The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,346 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—9,010 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Outpost/Speak for the Trees Beginner Level Merit Badge, I got a perfectly perfect excuse to visit my bestie at the Bureau of Land Management. Sometimes, she forgets we’re besties, but I always remind her with a peppy hello (and a latte).

Being BFFs with a nature and wildlife guru is way cool, girls. I cannot recommend it highly enough, and I totally encourage you to take a latte over to your local BLM and test my theory. Sadly, Debbie was in a fish-naming meeting (very important, very hush-hush), so I left her coffee on her desk and took what I came for: a handy-dandy pamphlet on local trees.

Foliage. Saplings. Bushes. Greenery. Vegetation. Shrubs. From the itty to the Redwood, I was finally going to learn a little something about trees, and I was excited to further my Verdure Education, so to speak.

Since I’m a bit of a Visual/Kinetic Learner, I decided to combine my two requirements for this badge into one nice, long walk. See, I could have read my pamphlet at home and then go for my walk to identify the trees, but I have something of a short-term memory. Not to mention, my ADOS* can rear its head when I least expect it.

I didn’t think my process through, obviously, since I spent half the time walking into the trees I was trying to identify as I studied, but no matter. Some people are tree huggers … I’m a tree collider.

Trees I found and can now identify proudly:

• The Western White Pine (it’s my state tree, peeps!)
• The Ponderosa Pine (smells heavenly)
• Balsam Pine (deep inhale)
• Western Hemlock (a natural weather vane, as its needles and branches actually bend away from the wind)
• Lodgepole Pine (makes me dream of log cabins)

There are so many more to classify and recognize, I knew it was going to take more than one short walk (and one hazelnut latte), so I made up my mind—ouch, there’s another Balsam—to keep my BLM brochure at arm’s reach whenever I’m hiking, camping, glamping, or just plain out in nature. Bein’ one with the trees, farmgirls … I can see me now: pointing out the lesser-known varieties—like the Englemann Spruce, the Pacific Yew, or the Black Cottonwood—to my eager audience and fellow tree colliders … Yowch, my toe! Dabnabbit, that Quaking Aspen came out of nowhere!

Anyway, I earned my Beginner Level Badge, alright. I have the knowledge, the badge, and the stubbed toes to prove it. Totally worth it, gals.

*Attention Deficit – Oh, Shiny!

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Winnie Nielsen!!!

Winnie Nielsen (Red Tractor Girl, #3109) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning a Beginner Level Farmgirl Sisterhood Merit Badge!

“1. Since I am the one who drafted the requirements for the Jubilee badge [Winnie’s our Farmgirl Sister of the Year], I had already done some research for all of the main topics. In order to do the badge, I created a few other requirements to do. First of all, a Jubilee can be a 50th year celebration and a season of celebration. In my life, I remember celebrating both my grandparents’ and my parents’ 50th wedding anniversaries. They were wonderful celebrations with family and full of old stories, laughter, and happiness.

2. The Queen of England’s Jubilee marking her 60th year of reign was a national celebration for England. The BBC reported that 3,000 miles of Union Jack bunting had been produced, and cities across the nation were dressing their streets up for the occasion. At the event, there were parades with the Queen, radio and TV broadcasts, and people everywhere waving the Union Jack and celebrating. Who doesn’t just love a good reason to be joyful and have a party? Although there are those who feel the monarchy is outdated, many still love the Queen, and they properly joined in all of the festivities in their own towns. Of course, there were many trinkets, mugs, and other memorabilia sold for a bit of remembrance of the grand event. Small towns also held their own local celebrations for everyone to join in. The Jubilee was indeed enjoyed by many!

3. MaryJane wrote on her daily journal about a book, The Jubilee Trail, by Gwen Bristol. Because of the title, I immediately wanted to read it and include it in my badge requirements. Come to find out in the first part that the Jubilee Trail was the way people got to the West Coast and Los Angeles from Independence, Missouri. The story is set in 1844, when the United States ended to the west with Missouri. A young bride from New York City falls in love and marries a young man who is a tradesman of goods from the East Coast to the West. In order to get the goods there, large wagontrains had to cross Mexican land that was rugged and hostile. There were unfriendly Native Americans, long stretches of no water, brutal sun, and rocky and difficult trails.

