GIVEAWAY: “Dancin’ in the Rain, Soil Sisters”

WINNERS SELECTED, 4/17/16
And our winners are … Michelle, Kellie Eggers, Catherine Harris, Annette, Phyllis Mogensen Kochert, Alicia Winkler, Terry Steinmetz, Denise, Becka Gagne, and Laurie Scott (see winners’ post here).

For a chance to win a free copy of Lisa Kivirist’s new book, Soil Sisters: a Toolkit for Women Farmers (we have 10 of these wonderful books to give away!), tell me something you do that makes you a farmgirl in the comments below. I’ll toss your name into a hat and draw a lucky winner sometime mid-April.

Find out more about Lisa’s book in the April/May issue of MaryJanesFarm. Launch your farm dream, soil sister!

Stay tuned for more magazine-related giveaways. If you’re not yet a subscriber to my magazine, MaryJanesFarm, subscribe here for $19.95/year.

  1. Becka Gagne says:

    I have been farming on a small scale for over twenty years and love the rituals of the seasons… The season of dreaming and imagining is coming to an end and the season of seeds is opening! Organize, sort, order and start! Trying to figure out a funding plan that will get my dream barn built over the next couple years…

  2. Phyllis Mogensen Kochert says:

    I am born & bred farm girl, e.g. my farm heritage goes back to Denmark on my dad’s side. I am oldest of 8 kids who worked the family farm in southcentral Idaho. I still live in the same county with my husband (an Indiana farm kid) and we own 97 acres of lava rock interspersed with sand & loam. Mostly I garden, in raised beds due to lava bed beneath. It is so satisfying to eat a meal that is mostly home grown, organically of course. Our load of compost from local dairies is coming soon. I love to plan my vegie garden on paper first, then use it for reference during the season. We also plant food & cover crops for wildlife (deer, pheasants, waterfowl, etc.), cooperating with Idaho Fish and Game and US Fish and Wildlife Service. Yay, farming!!

  3. Dee says:

    I moved to Napa Valley to learn about wine & farming & took all classes in Viticulture
    Who knew farming made me understand so much about mother nature’s cycles & the glorious feel of getting your hands in the dirt & getting excited to watch things Grow!

  4. Christine Erdman says:

    I am a true FarmGirl…. I live on a beef cattle farm with my husband. We have Angus beef cattle. I love gardening. I also bottle raised a premature calf that only weighed 25 lbs when born, (considering other baby calfs weigh approximately 90lbs when born). It was a lot of hard and work and sometimes heartaches when I thought she wasn’t going to make it… Thank God she did. She now will be four years old in June and had a baby bull of her own. Needless to say she is the queen of the barnyard. Her name is Summer Girl… and she will never be sold or ate! I also grow Atlantic Giant Pumpkins. That can be quite a challenge as there is so many obstacles to overcome that someone would never think of until they try it their self. This year I reached my best personal goal of 1,026.5 lbs… I am looking forward to pumpkin season starting up in April… I give my husband a hand with tagging, shots and banding, and weighing our baby calves when they are born. I also give him a hand with haying. My job is raking and putting the hay in wind rows. I truly love being a Farm Girl…

  5. Nancy Couden says:

    Small town gardener. Some years the garden produces and produces. Other years it is hard work to get it to produce. The weather can be cruel. Turning more of our flower beds to food beds. When we have had enough of the crop, just let the flowers bloom and the bees are everywhere in the fall up to the freeze that finishes the flowers. Last year some of my broccoli flowered before I got to it–and the bees were all over it. I always let my onions bloom and the birds and bees go crazy–and the onions come back every year. God takes care of his creation.

  6. Laurie Scott says:

    We live in a country suburban atmosphere. I enjoy getting my raised beds ready for planting my veggie garden. My 8 yr. old granddaughter also enjoys helping Nana with planning and planting. Watching the seeds grow in their different stages. I have been doing this for many years with my granddaughter. It’s a great learning experience for us. I also have fruit trees that bear us fruit. Love the idea that might near all our fruit and veggies are homegrown and pesticide free/organic. My children live close by and I share my harvesting with them. I live in TX. so I can plant almost year round and what I don’t share I can.

