WINNERS SELECTED, 4/17/16
And our winners are … Michelle, Kellie Eggers, Catherine Harris, Annette, Phyllis Mogensen Kochert, Alicia Winkler, Terry Steinmetz, Denise, Becka Gagne, and Laurie Scott (see winners’ post here).
For a chance to win a free copy of Lisa Kivirist’s new book, Soil Sisters: a Toolkit for Women Farmers (we have 10 of these wonderful books to give away!), tell me something you do that makes you a farmgirl in the comments below. I’ll toss your name into a hat and draw a lucky winner sometime mid-April.
Find out more about Lisa’s book in the April/May issue of MaryJanesFarm. Launch your farm dream, soil sister!
Stay tuned for more magazine-related giveaways. If you’re not yet a subscriber to my magazine, MaryJanesFarm, subscribe here for $19.95/year.
Although I don’t live on a farm, my dad was raised on a farm in Sunfield Michigan and on weekends I and my siblings would spend weekends on that same farm. I have fantastic memories from those many visits. We had the run of the land, grandma would give us tractor rides and “let us drive” with him in control. Grandma made everything from scratch. I still make her famous buns. She was the best cook I have known in my life. She taught me many things including crochet. I now own 8 chickens and my husband and I call them our urban hens. We have fresh eggs and also garden. Canning, making jams and are ever working to be sustainable. My favorite way to spend a Saturday morning is by the pond with the chickens running the yard, a good cup of coffee, my knitting, and a sunny day😄
A toolkit for women farmers ~ now that’s the kind of book that belongs tucked into a girl’s bag and carried everywhere!
I like the graphics and title of this book for women. Although I have never lived on a farm or consider myself a farmer, I DO feel that I am a Farmgirl. For me, being a Farmgirl means embracing and appreciating our precious Earth and respecting how soil and nature must be in a balance to grow healthy food. Since I am not growing the food, I support organic Farmers, our Farmer’s market, and American Land Trust. I also enjoy keeping alive those home skills of canning, eating and cooking with fresh ingredients, and living more simply. Thomas Jefferson once said that being a farmer was the most important endeavor of any man. He dearly loved growing and experimenting with various plants at his beloved Monticello. All of this , of course, was in between writing the Declaration of Independence, serving as Secretary of State, being the third President, founding the University of Virginia and the Virginia Statutes of Religious Freedom which were the foundation of the US Constitution. However, Jefferson was most content when he could live , study, experiment and cultivate at Monticello.
I have had a small farm for forty years now with chickens and a VERY large veggie garden. We raise most of our own vegetables for the year and give the extras to the local soup kitchen and food bank. It’s a lot of work, but it gives me a great deal of joy as well.
I too have never been raised on a farm, but I do have family that either own a farm or have grown up on a farm. I believe what makes me a farmgirl is the way I better my family and the world, the way that I can. By growing a garden, recycling, lowering the use of electricity and water, exercising, etc. I am changing the way my family lives and providing them with a healthier and happier life. By doing these simple things I am making a difference. You don’t have to own a farm to be a farm girl, it’s a lifestyle!
I was not raised on a farm, but my grandparents owned one and I lived only 3 miles from them. I loved to go to the farm and check everything out. My grandfather taught me to drive his tractor, ride the combine & hay wagon. He shared with me how the soybeans and wheat grew, what the farm needed to sustain itself. I also love the barn and especially the pigs. Chickens and I did not get along, especially my grandmother’s prize rooster. He attacked me many times before grandma rescued me by ringing his neck when she caught him jumping on my neck! I even raised a couple of ducks. Farming to me also is about the picnics, family dinners, fresh veggies & fruits, and sitting in grandma’s favorite apple tree–when I didn’t get caught! I learned many lessons on my grandparents farm for which I truly am glad. My hubby was raised on a couple farms, too. We have 40 acres and do a garden, apple orchards, rhubarb & asparagus. And then on the back of the place is where my glamper sits and I enjoy going to each each day. Life is good! A farmgirl even if only in small ways and big dreams!
I have lived in the big city most of my life, but exposed to my husband’s family rural farm where we now live. His parents had cows, fruit trees and many vegetables. How fortunate for me to now be a farmgirl; my dream of having chickens has materialized with four little fluff balls peeping in their brooder.The spring garden was very productive, however my fall garden was washed out from excessive rain. This book “Soil Sisters” would really help this novice farmgirl. If not won it will be purchased.
My family tries to live self-sustaining! We raise our own Beef, Chicken, Pork. We grow all our own vegetables. My dad has honeybees and we also have many different apple, pear and peach trees. For many years I raised my own calfs and sold them to earn money. Although I live at home right now, I plan to do all these things when I have a home of my own. Plus more!! Hopefully that will include owning a milk cow!
