Raising a healthy Jane (or just being a healthy grown-up Jane) comes from good food and proper nutrition. Grab your aprons, I’m on kitchen duty with food to spare and recipes to share! When time allows, here’s where you’ll find one of my how-to-convert-to-an-organic-diet recipes.
I’m often curious what my girls think of each season. Even more so, I’ve wondered how many details they observe and notice. So, I decided to turn it into a craft project for their entire class. Buttons are always a good starting place. Stella’s kindergarten class was sure that the trees this time of year are all very pink, purple, white, and green, it being spring and all.
First, I traced their arms and hands. The students agreed the outlines make perfect tree trunks with branches for spring blossoms.
All 16 of them took a wee bit of time to cut out.
Each child’s interpretation of spring blossoms on a tree was unique. And obviously they’d noticed that some of the blossoms are set free by the wind.
Deborah McKissic says: These are so sweet! I like the button idea..my granddaughter, and grandson, love to play with my button jar and all the buttons inside. My daughter made me a similiar art piece…she traced my grandchildren’s hands onto brown paper..and then attached them to a small canvas that they painted blue and white..to look like the sky..then attached the hand prints and cut out small pieces of pink tissue paper which my grandchildren twisted to look like blossoms on a cherry tree and glued to their hand trees…I have that artwork on my desk by my computer..it reminds me of spring and is the favorite thing on my desk..and, now..another granddaughter…born last Oct., will have to add her little hand to my artwork! It is so nice that you do projects with your daughters class! I used to teach sunday school and my favorite part was the crafting!
Gail says: What a great idea! My daughter is getting her teaching credential to become an elementary school teacher and I will keep this idea for her to use. Thanks Megan, Oh, my daughter is a Meghann, too!
Rebecca Taylor says: That’s a great idea!
I help teach in the preschool room on Sunday’s often and this would be a great craft for them to try. Thank you for the idea!
Corri says: What a great idea! I will definitely be doing this with my 7 year old daughter!
Winnie Nielsen says: Pink and turquoise are quintessential Florida colors! Down south the they paint their houses those colors. So dreamy and pretty with big palm trees swaying and bright sunshine.
MaryJane says: Oh, I would love to see that. What a great image to start my day.
We had a great time on our recent trip to Manhattan, and people always ask where we ate (mostly because there are a million fabulous choices). We do have one place we always visit … every year.
Mia was just 1 and Stella just 3 when they peeked their heads over the polka-dot booth for a mirror pic with our friend Ashley on their first visit.
Last year, the girls and I even had the same booth for lunch!
This year, the whole family enjoyed lunch together.
I do love a good burger and fries, but usually prefer to serve up the cows we raise. You know you might be from Idaho when your kids refer to beef as cow at the dinner table. The cows at Brgr have enjoyed a good, grass-fed life too! Yay for restaurants taking steps to improve our food. We are proud to support them, and their burgers are delicious. Gotta love any restaurant with slogans like “Cows were designed to graze on grass …” and …
Winnie Nielsen says: Love those smiles in the booth!! Yes, finally we are able to get beef that has been raised on grass AND treated humanely. It has taken such a long time to get here and there is much more progress to make. However, I give credit to the new breed of farmers in the past 20 years who have ignored the nay sayers and pushed fresh, organic, and sustainable farming forward! We owe them a debt of gratitude!
Yes, I am fortunate to be able to buy local nearly organic ( not certified but really organically raised) grass fed beef here in Lancaster County PA. A 4th generation family farm that has its own meat market as well. The bad news is that it is about 40 minutes away. And the really bad part is the meat market is only open when they have butchered, so it is catch as catch can. Wish more restaurants in our area served this kind of beef.
Winnie Nielsen says: Just in time for Easter! Daffodils bring so many wonderful memories of Spring and my childhood home. They make any table cheerful and welcoming.
You know the saying … You can take the girls out of the farm, but you can’t take the farm out of the girls. Or something like that, right? It’s so true, but it’s always good to venture out and double check. Besides, coming back home can feel so good.
We were pretty excited for our adventure. The teddy bears might have felt otherwise, but they were good sports.
It was a windy day, but the pilots got us safely out of Idaho and on our way to the big city.
We checked into our hotel with a midnight snack, then off to dream about our first day in the city.
Good morning, Manhattan!
Look out city, here we come (in our farm boots, of course).
We loved the Museum of Natural History, and after an entire day wandering the halls, we still have a list of things to do for next time. I love it when my girls voluntarily hold hands.
Rockefeller Center is awesome, especially on a windy day with all the world flags flapping above. And of course, having just learned to ice skate back home, the girls had fun watching the Zamboni do its thing.
We could have spent the entire week in Central Park. But alas, it was time to pack up and head home.
Good night, Manhattan. Until next time … tomorrow to be exact, when I share why we were in NYC plus a Big Moment GIVEAWAY!
Winnie Nielsen says: This reminds me of a very close up of blooming broccoli, but I am sure it must be something else. It does not look familiar to me.
Winnie Nielsen says: Beautiful rich color! What is it? The ability of a camera to capture these details is amazing!
MaryJane says: Commonly known as hellebores, members of the genus Helleborus comprise approximately 20 species of herbaceous or evergreen perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, within which it gave its name to the tribe of Helleboreae. Many species are poisonous. Despite names such as “Christmas rose” and “Lenten rose”, hellebores are not closely related to the rose family (Rosaceae).
The genus is native to much of Europe, from western Great Britain, Spain and Portugal, eastward across the Mediterranean region and central Europe into Romania and Ukraine, and along the north coast of Turkey into the Caucasus. The greatest concentration of species occurs in the Balkans. One atypical species (H. thibetanus) comes from western China; another atypical species (H. vesicarius) inhabits a small area on the border between Turkey and Syria.
The flowers have five “petals” (actually sepals) surrounding a ring of small, cup-like nectaries (petals modified to hold nectar). The sepals do not fall as petals would, but remain on the plant, sometimes for many months. Recent research in Spain suggests that the persistence of the sepals contributes to the development of the seeds.
Over the years I’ve cultivated about 40 of these plants. Right now they’re starting to bloom–I’m madly in love with their subtle beauty.
Absolutely love hellobores ! Their strange coloration and early blooming make them so special in the early spring garden. There is one garden nearby in a trailer park that has the most beauitful ones I have ever seen. Congrats to you MJ for realizing their oh so subtle beauty.
Winnie Nielsen says: We are harvesting our new red skin potatoes now in Florida. They are delicious and a treat this time of year.
MaryJane says: Yummers, wish I could harvest new red spuds today.
MaryJane says: This is my favorite variety for disease, keeping, all of it, Desiree.
Gwendolyn Lebahn says: I’m thankful for the photos of this recipe, simply because you did not say if the spuds were peeled, whole, cooked & then smashed … see what i mean ??? And, judging from the pictures, it’s a simple process !!! Thank you so much !!!
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
Love this photo. That handle looks just like one I have that is separated from it’s “fork”. I’ve been told it’s for harvesting potatoes. I have all the pieces but the fork won’t stay in the handle.
CJ