If you haven't already met MaryJane Butters, I'd love to introduce you to her.
I've always considered Martha Stewart to be the queen of domesticity, the kind that is refined and attuned to the urban/suburban person. MaryJane on the other hand is the queen of rural domesticity and whereas Martha will hire out, MaryJane is the farmgirl who will tackle the task herself. Both have wonderful talents and each their own style.
MaryJane has operated an organic farm for over 20 years, and gladly shares her life and her knowledge with other. She's created a group called the Farmgirls and includes everyone because she realizes that you can be living in the middle of a city and still have a farmgirl's heart. You can join a Farmgirls Chapter or create one in your area. There are chat rooms and even badges that you can earn! I don't have a chapter close to me and I'm reluctant to start one because....well, you know...that means more organizing and stuff. I;m just now getting better about biting off more than I can chew.
There's a Bed & Breakfast at the farm where you can stay in walled tents. Alot of my friends say NO WAY, but being a person that loves to sleep outdoors I'm all for it. Her walled tents are what I remember from the Girl Scouts, build on platforms and quite sturdy and roomy.
It looks positively "Out of Africa". Remember when I said my next house will have transoms and a butler's pantry? Well, it's also going to have a sleeping porch!
Read about her farm, or tour her historic flour mill.
Somewhere in the midst of operating this farm she became an editor and author. Check out her website for more information. MaryJane's Farm.
At my sister's suggestion I ordered one of her books entitled, MaryJane's Ideabook - Cookbook - Lifebook: For the Farmgirl in All of Us. I've spent many a pleasant evening reading her stories, recipes and ideas. She graciously includes some apron patterns in the sewing section. The whole book is a refreshing look into her life style and gives you ideas on how you can include them in your life. I highly recommend this book.
She has another book entitled, The Stitching Room and that's next on my list to order. I encourage you to check out her website and poke around and see what you can find.
As far as philosophy and lifestyle goes, because of my rural roots on both sides of the family I'm more attuned to MaryJane than Martha. Now I'm off to indulge my love of low-tech vintage kitchen gadgets and juice some oranges.
Please join me tomorrow when we'll take yet another trip in the Way Back Machine!
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6 comments:
And she has a cute little blog, too.
Never had heard of this gal so I am finding all of this information very interesting. I see that her "stuff" must be popular since so much of it is sold out.
She's considerably more "rustic" than Martha and that's not a bad thing. :> I loved the photo of all the Farm Girls in their aprons.
Do you have stores near you, Zanne?
The Barnes & Noble bookstore in nearby Wheaton carries her magazine, but that's all in this area.
Oh I just LOVE MaryJane and suggested a girlfriend retreat there, in the tents. They all balked! LOL So I get where you're coming from. It just looks so peaceful.
Her recipes are awesome. :)
I guess we're birds of a feather katkit, because her tents look divine. She has some nice sewing and crocheting projects in this book. Just alot of down home stuff that I remember growing up. I don't quite get her fascination with Jello molds, or in her case Chill-O, since she's developed a vegetable substitute for gelatin.
I am a MaryJane devotee! I love her books and only wish I was the knitting/crocheting type! I dream of visiting her B&B tents one day! Heaven!
PS- I am nominating you today for an award over at my blog!
I Love this post! I too relate to farmgirl (MaryJane), rather then with Martha.
The tents look wonderful and a sleeping porch would be so neat...someday. We can all dream.
Have a great day, Suzanne.
~Tonya
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