The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,788 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,160 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ

For this week’s Stitching and Crafting/Embroidery Intermediate Level Merit Badge, I got out my luffly collection of rainbow-hued embroidery floss (which reminds me: make a dentist appointment asap). They had been lovingly arranged, according to color and hue and alphabetically, but then I babysat Midge’s triplets.

And they were really into making friendship bracelets.

Let’s just say, they are not as OCD-ish as their Auntie Jane, and they oh-so totally rearranged my skeins. I tried to control my shudders and wails and learned to appreciate chartreuse being next to charcoal, and apricot cuddling up with turquoise.

And I gotta say, burgundy really makes ballet pink pop.

After I spent upteen hours (or at least it felt like that many) untangling my threads and tucking them back into their box where they belonged, I got out my tea towels.

Seven.

Hey, guess what? Guess what else there are seven of?

No, not deadly sins. Sheesh, you gals are jumping to morbid conclusions today! Who’d want to embroider those?

No, no, seven days in the week, of course! Ah, those childhood days of wondering if it was Tuesday or Wednesday, and recalling we could just take a quick peek at our socks or undies … nostalgia. I could really use a few pairs of those these days, as I am … getting a wee bit older. I could also use something with my friends’ and family’s birthdays printed on. Maybe a belt? Scarves with grocery reminders printed on the hem? No? Too weird? Okay, back to Days of the Week Tea Towels then.

(But if you forget your mom’s birthday due to lack of reminder clothing, don’t come fretting to me.)

First, I washed and dried my towels. Next, I found my embroidery hoop, which had been doing double duty as a picture frame. Then, I printed my designs onto my towels. You know what’s super-nifty these days, chickadees? Some printers will work on fabric. I know! It’s amazing the things you can put through a high-quality printer: brown paper bags (cute for anything you want to look extra “vintage-y”), lightweight fabric, wrapping paper … the possibilities are endless. Well, maybe not endless: I don’t recommend anything edible or anything of the feline variety, despite the fact that my cat is obsessed with snuggling with my printer. Don’t even get me started on my pup’s love affair with the vacuum. Your pets may be slightly less odd, in which case, moving right along …

My towels at the ready, I lined up the rest of my arsenal for an afternoon of embroidery: a tall glass of iced tea, several cookies (frosting free … trust me: fine needlework and buttercream don’t mix) and my favorite miniseries, Anne of Green Gables. If you’re anything like me, you watch your favorite movies or shows according to what you’re doing: sewing goes with Anne Shirley for me, just like Austen films go with painting, and Jane Eyre is perfect for baking. There’s no rhyme or reason, it just works. Try it. You’ll see.

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Rebecca Riccio!!!

Rebecca Riccio (#4932) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Level Bee Good to your Mother Earth Merit Badge!

“I asked my next door neighbor if I could use his backyard for a garden and he said yes. I planted corn, green beans (bush & pole), peas, zucchini, beets, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, lettuce, sweet peppers, and a watermelon and cantaloupe. We used organic pest control that I found a recipe online. I read the book “Montrose: Life in a Garden” and found the information helpful and interesting.

Well it was our first garden here in Florida. We did have a small harvest of some of the things that we planted and for the others none at all. It was an eye opening experience. We learned what worked and what didn’t and will address these items for our next planting season. I still have one tomato plant producing and a broccoli plant going to seed. Right now we are preparing the garden area for the next planting season.”

Yesterday’s post, “Calling All Sisters,” introduced you to our Farmgirl Sisterhood, the Merit Badge program, and the “Sister Issue” newsletter. Today, I’d like to show you how we feature Merit Badge awardees in the newsletter. (Did I mention that Sisters have earned over 8,000 Merit Badges to date??!!) If you participate in our Merit Badge program, you’ll find your own congratulations in print each month as you complete new badges. In our March newsletter, we had five pages of Merit Badge awardees and one page for badges earned by their kiddos.

If you enjoy my daily Raising Jane Journal but haven’t yet discovered my Farmgirl Sisterhood, read on …

We are Sisters — a sisterhood of, you guessed it, farmgirls. We’re country, we’re city, and every texture and stripe in between. It’s not at all about where we live, but how we live. We get together to chat online, or we form in-the-flesh Farmgirl Chapters. We love to share stories, to craft, to garden, and to nurture the next generation of Farmerettes and Young Cultivators.  (“Sister” is an endearing term for adult women that I grew up hearing every day. If you’ve read my books, you’ll know what the Sister thing is all about.)

Did you know you can get exclusive farmgirl privileges and specials when you join the Farmgirl Sisterhood? When you add your name to the Farmgirl Sisterhood list, you will receive a consecutive number according to when you signed up (for example, Farmgirl Sisterhood Member #750). We’re now 5,800 Sisters strong! Once you’re signed up, we’ll mail your official Farmgirl Sisterhood badge depicting an adorable aproned hen, our official logo, ready to wear or embroider, and an official Farmgirl Sisterhood certificate. We also offer for purchase a Sisterhood necklace customized with your unique number. Over on the Farmgirl Connection chatroom, you’ll get a special hexagonal Farmgirl Sisterhood designation by your name. And then every day we round up the day’s new blog posts from our Sisters in one handy place on Girl Gab so you can see who’s gabbing and who’s gushing.

In addition, you’ll start receiving our beautiful 70+ page monthly e-mail newsletter called the “Sister Issue,” an easy way to click (er, cluck) your way back to the farm in between magazine issues.

