Author Archives: maryjane

Hear Ye!

Posted on August 18, 2024 by maryjane

Below are the Merit Badges that were approved today. Congratulations Sisters!

Rea Nakanishi, Lacey, 8284

Expert Outpost / Disconnect to Reconnect

Terri Reynolds, Tchr, 8042

Intermediate Cleaning Up / Leave It Better Than You Found It

Hear Ye!

Posted on August 11, 2024 by maryjane

Below is the Merit Badge that was recently approved. Congratulations Candy!

Candy Hogan, 8283, Tigger9777

Expert Each Other / Differing Abilities

Hear Ye!

Posted on August 9, 2024 by maryjane

Below are the Merit Badges that were recently approved. Congratulations Sisters!

Nancy Joplin, 8352, Nancy Joplin

Intermediate Stitching & Crafting / Pottery/Ceramics

Expert Stitching & Crafting / Pottery/Ceramics

Intermediate Garden Gate / Rootin’ Tootin

Intermediate Each Other / Lost Art of Letter Writing

Rachel Scott, 8515, raynaylor (rayscott)

Beginner Farm Kitchen / Get It Together

Intermediate Farm Kitchen / Get It Together

Expert Farm Kitchen / Get It Together

Linda Bowlby, 7595, Illinois Farmher

Intermediate Each Other / Calligraphy

Intermediate Stitching & Crafting / UFOs

Beginner Outpost / Geography

Beginner Each Other / Calligraphy

Krista Davis, 528, MaryJanesNiece

Intermediate Make It Easy / Macrame

Beginner Stitching & Crafting / Buttoned Up

Terri Reynolds, 8042, Tchr66

Beginner Cleaning Up / Leave It Better Than You Found It

Wanda Aldridge, 3677, Wanda Sue

Beginner Stitching & Crafting / UFOs

Susan Wich, 7816, sueWPA

Beginner Stitching & Crafting / Crochet

Candy Hogan, 8283, Tigger9777

Expert Outpost Disconnect to Reconnect

Shennandoah Connor, 8578, Shennandoah

Beginner Each Other / Lost Art of Letter Writing

Beginner Garden Gate / Gaining Ground

Intermediate Farm Kitchen / Canning

Intermediate Cleaning Up / Living Zero Waste

Hear ye!

Posted on July 6, 2024 by maryjane

Below are recently approved Merit Badges. Congratulations Sisters!

Jacque Felsheim, #8294, Mamasheim

Beginner Cleaning Up / Shopping Green

Beginner Farm Kitchen / Get It Together

Beginner Garden Gate / The Good, Bad, and Ugly … Bugs

Intermediate Garden Gate / The Good, Bad, and Ugly … Bugs

Beginner Stitching & Crafting / Sew Wonderful

Beginner Stitching & Crafting / Aprons

Beginner Garden Gate / Backyard Farmer

Beginner Each Other / Farmgirl Gratitude

Beginner Stitching & Crafting / Buttoned Up

Patricia Krug, #8551, patty

Beginner Garden Gate / The Secret Life of Bees

Intermediate Garden Gate / The Secret Life of Bees

Shennandoah Connor, #8578, shennandoah

Expert Garden Gate / Birds

Expert Garden Gate / Bee Good To Your Mother Earth

Intermediate Garden Gate / The Good, Bad, and Ugly … Bugs

Intermediate Garden Gate / Heirlooms Forever!

Intermediate Garden Gate / The Secret Life of Bees

Expert Garden Gate / Water Management

Beginner Garden Gate / Putting Away for Winter

Beginner Farm Kitchen / Recipes

Expert Garden Gate / The Good, Bad, and Ugly … Bugs

Intermediate Make It Easy / Grease Chicks

Beginner Each Other / Differing Abilities

Beginner Farm Kitchen / Know Your Food

Beginner Farm Kitchen / Bread Making

Beginner Farm Kitchen / Canning

Beginner Farm Kitchen / Food Allergy Awareness

Beginner Cleaning Up / Green Energy

Stacey Mitchell, #6969

Intermediate Stitching & Crafting / Aprons

Tina VanDaam, #8431, TinaTina

Intermediate Outpost / First Aid

Expert Garden Gate / The Secret Life of Bees

Hear Ye!

