MaryJane Butters ending "Everyday Organic"

Moscow-Pullman Daily News, July 15, 2011

After three years and about 150 columns, MaryJane Butters is giving up her nationally syndicated "Everyday Organic" column. The pieces have run every Saturday in the "Slice of Life" section of the Daily News, and the last column will run Aug. 8. Her columns have covered topics from going paper towel free to juicing fruits to community activism, and often contained recipes for readers to try.

"I've been doing it for three years, so I want to take a break to renew my well of ideas," Butters said. "And I also want to put a lot of time into my own blog online. I've enjoyed immensely all the feedback I've gotten and comments, and the whole discipline of it has been great for me as a writer. I just need a break, so maybe I'll come back."

Butters owns a farm eight miles from Moscow at Paradise Ridge, and has been there since 1986. The motto on their farm sign, "Living like we'll die tomorrow. Farming like we'll live forever," reflects Butters' long-standing commitment to organic farming. She has been an activist for responsible farming and sustainable agriculture, and she also co-founded the Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute in 1986, spending several years as its president.

In addition to her magazine, MaryJanesFarm, Butters also has a small retail store in Moscow called MaryJane's Sweet Dreams, located at 425 S. Jackson. Collectibles, antiques, towels and other products are sold there.

But one of her main focuses in place of the column will be her blog, which can be found at www.raisingjane.org.

"It'll be a daily journal of life here at the farm involving my daughter and my granddaughters," Butters said. "(There will be) a lot of photos, a lot of ideas, same kind of thing."

Butters said while she did need to make the decision, it's hard to walk away when she feels like she reached many with her organic tips and recipes.

"I'll miss my Daily News readers," Butters said. "... (but) you can't have ideas every week forever, you just need a little bit of a brain rest."