  7. amber hersh says:

    Besides doing the normal farm stuff. Tend to my garden, my animals, my place I feel more at home with the soil between my toes and the fresh country breeze in my face. I value and love the life so much it was important after going out in the world to “find myself” and travel the world to only return to my roots and start our farm and raise our kids the same way as well. Never felt so blessed to live so simple. <3

  8. Christine Long says:

    I plant a small garden 🙂

  9. Debbie Shue says:

    Just dream about farming and raising animals..hard to do while living in the big city.

  10. Bev Bass-Dunning says:

    I shovel manure everyday I call it my Glamour Work I would rather clean the barn or the chicken coop than my house😀

  11. Heather Olds says:

    I’ve been gardening/farming since I was 12 (I’m now 36 😊). I took a sod cutter to my front lawn last Fall to make room for more veggies!

  12. Annette says:

    I raised 3 kids to love the farm life. My dh died when they were teens. Because of the aftermath, I couldn’t give them much except some old buildings , and the love of a farm life. Today as young adults, all three have soil in their veins, and are actively involved in various agricultural endeavors. I cant even explain how happy i am to see my son rubbing the soil between his fingers, anothet son whose smile you cant wipe off his face, all because he gets to run a combine, or my dd who is learning so much about vegtables. I did it and I am proud of myself…..

  13. We farm on a small scale. I do my best to raise as much food as I can for my family. It brings me joy and my family is healthier! 🙂 I love learning to preserve new items every year. I am always learning!

  14. jaylyn morehouse says:

    What makes me a farmgirl: I wear my Muck boots with dresses, I long for nice days so that I can dry our clothes outside in the fresh air, my counters are frequently filled with bubbly fermentation experiments, we’re in the process of purchasing land to urban farm on, and despite having no yard temporarily.. I was determined to have a garden so we have a concrete driveway with a gigantic rolling raised bed! I cannot wait to have my chickies, goats and milk cow next year!

  15. I’m working hard to make the most of our 1/2 acre. This year my 5 year twins and I will be planting a 30′ X 30′ veggie garden (starting our seeds indoors this week!) and adding 6 chickens to our family. We have 3 maple trees so we tapped them a couple of weeks ago and are already enjoying maple syrup. We are learning together! I make soap but teaching my girls how to cook, knit and sew is pretty terrific. I love learning how to be self sufficient!

  16. Vickie says:

    I am country at heart. Been canning for 47 years, make my own soaps, lotions, and working hard at detoxing all I can. Would love to know what the best kettles are that are safe. (?), anyone done the research?

  17. I do chicken chores in my pajamas 😉

  18. Gaye says:

    Farm girl at heart. I’m in the big city have always grown something even whrn I didn’t have a yard, a porch would do. No porch a windowsill! Now I’m lucky enough to have a garden plot at a community garden and even get to visit and feed the chickens in another. It’s just peace.

  19. Emily Race says:

    I came from a family that never bothered with anything Farmgirl. I met my now husband and moved to Montana. In the last 12 years of our marriage I have learned more and more about farmgirl life. It started with chickens and a small garden. I now can all summer long to provide for our family all year long. I also crochet and repurpose to keep our bills to a minimum. I am also teaching my girls there are more ways to get food than at the store. We enjoy harvesting our garden as well as collecting berries from the forest every summer. I would love to expand our knowledge and garden to further our self sufficient life.

  20. Barbara Matthews says:

    I live on twelve acres in Kentucky, have five beautiful egg laying chickens whom I call the girls, no roosters, there is a sign on the door of their coop that reads “No Boys Allowed”. I tell my husband every chance I get that my next husband is going to let me have a tractor, that’s probably not going to happen considering I turned sixty eight today and have been married to him fifty one of those years. I love the smell of freshly turned fields, new mowed hay and the sound of the deep creek that surrounds my place running over the rocks. Everything country is me!