Posted on June 6, 2024 by maryjane

Here are Merit Badges that were recently approved.

Congratulations Sisters!

Merit Badges Approved 6/3/24 and 6/6/24

Maverin Dei, #8653, MaverinDei

Beginner Each Other / Lost Art of Letter Writing

Jennifer Chapman, #8562, JenniferAnn

Beginner Garden Gate / What’s Your Beef?

Candy Hogan, #8283, Tigger9777

Beginner Outpost / Disconnect to Reconnect

Intermediate Outpost / Disconnect to Reconnect

Linda Bowlby, #7595

Beginner Outpost / First Aid

Intermediate Outpost / First Aid

Hear Ye!

Posted on June 4, 2024 by maryjane

Here are Merit Badges that were recently approved.

Congratulations Sisters!

Merit Badges Approved 5/28/24 and 5/29/24

Cindy Kinion, #6058, AussieChick

Intermediate Make It Easy / Candlemaking

Expert Farm Kitchen / Food Allergy Awareness

Heather Neeper, #4701, nndairy

Expert Cleaning Up / Shopping Green

Beginner Farm Kitchen / Bustin’ Out

Beginner Outpost / Orienteering

Beginner Outpost / Buzzin’ Around

Intermediate Outpost / Buzzin’ Around

Expert Outpost / Buzzin’ Around

Expert Cleaning Up / Recycling

Tiffany Bowman, #8644, HistoryGirl17

Beginner Make It Easy / Relaxation

Beginner Each Other / Lost Art of Letter Writing

Lily-anne Hein, #6071, GinghamGirl

Beginner Farm Kitchen / Palate Pleasers

Intermediate Farm Kitchen / Palate Pleasers

Jessie Yonkovit, #134, JessieMae

Beginner Cleaning Up / Green Energy

Hear Ye!

Posted on May 8, 2024 by maryjane

Here are Merit Badges that were recently approved.

Congratulations Sisters!

Merit Badges Approved 4/24/24 and 5/1/24

Jill Yelland-DeMooy, #6748, jillyd

Beginner Garden Gate / Birds

Kellie Wade, #8487, kelliewade

Beginner Make It Easy / Let’s Get Physical

Intermediate Make It Easy / Let’s Get Physical

Beginner Outpost / Buzzin’ Around

Intermediate Outpost / Buzzin’ Around

Merit Badges Approved 5/7/24

Krista Davis, #528, MaryJanesNiece

Intermediate Each Other / Lost Art of Letter Writing

Expert Each Other / Lost Art of Letter Writing

Beginner Stitching & Crafting / Mosaics

Beginner Make It Easy / Macrame

Hannah Frankowski, #6994, GinnyBelle

Beginner Make It Easy / Mindfulness Meditation

Intermediate Make It Easy / Mindfulness Meditation

Expert Make It Easy / Mindfulness Meditation

Beginner Cleaning Up / Leave It Better Than You Found It

Expert Each Other / Lost Art of Letter Writing

Expert Make It Easy / Relaxation

Debbie Klann, #770, debbieklann

Beginner Farm Kitchen / Kitchen Renegade

Intermediate Farm Kitchen / Kitchen Renegade

Expert Farm Kitchen / Kitchen Renegade

Beginner Farm Kitchen / MaryJane’s Better Butter

Intermediate Farm Kitchen / MaryJane’s Better Butter

Expert Farm Kitchen / MaryJane’s Better Butter

Book Talk

Posted on April 30, 2024 by maryjane

A second sampling of snail-mail Book Talk letters I’ve received with my replies and the books they recommend for us to read.

Dear MaryJane, I love your magazines! Just wanted to let you know I have read four of Kathleen Shoop’s books as advertised in your magazine and greatly enjoyed them. Oh wait, now I remember, I think I have actually read eight of them 😊 The library here in Florida doesn’t have all of them. I’m anxiously waiting and hoping they will soon. Blessings to you! A wife and mom, Rachel Byler

Dear Rachel, Thank you for sharing with me that you have read eight of Kathleen Shoop’s books. That’s quite a few! I am delighted to hear this. I, too, love to read because it’s so incredibly calming, and it transports us to other worlds and lives. I hope your Florida library will add to its collection and you will have opportunities to read more of her books. I am so very happy to hear that you love my magazine. With love and admiration, MaryJane

