Author Archives: maryjane

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Connie Bergstrom!!!

Connie Bergstrom (#6861) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Level Backyard Farmer Merit Badge!

“My first chicken was Burt, a Rhode Island Red rooster. I have had him for about 5 years. He has several lady friends, as we own around 50 hens and 3 roosters, including him and his son, Willie. We also have a Barred Rock rooster named Farmer who has a flock of his own Barred Rock and Cuckoo Maran hens.

We also have Orpingtons, Black Australorps, Buff Brahmas, RIR, Americanas, and New Hampshire Reds, and currently are raising up some Banties, Favorelles, Sexlink, RIR, and Orpington pullets. We feed organic cracked corn and hen scratch, occasionally free range, and they love scraps from the garden and the kitchen.

I absolutely love it. I sell our eggs; we get approximately 5-15 eggs a day when they are not on strike because of the Texas heat.”

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Nicole Epperson!!!

Nicole Epperson (#6762) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Embroidery Merit Badge!

“I checked out a couple of stitch dictionaries from my local library. I read about the history of embroidery and learned a few stitches from the books. I put together a sampler of border or outline stitches and the new stitches I learned are blanket stitch, Chinese stitch, feather stitch, double feather stitch, feathered chain stitch, and chevron stitch.

It turned out better than I had anticipated. I learned how to cross stitch when I was younger, so I had the canvas to practice nice, straight stitches for this project. It was a good project for me to start with since there was a bit of familiarity. I even reused an old frame that was collecting dust in the closet to finish it!”