I’m calling you out!!!! On a roll … call, here’s where you can read about the amazing accomplishments of Sisters who earn Merit Badges. “Hear YE!”
Winnie Nielsen says: Love that Magenta color with the green.
Michele Bilka says: What is that beautiful flower? Thanks for always bringing happiness & beauty into our lives!
Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Hope Johns!
Hope Johns (woolybunny28, #7249) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Sew Wonderful Merit Badge!
“Because I have been sewing for years, I put together a cute sewing kit for a fellow farmgirl who is just starting to sew. I used a quart-sized Mason jar and filled it with all the beginner essentials:
I made a little pincushion out of the Mason-jar lid with some pretty fabric and added a cute button on the bottom side (because why not!). To dress up the outside of the jar, I used some scrap yarn to crochet 2 granny squares to match the color of the pincushion and slipped it around the outside of the jar. Because I chose a quart-sized jar, there is plenty of room left to add more as time goes on.
My friend loved her sewing kit and plans to add to it, as she sews more and more! I had so much fun putting it together!”
Winnie Nielsen says: Hope, I just did a smilier pincushion with a pint size jar for the MJF Pincushion swap. I included some sewing needles, thimble, buttons, rickrack, lace, ribbon, and safety pins in the jar portion. Your idea of using a larger jar is a good one because you really can add a lot of sewing notions for a beginner sewer. Plus, it is nice to have it all contained in one place and you can put it wherever you are doing your work. I bet your friend will enjoy many years of use out of your gift!
The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 7,387 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—10,656 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! ~MaryJane
Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life…
For this week’s Farm Kitchen/Table Talk Beginner Level Young Cultivator Merit Badge, I gave Nora the job of setting her family’s table each night.*
This posed a couple of problems, the first being that they rarely sat down to dinner together. Between sports practices and late nights at the office and different hungry bellies, it just wasn’t happening enough to make setting a table worth it. I pictured their dining room table looking like something out of Miss Havisham’s house … great for a Halloween scene, but not so inspiring for family life.
So I took Mr. and Mrs. Nora’s Parents out back and gave them a stern talking to. They promised to rearrange their schedules to accommodate seven nights in a row of family dinner.
Nora and I got crackin’.
photo by Alexandra Constantin via Wikimedia Commons
First, we went through the kitchen, looking for little-used dishes. We figured this was a special week, so no holds barred! We got out the good stuff, that’s usually only reserved for holidays, plus some even perkier perks: things like cloth napkins (we attempted some fancy folding, but evidently we need a whole ‘nother merit badge for that), tablecloths, wine goblets for ice water, and even a nifty candlestick holder, complete with candles. Who doesn’t love a candlelit dinner, am I right? You know I am.
It turns out our little experiment was a big hit. The whole family loved the atmosphere so much that the seven days flew by and extended into nine. Nora got even more creative and began making homemade placecards and even menus. Then, she picked themes for her dining-room restaurant: barbeque night complete with a picnic style on the floor, Italian night with a checkered tablecloth and background opera music (reenacting the spaghetti scene from Lady and the Tramp was a must), and a breakfast-for-dinner night where she required everyone to dress in pajamas for their pancake supper.
After the nine nights of feasting, they must have realized how sad I was to be missing out (I think they saw me peeking through the front window) and they let me in for night #10. Too bad it was Chinese night—I was nearly impaled by a chopstick. But, no matter.
Life went back to almost normal for Nora’s family, and family dinner nights aren’t every single night anymore, but they are a minimum of two nights per week now. Hey, that’s two nights for everyone to look forward to—and two nights I don’t have to set my own table. Voila!
*Note: To earn this Young Cultivator Badge, your youngster only has to set the table one night per week for a month. Nora and I just like overachieving.