The bride, Garnet, leaves the comforts of her life for the thrill of the unknown and the thought of adventure. On her journey to Los Angeles, she is befriended by a New York showgirl and a few of the wagon-trail men. The trip was dangerous, and she almost lost her life. Upon arriving out West, she was confronted with her husband’s brother, who was furious at their marriage. Events happened that resulted in Garnet’s husband’s death, but she was saved and helped by two of the men from the wagon trail. She ends up falling in love with one of those men and eventually marries him. They leave Los Angeles with her baby son for San Francisco, where gold has been found just laying around on the ground and in the rocks.

The story of the Jubilee Trail did not mean a celebration of 50 years of something. It represented a celebration of survival to a land where all new beginnings could happen. Nobody knew you and you could start over. Surviving the journey was like a badge of honor, and it signified fortitude and true grit.

Reading this book reminded me of our MJF Jubilee celebration. The many farmgirls who join have found a “new path” to journey on. With much to learn and risks to take, each one of us have reached out to something new and unknown. First farms have been purchased, first gardens grown, first off-the-grid experiences have been chosen, and many new skills have been acquired while enriching our family lives and communities. A Jubilee celebration can also be about meeting personal goals and challenges!

4. I decided to celebrate our Jubilee on the MJF Chatroom with two giveaways, using skills I learned while doing some badges. The first giveaway is an embroidered dishtowel with the Farmgirl at Heart logo. This is the same pattern that I have been making for all of the FGOTM Sisters. Each month, I send them a handwritten note, the dishtowel with their Farmgirl number on it, and a few postcards from MaryJane’s store. Being chosen by your friends as FGOTM is a beautiful and happy event. As FSOTY, I wanted to gift each person something that I learned by also being a fellow Farmgirl traveler.

The second giveaway is a pair of knitted socks using a few of the colors of the logo. This giveaway will also include a handwritten note and postcards. I hope the winner enjoys wearing them!! Since they are a blend of Merion and cashmere wools, they will be soft and warm anytime it is cold and damp.

I think working on this badge was great fun. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Jubilee Trail and working on my two giveaways. Now, I am looking forward to our celebration in May!”

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,346 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—9,010 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Patty Byrd!!!

Patty Byrd (thebyrdhaus, #1840) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Level Horse Dreams Merit Badge!

“I have always loved horses. I was raised on a farm, and when I was a child, our family was very interested in horses. We all were involved in a saddle club and showed horses. Our family had a horse (Princess) that would come up to the barnyard fence, and at 3 and 4 yrs old, my sis and I would crawl over the fence onto her back. She would pace around and around the fence with us on her, until we grew tired. We lived in a very small farming community. I was about 13 years old when I went to our local bank and asked the banker for a loan to buy a horse. I paid $375 for a Tennessee Walker and a saddle.

Little banks back in the day did not require corporate decisions to grant loans, though I am sure the banker had an OK from my parents. He gave me the loan and I paid it back, $50 a month, with babysitting money. I had “Fireball” until he had to be buried. I was married with children at this point. My favorite breed is a Tennessee Walker. They have such a beautiful gait. They are a smooth ride, the Cadillac of horses. My family is still very much involved in horses and typically have Quarter Horses. I get to “meet” them up close and personal often.

I venture to the All-American Quarter Horse Congress each fall here in Columbus. Horses are in my blood. I love the smell of a horse. The photo I have attached is one of my dad and his horse, “Buck.” I love this photo of my 75-year-old father.”

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,269 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,908 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Each Other/Farmgirl Jubilee Beginning Level Merit Badge, I brewed myself a cuppa, baked a few current scones (with clotted cream, guv’nr), kept me eyes peeled for a sighting of the Tardis (my childhood dream of being Doctor Who’s new companion has never died), and read all about HM Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee of 2012.

What a bash. It was positively smashing and brilliant. (Crikey, I love British idioms. Wait. Crikey is more Down Under, isn’t it? Well, that’s a bit barmy of me, but no matter.) The British know how to do a jubilee, I tell you what. The peasants (do we still call them that?) camped out in the rain to be a part of this celebration, so you know it was a party worth going to. Like Woodstock, only way more posh. A party 60 years in the making, in fact. Cheeky!

Photo by Richard Symonds via Wikimedia Commons

Lest you think this all a bunch of codswallop or that I’m off my trolley, check it out here.

Just reading about it has me knackered, but I was determined to earn this badge. It turns out that a jubilee is a basically an anniversary celebration of … well, just about anything. Want to commemorate the first anniversary of your first Badge? Have a jubilee! Feel like marking the fifth birthday of hosting your very own grownup dinner party? It’s jubilee time!

