hmm??? I am sure these may be the exceptions, but it does concern me.
Regardless, homeschooling was fun, a lot of work, but so worth it! I get a little sad that I can’t buy school supplies for my girls. I reckon I could go buy a glue stick or too for my grandson! 🙂
Hi Julia! So great of you to share your homeschooling experiences with us! It’s unfortunate that unschooling ( and often homeschooling) gets the BAD press it does from time to time. But those stories get more viewers. I wish they’d feature the homeschool/unschooled kids who are doing great things more often! Thanks for your note! xo Deb
Oh yes Deb and all you other ‘homeschooling’ Moms, I commend you highly!!! I was raised in an old country school with my education/learning not stopping there. My home was with my Grandparents and a maiden Aunt – she was the best book type learner and my Grandparents did some of the other learning, between them all I too was prepared to go to the world and live, learned many skills of gardening, sewing, hand crafting in lots of ways. Yes it was/is still a bit hard to not try to help people in the world, because those learning at home and those in the public facilities just are not the same people. Don’t really want to say that ALL in public schools are not as well ‘learned’ as homeschooling BUT there sure is a huge difference in the two groups. I THINK I would like to take over my 9 yr. old grandsons education, public just doesn’t seem to be what is best for him but his parents will not agree with the homeschooling so I will say CONGRATULATIONS – GOD BLESS TO ALL YOU WHO HOMESCHOOL/UNSCHOOL/LEARNING YOUR CHILDREN. God Bless
Hi Joan! It sounds as if you have some very fond memories of your younger years living and learning together with your Grandparents and Maiden Aunt. It sure puts a fresh spin on that old phrase Live and Learn doesn’t it? Bless you for sharing your story here! xo Deb
Deb, I know how you feel about homeschooling. I happen to be a certified teacher which doesn’t make me a better teacher for homeschooling my daughter, but gave me a few "ins" on curriculums and methods. As she went thru college I took it very personally when she had any challenge but as she graduated cum laude from a larger university I was assured that the choice of schooling for her was perfect. This year she is teaching her own class in public school. Such success!
Dear Rebecca,
Such a great testimony to successful homeschooling. I met many former teachers among my fellow homeschooling community who still had the same jitters we all did, but many of them were leaders in starting co-ops and other classes for homeschoolers. Their teaching background certainly added to the over all homeschool experience at home and in the community. Congratulations on your success as a homeschool mom and on being a teacher! Thanks for sharing! xo Deb
Deb, I and my husband only homeschooled our two sons for four years altogether while allowing our oldest, our daughter, to finish out her last high school years in the Christian school where all three had once attended. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and had often wished that I had begun their educational experience with homeschooling. But I felt insignificant since I only have a high school diploma. But the Christian school became more and more expensive and we came to that point of decision: homeschool or send them to the neighborhood public school. We just couldn’t do that. We found an excellent literature-based curriculum that was originally designed for overseas missionaries and their families. We lived in Philadelphia as well which was a boon. We had family memberships at the zoo and at the Academy of Natural Sciences where our boys in turn volunteered throughout the school year (and during the day hours!) in their children’s exhibit. Our boys met Robert Ballard there and he signed their copies of his Titanic books that they owned. Olde City Philadelphia was at our fingertips, so to speak, and was very enlightening and enriching during our study of the Constitution. All in all, homeschooling bettered the lives of my boys. As I mentioned before, my only regret is that I didn’t start earlier and didn’t start with all my kids. I think it would have made a world of difference in their lives. Thank you for your encouraging article. Marge Hofknecht, Crossville, TN.
Dear Marge,
Homeschoolers are masters at taking advantage of every museum, gallery, art center, nature center, science center, farms and community based classes with in a 50 mile radius! We are by nature, seekers of new experiences and knowledge… Having a high school diploma simply means you’ve obtained a body of common knowledge and have graduated from those years of study. REAL LIFE learning happens all the time no matter your level of formal education is. I’m so happy you didn’t let that one insecurity stand in your way of following your heart to homeschool! Thank you so much for reading and sharing your family homeschool experience. xo Deb
I enjoyed your post!
I have been a homeschooler for about 16 years. I have had a couple of daughters attend high school, some attend high school part time, or attend vocational training.
I have three that have graduated, one in high school and two at home going into the 7th grade. The ones that have graduated had no problems getting into college or institution of their choice.
Overall, it has been a good experience, one that I wouldn’t change. I feel strongly that parents need to be the ones that make the decision regarding their children’s education, whatever it may be. Private, Public, Charter, or Home. The more choices we have the better 🙂
I agree whole heartedly Sandra! You said:
< I feel strongly that parents need to be the ones that make the decision regarding their children’s education, whatever it may be. Private, Public, Charter, or Home. The more choices we have the better :)>
Thanks so much for reading and for sharing your experiences with us! xo Deb