As with any nesting hen, we prefer to accomplish our work with regularity. That’s why, if you’re an official member of our Farmgirl Sisterhood, our Sister Issue will be showing up in your e-mail box on the first day of every month (well, except for January, because we head henchos take a much-needed break every December). It’s packed with articles, exclusive recipes, favorite finds, special offers, and more. With a cluck-cluck here and a click-click there, we’re here for you just when you need a sisterly cyber hug the most.

Here’s Ashley’s (my DIL) Farm Kitchen recipe from this month’s newsletter:

And here’s one of our five “favorites” pages (we love to share our finds!).

You’ll also be eligible for “Members Only” special product offers from MaryJanesFarm, and you can start earning Farmgirl Sisterhood Merit Badges right away (think Girl Scouts for grown-ups) and post photos and narratives of your projects on our website (braggin’ rights). In other words, you’ll be strutting your farmgirl skills for all the world to see! Sisters have earned over 8,000 Merit Badges to date!

Members are also the only ones permitted to mentor Farmerettes (farmgirls-in-training between the ages of 14–18) and Young Cultivators (girls and boys between the ages of 6–13) and work with them to earn their own Merit Badges. But if you’re not inclined to earn Merit Badges, there are plenty of other benefits to joining up. Whether it’s cooking, stitching, gardening, make-it-yourself projects, going green, cleaning up, or just getting together, you’ll gather with other farmgirls for lots of fun!

Ready, set, find out more!

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Teresa Julian!!!

Teresa Julian (#1348) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Level Backyard Farmer Merit Badge!

“I used to purchase farm-fresh eggs from a woman around the corner. I had always wanted my own flock, but my husband was not convinced that our suburban neighborhood would welcome them. Finally, after much debate, hubby agreed! I ordered 5 chicks from mypetchicken.com, and a few months later, we welcomed our newest additions to our family!

Buying organic feed is pricey, but at least I know that my chickens will be their healthiest … especially when they get to enjoy organic kitchen scraps too.

It’s turned out AWESOME! My fresh eggs don’t even compare to my neighbor’s … I think it has something to do with the super-freshness from nesting box straight to the pan.

And by the way, not too long ago, I caught my wonderful husband taking pictures of the chickens. I guess they won him over.

We are expecting six more this April!”

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Jacinda Jenks!!!

Jacinda Jenks (fairlady, #5732) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning an Intermediate Level Aprons Merit Badge!

“After making my half apron, I used the same apron pattern to make a full apron. This apron is also reversible, with black and yellow polka-dots on the back. I also used jumbo rick-rack for the bottom and large for pockets.

I like how bright and cheerful the apron turned out. My fellow farmgirls loved the fabric; my husband, on the other, hand prefers the half apron fabric. I love it.”

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,788 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,160 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ

For this week’s Farm Kitchen/Self-Sufficiency Intermediate Level Merit Badge, I got out my beloved collection of Mason and Bell jars. Why, you may ask?

Are you crafting, Jane?

Making a chandelier?

Organizing your buttons?

Filling them with homemade bath salts?

Giving DIY brownie mixes away to the neighbors?

Well, I could be (and I do, because let’s face it, these purty glass jars have endless possibilities), but no. I am actually—gasp!—using them for what they were intended for: canning.

I know.

Shocking.

First up: spaghetti sauce. Yum! Who doesn’t love a big bowl of noodles, covered in marinara? Gosh, you could even skip the noodles part and eat a big bowl of marinara.

Call it Italian Stew. Who’s with me, farmgirls?

Anyway, though, for my most favoritest spaghetti sauce in all the land, I called up Gramma Barbie. Her newest Chihuahua, Puddles (a name she found endearing, but which turned out to be oddly prophetic), was making a real ruckus in the background, so I hope I got it right.

Gramma B’s Sketti Sauce

• Brown 1 lb ground meat of your choice with several cloves of minced garlic and 2 T of anise or fennel seeds that have been ground in a coffee grinder.
• Add a big pinch of oregano and two big pinches of basil, and whatever leftover wine you have opened in the fridge (even sweet wines work well).
• Add 1 can each of organic diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste, plus 2 cans of water.
• Simmer, along with a nice big beef bone if you have one (if not, add a couple teaspoons of brown sugar for some sweetness and depth).
• Taste and adjust seasonings. Can according to your canning equipment’s instructions.

My fingers licked and my tummy happy (hey, somebody had to lick the bowl), I moved right along to my next feat of gastronomical genius. (Don’t you enjoy my humility? I know I do.)

Pickled Jalapeños

• 8 jalapeños, sliced (For spicy, leave the seeds; for very mild, remove them. I suggest gloves. Little life lesson from moi to you.)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced paper thin
• 3/4 cup rice vinegar
• 3 T granulated sugar
• 2 T fresh lime juice (from 1 lime)
• 1 T fresh lemon juice (from about 1/2 lemon)
• 1/4 cup lemon-lime soda, like Hansen Blue Sky Lemon-Lime
•  In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the soy sauce, garlic, vinegar, and sugar to a gentle boil and let it bubble for a few minutes. Remove from heat. Add the citrus juices and soda and let cool until no longer piping hot, about 5 minutes.
• Pour the warm soy mixture over the jalapeños. Tightly seal the jar with the lid. Immediately refrigerate the pickled jalapeño peppers for at least 1 day and up to 2 weeks if you don’t complete the canning process, or follow the directions for canning for a longer-lasting treat.