My fondest memories of my entire life are of my Grandad taking me to my great grandma’s house for the summer. Corn fields, ponds, smoke houses, hay barn, well water, wood burning stoves for heat and cooking, feather beds, chickens, pigs, cattle, 1955 Oldsmobile, going into town on Saturday, drinking Fanta, hanging clothes on the line and that smell ~ oh the smells on the farm are the best. I’m a true farm girl at heart and love getting my hands in the dirt.
I grew up on a farm. A chicken farm. My dad was great at what he did raising those chickens. We never had problems with people knowing there was a chicken around because he kept the coops clean and we had many happy, healthy hens for all those years. He is 90 now and lives with us. I glean much from him about taking care of our hens and about gardening. We always had a big garden and with free fertilizer right in the hen house. 😊 I enjoy learning all I can about gardening. I feel like I am getting part of my childhood back as I was the baby of my family and I was born later in my parents life. I enjoy all the memories we are making now as well as the ones from my childhood. I have always considered myself a farmgirl.
Raising as much food as I can, and cooking everything from scratch! <3 being a farm girl!
When I was a girl I lived on a farm with my parents and 2 brothers in New York State. My grandmother had owned the land and sold it to my mother. Later on after we moved out west to Arizona, my uncle lived on the farm but didn’t pay the taxes so it was lost back to the state. I remember so many good things about our farm. I had chickens and a calf and dogs and kittens, a snow fort in the winter, woods to roam in the summer, bath-time in a metal tub with rainwater from the barrel outside our modest little house. We had a cellar with a trap door in the living room floor and stairs into the cellar where we had shelves of home grown canned foods. Simple everyday life. Nowadays I keep a flower garden, strawberry patch, and grow tomatoes and peppers in our front yard and we have a few raspberry and blackberry bushes that were given to us by a neighbor. Back yard is our dogs patch. I came across your magazine about a year ago, subscribed and read them front to back and over and over. I will renew my subscription this month. Have purchased a few things from your magazine and those who you advertise there. I hope to have chickens, but my son says no to the backyard cow. I am 71 and enjoying every minute of life.
I grew up in an urban area with small farms (in the 60’s & early 70’s). They used both horses and tractors for work in the fields. We had a small amount of acreage between my dad & uncle that I was lucky enough to have chickens, ducks, turkey & other fowl. We also had rabbits & pigs. I always knew where some of our food came from; even if I did have names for a few of them! My favorite animal of all we had were the ponies and horses. So, out of high school, I became a veterinary technician. I love taking care of any kind of animal. My dad and uncle had the green thumbs in the family, but thru the years, I have managed to grow some vegetables. I along with my husband have purchased our own 13 acres recently. I’m looking forward to having the room for some small animals, a horse or 2 and maybe a yak! My dream is to have a “home grown” business. I would like to do this in my life at this point to sustain ourselves and so my grandkids can learn the things I have learned & have yet to learn.
I am a farm girl at heart! My mom was raised on a farm and as a young girl, I loved visiting my grandparents and spending time in their garden eating ground cherries and being out in nature! Although my dad was raised a city boy, he was the one who planted a vegetable garden, raised a goat and chickens and learned all he could about being a farmer when I was a child. Now, my husband and I own a small property by a river. I grow vegetables, including corn, herbs, and fruit. I have 2 concord grapevines. I have learned how to make grape jam, can, pickle, store and preserve the harvest. I would love to be a full-fledged farm with a cow, goats, and chickens (my neighbors chickens visit me on a regular basis)! Each year I am learning more about homesteading. I even made cold frames to extend the growing season! Each year my garden gets bigger and bigger! I would love a copy of Soil Sisters!
I was raised on the farm and I believe once a farm girl ,always a farm girl. I have wanted to live on a farm for the last 45 years and 3 months ago moved to a farm. I’m waiting for the weather to warm up so I can start seeds for gardening and get set up to raise chickens. Who knows what could be next. Just feels good to breathe in that country fresh air that I have longed for. I have met Lisa and have her other books and this one looks even better.
I live on a small homestead in Southwest MS, a recently retired determined to raise Boer goats and heritage poultry. I could glean useful information from this book!
I love being in the garden, on my knees and plunging my hands deep into the soil. The growth that we enjoy in our gardens and that which is provided by Mother Nature is a lovely way to ground ourselves in the grand beauty designed by our Creator. It is not by accident that ancient life began in a garden….
we grow our own food and canning too. This is a book I would love to own and keep. I read a lot on farming for information and try to stay up to date on what other people share in farming