Photo, Tsuchiura Fireworks Display by peaceful-jp-scenery via Flickr

For me, the hard part wasn’t planning a party. I mean, come on, luv, I’m the princess of parties. I have the cocktail dress to prove it (a becoming little black chiffon with a flounce to die for). The hard part was deciding what to celebrate. There’s just so much good in this farmgirl’s life …

Then I had it. I could host another Organic Dinner Party for my friends and family, and incorporate some of the other farmgirl elements: a reusable bag swap perhaps, or an evening of candlemaking (right after our course of bangers and mash … or maybe bubbles and squeak … hold the blood pudding)?

Of course, my jubilee didn’t need to be British … but I was kind of hooked. Line and sinker. Which reminds me of fish and chips. Luvvly jubbly, gals.

I got to work planning my jubilee and even included an invite for the Doctor.

Doctor Who?

Just wish I knew where to mail it.

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Jill Schrader!!!

Jill Schrader (OneCountryChick, #6177) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning an Intermediate & Expert Level Entrepreneurial Spirit Merit Badge!

“Well, I was finally on my way. I had mapped out a business plan, researched suppliers, pricing, and a business name. I was now Country Kitchen Linens! Now I had to become that business. So I applied for a business name through the state, got a Seller’s Permit, and got all the legal ins and out taken care of. Next, I set up an online account to sell my kitchen linens through Etsy. Then, finally, came the fun part. Shopping for supplies and fabrics and making a few products so I could take photos for my listings. Once I had a few sets created, I put them on my shop site. Now, the excitement and butterflies really began. I was officially open for business!

My goal was to open the first part of November to take advantage of Christmas sales. I opened November 1. I continued making new items and selecting prints I thought other farm sisters would enjoy and could relate to. The orders started trickling in. I contacted MJF and was selected to be part of Project F.A.R.M. giveaway for January! That gave me some more exposure and fun items for other sisters to purchase for others on their Christmas list. Thank you, MJF, for that opportunity!

For my Expert badge, My Country Kitchen Linens shop is now officially open for business! My web page was built, business cards/labels were created, and orders started to come in. It was a busy time, as the Christmas season was just starting as well. Baking and shopping were in full swing, and as a seamstress, I love making clothes for the little grandkids as well as creating new listings for the shop that needed to be expanded. The more trips to the fabric store, the more prints I saw that I just had to add to my shop. Oh, the fun I was having!!

Getting my name out there was the hardest thing. Without an actual “brick and mortar” building that people can see, an online store is a bit trickier, but at the same time, you can set up shop all over the world on one site. I continue to expand my listings, grow my business and get the word out. I am so grateful to MJF for promoting my shop and welcoming me into the “sisterhood”! I love seeing what others are making and hope to purchase some of their wares in the near future as we support each other and our country way of life.”

Have you been over to our Farmgirl Connection chatroom lately? It’s chock full of farmgirls sharing their expertise in all things farmgirl. Many of us spend a considerable amount of time every day chatting via our computers, so we’ve decided it’s good to put our electronics aside now and then. How? We’re mailing mail art. Real art mailed through the post office. Real art that shows up in our actual mailboxes.

This is just a sampling of the awesome art our Mail Art Coordinator (and mail artist extraordinaire), Kristi, has been receiving.

But don’t feel daunted by what’s been done—anything that gets your hands moving and your creative juices flowing is welcome, and we’d love to have you join us!

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Erin McBride!!!

Erin McBride (#3762) has received a certificate of achievement in Civic Heritage for earning a Beginner Level Civic Heritage Merit Badge!

“My family went to Fishers, Indiana (just outside of Indianapolis) to visit Conner Prairie. Conner Prairie is a living history museum made up of several historic areas including 1836 Prairietown, 1863 Civil War Journey, Lenape Indian Camp, William Conner Homestead, and 1859 Balloon Voyage. They also have a Nature Walk, Animal Encounters, Craft stations, and much more.

I went with my husband and our three children, and we all loved it. We were there most of the day and by the end the kids were a little tired, but overall they liked it a lot. They especially enjoyed the animal encounters. They had a barn set up there with cows, sheep, goats, and chickens. There were animals everywhere just walking right around you. That was definitely the most interactive experience with farm animals that I’d ever had, and the kids just loved it.”