Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Betty Hoffman!!!
Betty Hoffman (#5589) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert Level Backyard Farmer Merit Badge!
“We have had chickens over the years. This year, we acquired Buff Orphingtons. They are in a movable pen with feed buckets for nesting areas that is moved every couple of days. This gives them more fresh grazing in addition to the laying pellets, chicken scratch, vegetable cuttings from the kitchen, and crushed eggshells that have been baked. The eggshells provide extra calcium. The nesting buckets are easy to remove and clean. My plan is to start making my own feed mix as organically as I can. I ordered dried mealworms to give them added protein during molting season.
This picture was taken during the snow we had here in Texas. A light was also kept on them for extra warmth. We had eggs most of winter this way. Having our own chickens provides us with fresh eggs that we share with our extended family. I added an ending date, but this project is ongoing with plans to raise some for our freezer.
I have had a Nubian dairy herd going on 3 years. I am currently milking 15. Before acquiring a milking machine, my husband was helping me milk them by hand. The machine really saves us time and is easier on my hands, and I can get it done by myself now. I taught my oldest granddaughter how to milk. She is 11 years old. My granddaughter has really enjoyed helping at milking time when she is here. My daughter-in-law helps out now when she can. I make soft cheese with our goat milk from our farm.
We were gifted with a grass-fed calf in exchange for feeding the livestock on a friend’s farm. We had it butchered and processed. Knowing where it came from is a great feeling in feeding our family. The meat is very tasty and good. We plan to buy now from the ranchers local to us. Knowing that this calf was humanely raised and fed naturally will make it better for us to consume. The meat turned out to be very good in texture and taste.
The pictures enclosed are the pictures of animals and scenes from our farm that will be made into note cards.”
Celebrate 30 years for Earthbound Farm Organic and win! You may know Earthbound Farm from the cartons of organic greens in your produce aisle—they’re the leading grower of organic produce in the U.S.
It’s Earthbound’s 30th anniversary, and they’re giving away 30 prizes a day for 30 days to celebrate!
In 1984, founders Drew and Myra Goodman moved to California from Manhattan and started farming a 2 1/2-acre raspberry farm organically. Before long, they became the first company to market prewashed, packaged salad, starting a salad revolution for baby greens nationwide. Their product line now includes specialty greens like kale and arugula, as well as fruits and snacks.
“Behind the salads and greens, the fruits and veggies, we’re a community of people passionate about happier, healthier living. Happier in a ‘growing closer over a meal made from ingredients closer to the Earth’ way. Healthier in a ‘synthetic chemical-free’ and ‘oh-no-what-did-I-just-eat-free’ way. And we want to share it with you. So get ready to cook delicious, learn wholesome, plan goodness, and explore wonderful.”
Earthbound has profiled four personality types of organic customers: Innovator, Champion, Nurturer, and Explorer. What “salad sign” are you? Take a simple quiz with fun questions like “Favorite dynamic duo?” with choices including “Thelma and Louise, Batman & Robin, and Mr. & Mrs. Potatohead” at EBFarmPromotions.com to find out.
Just by taking the quiz, you’ll get an exclusive coupon, a salad-in-a-jar recipe tailored to your “salad sign,” a background image of your “sign” for your computer, and be entered to win a limited-edition reusable shopping bag and other “mystery” prizes throughout September … it’s a win-win!
Here’s a farmgirl website that’s bound to dazzle your little darlins … Peppa Pig!
Peppa’s a popular British preschool animated television series, also broadcast here in the U.S. on Nickelodeon. Each episode is only 5 minutes long, tailored to tiny tots’ attention spans. The show stars Peppa, a girl pig, George, her little brother, their family, and the kids’ friends, each a different kind of animal: Suzy Sheep, Candy Cat, Danny Dog, Pedro Pony, Emily Elephant, and more.
Your little ones can now join the fun on their wildly animated website, PeppaPig.com. You’re bound to be all smiles while Peppa skips across the screen and narrates in a darling British accent peppered with oinks, drawing youngsters into activities including coloring, painting, games, and more.
Another fun pig-themed game for the whole family is Pass the Pigs. It involves little pink pigs that you roll like dice. You get different points according to the way the pigs land … and part of the fun is the named positions: two pigs standing upright are a Double Trotter, two on their backs are a Double Razorback, and the best position of all—a Double Leaning Jowler—is when both pigs rest on their snouts and their ears. Choose the Pig Party Edition, serving up more pigs, more points, and more fun.
Whatever you choose, these porcine pastimes will provide hours of pig-tastic, puerile play.
Word quiz time!
I stumbled across an old favorite poem, “Rice Pudding,” by A.A. Milne (of Winnie the Pooh fame), and the following lines inspired me to craft this, er, cantankerous little quiz:
“What is the matter with Mary Jane?
She’s crying with all her might and main,
And she won’t eat her dinner—rice pudding again—
What is the matter with Mary Jane?”
Giggle.
So, with Milne’s Mary Jane in mind, match the terms below with their meanings, listed further below. But don’t click on “read more” until you’re ready for the answers.
I’ll give you one hint: all of the words are nouns that refer to people with certain, shall we say … unsavory dispositions.
WORDS:
1. blatherskite
2. snollygoster
3. makebate
4. mumpsimus
5. kibitzer
6. mullygrubber
7. fabulist
MEANINGS:
A. a grump
B. someone who incites quarrels
C. a person given to voluble, empty talk
D. a clever, unscrupulous person
E. a liar
F. a giver of uninvited or unwanted advice, or someone who jokes, chitchats, or makes wisecracks
G. someone who holds stubbornly to a viewpoint in spite of clear evidence that it’s wrong
ANSWERS:
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.