Dear MaryJane, I was so happy to see the section on donating books to various groups! That is awesome. Since I have no computer to submit on-line, I am using the “old-fashioned” method. Thank you for that option. One of my favorite books, and author, is Country Chronicle, by Gladys Tabor. She writes about Stillmeadow in a Connecticut farmhouse, and all the seasons of the year while living there. It is a calming, peaceful book to read, as Gladys captured her home, land, and wildlife living there. She has a way of telling just how things are. You can almost smell the iris and picture the landscape there at Stillmeadow. I get her book every year or so from our local library, to enjoy her “story telling” of her adventures there. Hope you might get time to look it up, and perhaps be able to read her book. I really think you would like it, and her writing. There are even recipes in the book, and she also wrote cookbooks! Thank you again, Sandy Riley

Dear Sandy, you have certainly caught my attention with your description of Stillmeadow by Gladys Tabor. I love wildlife living and my irises are getting ready to bloom on my property along Iris Lane! I’m looking out the window at my prairie as I write this and think I need to curl up with a cup of tea and a copy of Country Chronicle. An apple pie baking in the oven would also sound great. Thank you for sharing and when I have some spare time I’ll try to read it. With love and admiration, MaryJane

Dear MaryJane, I have read the February-March issue of MaryJanes Farm and particularly enjoyed the article on books. I love books and love to read and have many of the selections listed in the Farmgirl Book Club. I must tell you that my library does not always purchase many of the books you list but I have managed to read several. These are books I have read during the winter here in northern Arizona (February 2024): Where the Jessamine Grows by Donna Everhart. This was well-written and researched and covered a tense period in our nation’s history. There was excellent character development, as well as a captivating story line that held my attention. It doesn’t matter where a war is fought, or for what reason, it leaves long-lasting scars and doesn’t necessarily address or solve the issues over which it was fought. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garamus. This was set in my era of high school of the 1950s and I could totally relate to the story line. I really enjoy mysteries and Survive the Night by Riley Sager fit the bill. Another of his titles, The House Across the Lake was even better. Super Cats by Ashley Morgan is all about cats and not just about their antics but also about their ability to be protectors – a good book. A Brilliant Life by Rachelle Unreich. She writes a hard to believe memoir regarding her mother’s survival of the Holocaust and death camps. Keep up the good work – I always find something new that I can use in each issue. Maybe one of these days I will make it to your farm. Sincerely, Therese Gribbins P.S. I am not on Facebook – but I do text and have an email account.

Dear Therese, I am delighted that you are sharing with me your love of books! I am also delighted to learn that you have read many of the selections listed in the Farmgirl Book Club! Thank you for sharing that you always find something new in each issue of the magazine. I love to provide new information, so this warms my heart.The daffodils are blooming on the farm. You should see them; they are abundant and lovely. Soon, the irises will be in bloom, and I can’t wait. With love and admiration, MaryJane

Joy and Smiles

Posted on April 27, 2024 by maryjane

This certainly was a fun contest. I stumped most of you though. All eight are fake lifetime bouquets!!!! I put the names of everyone who got it right in a hat and pulled out Christina Rea’s name! Christina added this comment:

All are beautiful! I just have to say that I am so grateful to have found your journal online! I lived in Potlatch, Idaho for 14 years (so I knew of your farm) but moved back “home” to Missouri in 2011, without ever having a chance to visit your farm. I just saw your magazine while standing in line at the store yesterday and had an overwhelming feeling of finding myself extremely homesick for the Palouse. Reading your articles and stories have brought me home (away from home) … even if it IS only through the Internet. I thank you.

Thank you to EVERYONE who participated. In particular, I loved the entries that showed up in my mailbox titled CONTEST. Gotta love a farmgirl.

In the June/July 2024 issue of MaryJanesFarm, “Donut Beat All” (on newsstands May 14), I sang the praises of lifetime flowers and led you here to my journal for a chance to win your very own MaryJane-created fake-flower bouquet. Just take a look at the photos of the flower bouquets below and guess “real” or “fake” for each one before September 1, 2024. I’ll toss the names of those who guess all eight correctly in a hat and pull out a winner, who will receive one of my year-round, lifetime flower-power bouquets. Flowers can be fake, but the joy and smiles they bring are real.