  21. Colleen says:

    I have been a “farmer” since I was a little girl (long ago) and was berry picking/farming with my Dad and Grandma. As an adult, I planted berry patches, from which I share with my family, friends, and neighbors.

  22. Sandy says:

    As far back as I remember, growing up in San Francisco, all I wanted was to live on a ranch. I was a horse crazy little girl. All my dreams eventually came true and although I no longer have my own horses, I still live the farm life. I’ve been gardening for many years and now at age 74, after moving to a small house, am about to build myself some raised beds so I can at least grow my own veggies. I believe you are born with this desire to love and care for the land.

  23. Deborah says:

    I raise chickens and rabbits. We have 50 acres and have had 100 goats and sheep at one time. I try to have a garden every year.

  24. Marion O'Neill says:

    I left suburbia and got some chickens!

  25. Gardening, farming, homesteading, “critters” are in your blood. Don’t believe it? Get away from it for a while. I moved from WY to Denver, CO almost 2 years ago. I have 40 acres and some “Dream Seeds” I left in WY. Feeling an incredible pull to get back to where I belong.

  26. Linette Batterman says:

    I was raised on a dairy farm, the dairy is gone, but our family still owns the land. Growing up, My mom and I had a 7 acre garden (I thought it was 5 acres, until last year when my brothers set me straight!) To this day I have always had a garden, whether it was pots on an apartment balcony or a garden spot in the corner of the lot. Now I have a combination of a raised bed (hoping for an additional one this year), ground planting and container plantings. Just today I started my onion and shallot seeds inside. I can’t wait to get started in the garden each year, half wishing it was still my “7 acre patch”, but knowing that at my age now, I probably better stick to my back yard!

  27. Michelle says:

    I love living in rural Oklahoma! My hubby and I have done so for 25+ years…while raising cattle. While some were raised for BEEF many are bred and born for show calves. I am a stay at home wife, mom and Grams to one feisty one year old Grandson! (he loves to feed cows with his Pops) Love everything that raising 100+ head of cattle brings to my life. I enjoy living the life of a “Farmgirl” and everything it has to offer!

  28. Debbie Burrows says:

    Growing up farm country girl, I sometimes took for granted the joy of it. The hard work ethics have carried me into adulthood. I love going home to my mother’s true farm, helping her with things I didn’t enjoy as much but knew had to be done as a child. I CHERISH THEM NOW. I still sew and make homemade crafts, I love canning and calling Mama for advice when I’m trying something new. I garden on a smaller scale. Love homegrown vegetables. At the moment starting to make homemade soap. I’m looking forward to retirement so I can go back to my roots and teach my grandchildren the BLESSINGS of farming. I AM KICKING MY SHOES OFF ALL DAY LONG GOING BAREFOOT WHEN EVER POSSIBLE!

  29. I have been farming for my family for over 30 years on less than 1/2 acre. We raise most of our own vegetables and herbs which in turn are canned, pickled and dehydrated for enjoyment all year long.

    One of my twin daughters is going to carry on the tradition now in Sandpoint, Idaho. She plans to homestead with her boyfriend.

    I compost, have a triple decker worm bin in our basement and do not use ANY chemicals for our yard, trees or garden.

  30. Pamela Hornbacher-Retzler says:

    I grew up on a farm, I learned so much about gardening and my Mom’s deep love for the flowers she planted at the edge of her garden every year! I do the same in memory of her!

  31. Connie Hawkins says:

    Every year we expand our farm family. This year we will be adding 5 turkeys to the barnyard. I spent the winter reading up on the breed and how to raise them properly.

  32. Rachael says:

    I’m a small town country girl. I plant a large vegetable garden every year that I plan during the winter months and when summer comes that’s where I spend most of my free time. I also raise chickens as a hobby.

