First, before you click on “continue reading,” you must need prepare yourself for cuteness overload. That’s right, I said “must need” because the situation is more than just a must, or a need, it’s … a must need.
How this phrase made its way into the authorized language of the academic world has always perplexed me. But I digress …
I know Super Bowl ads have been making the rounds, but these two are a farmgirl must see. Let me preface this first one by sharing a a portion of an e-mail I received yesterday from Shery, our Ranch Farmgirl blogger.
“Six farmgirls and I planned to go on an antique hunting trip last weekend … an overnighter … 2 antique malls, 3 shops, and a BARN full of antiques that opens by appointment in the winter. Icy, snow-packed roads nixxed the plan. Arrrrgh. Coverage of our fab outing was to be my blog THIS week. Drat. Soooo, instead I’m making a recycle type of bird-feeder from an old blue-swirl enamelware pan and matching lid … and offering up instructions.”
Shery continued: “Also, I said goodbye to a dear friend in my horse-life. 24-year-old Bluebelle laid down and left this life last week. She & Dolly & I became ranchers together. We grew gray hair together. She was ‘the easiest horse on earth’ … and when it was her time to depart, she laid down and quietly left. She was never sick a day in her life and if she had anything to say about it, she would have spared us the anguish of putting her down when the time came. It appears that is exactly what happened. She always made the ride easier. She lifted each hoof on cue for the farrier before he asked for it. She dipped her head in her halter and bridle. When we moved bulls, she made certain that I never had to get off. She would reach deeply into a thicket of trees and like a land shark, she’d peel the hair of a bull’s rump until he bellered and fled. She *always”* made things easier for me. She took great care in being the ‘dude’ horse and read each rider according to their ability … or lack thereof. She even died by the gate so that it would be easy to move her for burial. How I loved her and her easy peaceful nature. I will miss Bluebelle wrapping her neck and head around me in a ‘horse hug’. She was buried in the manner in which all great horses are laid to rest: standing, facing the rising sun.”
As evidenced in the following ad, the way we feed our country is on the cusp of change. As we start to see that healthier harvests are born of nurtured land, we are seeing a new breed of farmer step up to the plow, and SHE is breathing new life into agriculture. Tip your hats to Dodge for recognizing that women are farmers too, especially since a woman now manages 1 out of every 7 farms in the U.S.
Every year about this time (mid-January’ish), I receive a newsy update from my first business bookkeeper, who lives in Australia now.
This is gonna date me. Am I ready for this kind of full disclosure?
Okay, it’s 1993, and I’ve just printed one of my first catalogs (really more of a magalog, printed at my local newspaper, Moscow’s Daily News). My bookkeeper, Mare Rosenthal, was also a neighbor. She and husband, Greg Brown, had moved here from Iowa, purchased an 80-acre farm, and then proceeded to plant hundreds and hundreds of pine trees in order to restore their farm land back to its native state and turn it into a wildlife preserve.
Now, this is really gonna date me.
Bookkeeping back then involved ledger paper (kept in a cloth-covered binder), and a pencil that sharpened.
In this grainy “vintage” photo (before digital cameras), hubby and I
Yesterday, while I was sorting through a mountain of paperwork, Kim’s car pulled up unexpectedly. Out she hopped with two baby lambs, only two days old!
Outfitted in their “house wear” uniforms, they showed up for their Sunday visit in diapers and onesies that Kim had picked up at the Goodwill for 25 cents.
Few of us can imagine what it would be like to eke out a living by canning.
I know what you’re thinking, farmgirl, but I don’t mean that kind of canning.
In metropolises like New York City, “canning” has a whole different meaning than it does down on the farm.
It’s the practice of collecting cans and recycling them for pennies a pop. Much more than an environmentally friendly hobby, canning is often the way less fortunate urbanites earn their only wage—and feed their families.
Needless to say, it’s not a career that comes with a great deal of prestige, and frequenting conventional recycling hubs has proven to be demoralizing for many canners.
While New York City hasn’t come up with a magic solution to the problem of homelessness, there is an organization in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn that makes it a little easier for the city’s marginalized community of urban scavengers to make their living from can collection.
Sure We Can is a non-profit, licensed redemption facility specifically for homeless canners. The center strives to coordinate a mutually beneficial system between the city and local environmental organizations for the collection and redemption of containers. The ultimate goal though is to facilitate recycling as a way of life.
The organization’s website says that “at its very core, Sure We Can is not just for canners. It is the canner community.”
Founded in 2007 by a team of charitable citizens, including former canner Eugene “the King of Cans” Gadsden and Sister Ana Martinez de Luco, a voluntarily homeless nun from Spain, Sure We Can opened a 12,000-square-foot redemption center with the help of a $10,000 grant from the Conrad Hilton Foundation’s Fund for Catholic Sisters.
Sister Ana Martinez de Luco told The Brooklyn Rail, “Work is a very important part of our lives. If you have something to do when you get up in the morning, it gives meaning to the day. Canning is not the type of work that makes you tired. It’s like treasure hunting. And it’s good for the environment. The three hundred or so canners who are part of Sure We Can bring in about 500,000 pieces a month. That’s 20 big truckloads of recyclables.”
Sure We Can is a place where canners can feel like a vital part of a community. Its operators emphasize dignity, offering a refuge where canners can sort their containers without persecution and redeem their recyclables for the city’s full value (six-and-a-half cents for sorted containers, and five cents for unsorted). The facility also provides clean bathrooms and communal areas where canners can relax after a hard day’s work.
Photo by Matthew Woitunski (CC-BY-3.0) via Wikimedia Commons
With flu season in full swing, here’s a yummy sorbet you should try with ingredients like:
Cayenne?
Sure—this fiery spice spurs the sinuses and warms the body. It gives the nasties a kick without overwhelming the taste buds.
Bourbon?
It’s a classic remedy for colds.
Pectin?
Pectin helps coat and lubricate the throat.
So, there you have it—a new twist on the old remedy of whiskey, honey, and lemon juice.
When I want to get really serious about flu remedies, I rely on my trusted friends at Mountain Rose Herbs for natural cold and flu prevention recipes.
I call my remedy:
Flu-Away Sorbet
2 cups fresh orange juice (I added some of the rind, finely chopped)
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup honey
1/4 t powdered ginger
One 3-oz packet liquid fruit pectin
1/8 t cayenne
2 to 4 T bourbon (or substitute organic butter rum flavor concentrate; start with 1/2 t and add more to taste)
Bring citrus juices, honey, and ginger to a quick boil. Remove from heat the minute the mixture begins to boil and add the cayenne until it dissolves. Then add the bourbon (or rum flavor) and pectin. Cool mixture, cover, and refrigerate until cold. Process mixture in an ice cream maker until it is the consistency of soft whipped cream. Pour into a storage container, press parchment paper against the surface of the sorbet to prevent ice crystals, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze until firm, then dig in whether you’re sick or not!
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.
