The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 7,200 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—10,226 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 Out There Kids/Whistle While You Work Intermediate Level Young Cultivator Merit Badge, Piper and I took our newly honed and finely tuned grass-whistling skillz to new heights.
Namely, the tippy-top of her tree, because, well, we had been threatened with bodily harm by all of our respective family members if we so much as blew another blade of grass within their hearing again.
Boy, talk about tough critics.
Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Rebecca Alvarez!!!
Rebecca Alvarez (TinyChinaCows, #7224) has received a certificate of achievement in Outpost for earning a Beginner Level Speak for the Trees Merit Badge!
“I’ve had this National Geographic Field Guide to the Trees of North America on my bookshelf for a while, so when I read the requirements for the “Speak for the Trees” badge, I snatched the book from the shelf and headed outside. I live in an apartment complex, but we have many different trees that need identifying! I identified the three required for this badge, but I’m certainly going be taking more tree-finding walks while the weather is nice!
I had lots of fun identifying our trees! The first one outside my building has peeling bark that looks like it’s been painted in watercolors and tosses these fuzzy spheres at us every year. It’s an American Sycamore, native to the Eastern U.S. (I took a photo, included below.) Another nearby tree turned out to be a Crepe Myrtle. It showers the sidewalk with flowers every year and is native to Japan and China.
Finally, it turns out that we actually have two different species of oak trees pelting us with acorns lately. One is Live Oak, native to our area and festooned with Spanish Moss. The other seems to be a Laurel Oak, which, according to my book, is a hybrid and is frequently used in Florida landscapes. On my next walk, I’m going to try to identify some of the palm trees we have around here.”
Ah, geez …
Wait, before I go on, let me throw out this disclaimer:
If you’re allergic to cuteness (or cows), cut your losses and get outta here while you still can.
Still there?
I knew you’d risk it.
You will be duly rewarded with smiles …
The video below chronicles what happened when Pennsylvania farm mom Billie Jo Decker discovered an unexpected house guest hanging out with her 5-year-old daughter, Breanna. Be sure to keep watching to the halfway point and beyond if you can stand the sweetness:
Izzy is a bit big for house visits now (she makes an appearance in this video). Hmmm … maybe Breanna needs a mini Jersey?
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.