  33. Jodi says:

    I was born and raised a farmgirl in Oregon and Montana. I didn’t appreciate it and left for the city at 18. After many years of other adventures I am now anchored in Hawaii as my husband and I wait for a weather window to sail back to my roots and dig our fingers into the soil again. Thank you for your magazine which has inspired much dreaming of our land based adventures to come!

  34. Mackenzie says:

    I was born a farm girl on my parents 120 acre ranch in Missouri . . . and then I grew up to integrate farming into my life with my little 2 acre hobby homestead. I have a breed conservancy project going with my meat rabbits, and I also raise chickens and dairy goats. I love being a farm girl!

  35. Rhonda Bowdy says:

    I live in a mobile home park in Florida. Wish I had land. My extent of farming is gardening in raised beds and containers.

  36. Kristen says:

    I have been blessed to purchase a little piece of heaven to start building my farm/homestead. I am very excited to learn as much as I can about creating this wonderful sanctuary. There is a lot to learn & I think this book would be perfect in helping me achieve my goals.

  37. Charity Shindle says:

    Wonderful !

  38. Charity Shindle says:

    I am taking canning classes…I come from city folk. Learning all I can and hunting property to start a farm. Currently, I am sans one pantry and one bathroom that have been converted into my apartment farm😀

  39. Carol Frenette says:

    I live on a farm and have chickens and cows a long with barn cats galore. I love the magazine and read it everyday after I collect the eggs from the chickens for the day. It would mean a lot to get this book.

  40. Anne M Rowe says:

    I live on a small acreage in what I fondly call “the wilds of Kansas.” My big experiment this year is planting a straw bale garden. Hope to get it started about April 1. Loving and appreciating the “farm” now more than I ever did as a kid!

  41. Cheryl OMara says:

    I grow a small garden every year. I always start my plants from seed and have plenty of “orphans” to give away! This year my husband and I are remodeling his family farmhouse and moving there. I can’t wait to have more space again to have chickens and ducks. I am also toying with the idea or starting a lavender farm!

  42. kellie Eggers says:

    Most of the things I do that make me a farm girl make many people think I’m crazy! Longing for ducklings for my young girls on Easter, I arranged for a good friend to take them after 2 days and she had a lovely property with a pond. We were in an apartment and actually let them in the bathtub briefly. I plant absolutely anywhere I can tuck anything. I have a yearning to sew all of my own clothes and just want everything to be handmade which oddly not enough people can relate to. Kellie Eggers

  43. Cindy Angel says:

    We have a huge garden that has been in the family since 1972.We do a lot of canning for our family and friends. It feels so good to give these gifts! We start all our seedlings in doors and my husband is currently building a greenhouse to extend our planting season!

  44. Terry Steinmetz says:

    I love to pick my veggies and flowers in my pajamas all summer. I would love to read what other things that others do, just for the fun of it.

  45. Thank you so much for the chance to win this extraordinary book, I am so excited and Praying I win!

    My “farmgirl” life began early as a child when my father got me a calf! What an experience I had with her raising her! The farm gave me a relationship with my father that I will hold close to my heart forever and ever! I now have 16 chickens 7 of them are baby Marans! I love to blog about this amazing life I have on my piece of heaven, #harrisfarms”. Two years ago my life took a huge turn i was diagnosed with MS, I went from “corporate climbing” back to my roots of “farmgirl”! I am thankful for this turn in my life because I see the world now! I am excited to hopefully add goats and a cow to our little adventure one day! Please feel free to visit my little blog and again thank you for this opportunity, I hope I win!
    https://m.facebook.com/HarrisFarmsNC
    Sincerely,
    Catherine

  46. Christina says:

    I am a farmgirl:) I love to work in my garden come spring, as well as plant whatever plants I can get my hands on. Going barefoot is something I’ve always done as well. 😉

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