I’m calling you out!!!! On a roll … call, here’s where you can read about the amazing accomplishments of Sisters who earn Merit Badges. “Hear YE!”
Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …
My kitchen cupboards are a wreck.
Not on the outside, mind you. No, no, it’s the inside of those masters of disasters that leave me whimpering in the corner when I need to pull out the juicer.
Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …
This week for my Merit Badge, I’m conserving water. Sounds simple enough, right?
With me … not so much.
If there was a 12-step recovery program for H2O addicts, I’d be a member. Actually, I wouldn’t just be a member, I’d be the president. I have a need, you see: a need for cleanliness and all things water-logged. Not to mention, all things bubbly and scented.
So, I decided first to forego my …
Mary Beth Schwarz says: It sounds good! If it works for you, I will try it.
Elizabeth says: This is AWESOME! Just what I needed. I have been using my boyfriends Tresemme….ugh….and know there is a better way. I had it all down before we moved in together. Thanks for bri nging me back to my centes (get it lol ) and on to putting that shampoo and conditioner money away for a better use. Elizabeth
(From Karen in Southern California.)
Last fall, your son Brian gave me a head of heirloom garlic to plant that he said you are trying to bring back from near extinction, and I wanted to report how it is going here in Southern California. I put the head of garlic in the fridge for a few months because I do not have a yearly chill to the extent that you have in Idaho. Once the days started to get longer (daylight savings time), I planted them …
Eileen Widman says: On our first Farm Stay way back when you were brand new to farm stay, you sent me home with a few heads of a lovely hard neck garlic. I loved it but do not know which variety it was. I am now growing some very nice hard neck garlic but would like to get some of yours to grow as well. Can you put me on the list for this one when there is some available?
I remember it and have not been able to find one as nice.
MaryJane says: I’m happy to send you some Eileen. What I will have this year is MaryJane hardneck garlic. That is what I have growing in my trough gardens.
Eileen Widman says: What size are your trough gardens? I have raised bed gardens that are 4 by 8 feet and have trouble with underground creatures eating my garlic, and potatoes. Troughs would eliminate this problem. Do you drill drain holes in yours?
MaryJane says: Here are instructions for my horse trough gardens. I LOVE them. I now have my entire greenhouse in these also. If I could afford it, I’d put my entire farm in trough gardens:) No weeding to speak of, hardly any water usage, no bending over, no rabbits, no voles, no gophers. What farmgirl ingenuity can’t accomplish, right?
http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/Recipes-Patterns-Instructions/horse-trough-gardening.pdf
MJB – have I told you how much you mean to me lately? Probably not. Let me rectify! Love you.
KLE
MaryJane says: Blush.
Pardon me MaryJane, but it is “germplasm” not “-plasma”. Anyway, I am the curator of the Phaseolus Germplasm Collection and work at the WRPIS here in Pullman.
I am ALWAYS glad to hear about people who want to help with the preservation of old varieties (as well as wilds & others) of vegetables & grains.
Anyone who is interested in this matter NEVER hesitate to contact us here at WPRIS.
MaryJane says: Oh dear, I laughed out loud when I read your comment. Want a job as a proofreader? Will go and fix my blunder immediately! Thank you for your IMPORTANT work Dr. Molly! I am forever grateful.
Nancy D'Ascenzo says: I would like to begin growing my own garlic. But, I want some of YOUR really good garlic! How can I purchase a few seeds to get started?
MaryJane says: Soon seed garlic will be available on our website, maryjanesfarm.org. Stay tuned!
anne walker says: Love your trough planters. And garlic is next on my list to try… I tried the link for your instructions to set them up, but it no longer works. Do you have another updated link that works? Many thanks!
MaryJane says: I updated our instructions and put them in my new Milk Cow Kitchen book available here: http://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/Milk-Cow-Kitchen
Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …
In order to earn this Lend a Hand to Farm Families Merit Badge (helping a farm family by donating six hours of my time, either in feeding their animals or cleaning up around the farm), I first had to find a farm family. Driving around slowly through the countryside is nice and all, but at the price of gas these days, not conducive to a girl’s budget. Why, just the other day, I had to hang out the window at the pump and shout at the gas station attendant to shut it off before he spent my unborn children’s college fund. Also, driving around in slow motion staring at country houses made me feel like I was an escaped lunatic, casing the joint.
So, I switched tactics and started …
Tassels!! TASSELS! Gotta have tassels that flip with your floppy skirt as it catches the wind beneath your sails.
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.
Here, here for the peace that a well organized kitchen creates! Nobody much cares about a clean and organized kitchen EXCEPT the person who has to work in it. I’m like the Gestapo in mine!! Doing the badge would be a fun way for someone to corral the chaos and come out a winner if they needed a guide! Highly recommended! And— don’t leave your pocket contents on my kitchen table, PLEASE!!!
I’m a wash-the-dishes-as-I-go kind of gal. There isn’t a dish that escapes me when I’m in my kitchen. Dish gestaspo indeed!
I have lived most of the last 16 years in a small space so had to learn how to be organized and still get to have all the kitchen utensils and what-nots that I need. This year we moved from our 20 by 30 shop space into our new home on our property. I have a kitchen I love and space for everything. One thing I learned from the small kitchen space in my travel home and our shop space was that if I want to find it I need a system so I went to IKEA and got a bunch of little hanging racks meant for towels but I put them up all over the walls and got S hooks and hung up all my little gadgets that get scrambled up in drawers and are always a torture to find in the mix. I love to just look at the wall and find the gadget I need right in front of my face. The things I do keep in drawers have little organization bins and dividers to keep things from getting all scrambled together. Thrift stores and yard sales netted me most of these bins.
I can’t quite picture the towel racks. Send pic if you have one! Useful ideas as always, Eileen. What HAVEN’T you done?