BB king says: Ah some civilization! No one sits down to eat together anymore much less with silverware, real china plates and goblets ( forsooth!) I grew up in the south and my mother was a true southern belle so all meals were actually very formal- real silver, real good china, ofcourse cloth napkins ( with silver napkin rings- but the European style -you use the big ole napkin all week unless you really made a mess of it- you had your own napkin ring too ) and last but not least real linen tablecloths. Good fine lacy ones, like the ones you saw on Downton Abbey. I kinda miss all that and I can pull it all off in a pinch if needs be. Lordy I stlll have many linens from the family, But alas ,I live alone with 3 cats and uh, not such a formal lifestyle. But I do use real china( funky vintage 50s plates ) and real crystal. Enjoy your family get togethers Nora – it will be what you remember all your life
Winnie Nielsen says: I remember learning about how to set a table in Girl Scouts when we worked on several cooking badges. At the time, it was fun making the place settings all fixed up special. One of my regular chores was setting the table every evening for dinner for the family. We had a big crowd for many years and I got a lot of practice. Right out of college, I got a waitress job at a local southern style restaurant so I got a ton of experience setting tables there! It is a good skill and when using colors and creativity, it makes a meal feel special. I am glad that the Young Cultivators are still learning these traditional home skills because they do make a difference.
Karlyne says: I recently mentioned to a friend, “Why would anyone put carpet in a dining room?!”, and he said, “Well, nobody uses it for eating in, anymore, right?” What a sad commentary! But I was able to assure him that we do sit down at the table for lots of meals – and, preferably, not over carpet.
Krista says: I am proud to say that we have family dinner every night! We even put the baby in the high chair and scoot him up to the table. Since the boys are still so young we are just fine using our not so fancy plates and plastic plates for them. One day we will break out the nice dinner plates. Until then I think I will teach the boys to set the table with our daily plates.
Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Cyrie Wilson!
Cyrie Wilson (Pixiedustdevil, #6941) has received certificates of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning a Beginner and Intermediate Level Forage for Food Merit Badge!
“I went to my local extension office and asked if they had any resources about local edible plants. Sad to say they had no idea what I was talking about. So that was a bust. So I went online and found a little information.
I know that we have salmon berries, blackberries, plum trees, apple trees, cattails plants, and Oregon Myrtle Trees (leaves are used like bay leaves). I found quite a few berries and small fruits while working on my ‘Speak for the Trees’ badge last year. I waited to submit for this badge until it was time to collect myrtle leaves.
I’ve been collecting fruit and berries since I was old enough to play outside by myself. My grandma made berry buckets (old coffee cans and string). I swear we would eat 1/4 of our pickings and ALWAYS come home covered in poison oak. Good thing I’m more wary now.”
Krista says: Congratulations Cyrie on getting both your Beginner and Intermediate Forage for Food Merit Badges. It’s sad to see how many people are unaware of their local edible plants.
Winnie Nielsen says: Wow, Cyrie, what an fun badge you decided to work on. I love it that you have a lot of experience and memories of your Grandmother doing berry picking as well. It is really fun ,when we grow older, to follow up on those experiences that we had with our grandmothers. Congratulations on all of your work to complete these two levels of your new badge.
Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Ginger Dawn Harman!
Ginger Dawn Harman (Ginger Dawn, #6451) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning an Intermediate Level Weather Merit Badge!
“April Showers Bring May Merit Badges!
On to Clouds. Now I am not talking about the computer cloud and how data is stored, but a less nerdy natural pastime. Yep. My head is in the clouds! Heck, Who doesn’t love lying in the grass looking at clouds and making up a story?
Clouds form when the invisible water vapor in the air condenses into visible water droplets or ice crystals. There is water around us all the time in the form of tiny gas particles, also known as water vapor. There are also tiny particles floating around in the air—such as salt and dust—these are called aerosols.
My favorite is the Cumulonimbus! The thunderstorm cloud! This web link has some great photos!
This week and all day tomorrow will be Nimbostratus! Yep … Rain, rain, and more rain. I am not complaining! A great day to stay indoors and read a book and maybe play a game with the family!” Continue reading
Winnie Nielsen says: Ginger , I resonate with your interest in all things weather!! There is so much to learn from just the simplest thing we all recognize;clouds. Fascinating and important to understanding what and why certain weather conditions exist at any time of day.
Krista says: Way to go Ginger on getting your Intermediate Level Weather Merit Badge! I would have to say my favorite are Nimbostratus. I love have rainy days. Looks like we will be having some Cumulus clouds today.
Diana Nelson says: Way to go Ginger Dawn!
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.
Such a happy picture! A promise of a new day!
Ohhhh, this one is pretty!
gorgeous flower
Going organic, and living a more self-sufficient lifestyle.
I was raised on the farm. Miss it dearly
beautiful fresh photograph. thank you