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Merit Badge Awardees - Woo-hoo Sisters!:  Farmgirl Sisterhood Merit Badge Awardees |
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16905 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16905 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 01 2026 : 6:55:45 PM
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Christine Kenney (#8680, bellepic) has received a certificate of achievement in Cleaning Up for earning an Intermediate Path to Zero Waste badge!
"I logged a 30 day waste audit in excruciating detail here: https://steamstead.blogspot.com/2026/01/trash-audit.html
3 Things I learned about my habits:
1. I don't think of myself or anyone in my family as a problematic shopper, yet we are receiving mail order packages nearly every day.
2. Even whole foods from the grocery store are shrouded in plastic film and packaging. It is impossible to completely avoid.
3. The prices at the farmer's market are often substantially higher than organic grocery store options.
Something I learned that surprised me the most: In an effort to reduce the amount of packaging, I refilled my daughter's empty mochi dessert container with DIY mochis. They aren't as pretty, but she actually prefers them to the store-bought. Now I've made several batches."
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MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16905 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16905 Posts |
Posted - Mar 01 2026 : 7:10:41 PM
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Marie Listopad (#5142, churunga) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner UFOs badge!
"The bags and bins of unfinished projects – planned and not executed, started and almost finished, half-finished, mending – were out of control. They were everywhere – the living room, dining room, bedroom and in the deep, dark dungeon of the basement storage room along with boxes and boxes of craft supplies, fabric and yarn. Sorting all this would be a large job.
I started with UFOs residing in living spaces. I put each one in separate bags, named them and entered the name, type of craft, purpose, supplies needed, what stage of completion, where it is located, the goal of the project once it is finished, and the date I finished the project.
I didn’t get to the basement storage room until some people broke into the building, went into the basement, and stole whatever they could find. They got into my storage room because it wasn’t locked. How disappointed they must have been to find almost nothing except fabric, yarn and clothes that needed mending. I received permission from the HOA to place my boxes in the laundry room and go through the entire contents of every box. I picked up some fresh boxes from my job and went to work.
Next, I sorted all I wished to keep into boxes and bins in categories. The largest categories were Fabric, Yarn, Mending, and Projects. Other smaller categories were Stationary/Office Supplies, Macramé, Crochet Thread, and Craft Supplies. All the boxes are now labeled on three sides and neatly stacked in the storage space. If I need to find something, it should take me less time than before I culled and sorted everything.
The spreadsheet is now an Xcel workbook with tabs called Current UFOs, Mending and Finished. I am completely happy with this set up and find it very helpful as I can sort the list in a variety of ways. It is a useful database.
As I removed the contents of the boxes, I sorted everything into Keep, Donate and Toss piles. Three large tubs of yarn were donated to a charity which makes hats for people who need them. Ten yards of felt, a small pile of kits and other supplies I no longer needed were donated to a quilt shop for their fundraising event. I threw away very little, mostly broken or damaged things I couldn’t fix. "
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16905 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16905 Posts |
Posted - Mar 05 2026 : 6:54:54 PM
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Christine Kenney (#8680, bellepic) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Birds badge!
"I joined the local Audubon chapter and dialed into a Zoom class they hosted about birding. I also bought and assembled 999 pieces* of a thousand piece "Birds of Western America" puzzle to get better at recognizing different bird body types and postures.
*I also discovered my dog likes to use this desktop as a lookout and in the confusion, a precious coot hindquarters puzzle piece is MIA...
The Audubon sent a summary of their local Christmas Bird Counts which I am using as my "wish list." Their sorties are often coastal, so it may take a couple slow fishing cruises/kayaks with hubby to be able to spot all the water birds on their tally."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16905 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16905 Posts |
Posted - Mar 05 2026 : 6:56:00 PM
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Christine Kenney (#8680, bellepic) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning an Intermediate Birds badge!
"I bought an Aspects Mini HummBlossom and have committed to cleaning it and changing out the nectar weekly for over a year.
It wasn't until I read Amy Tan's Backyard Bird Chronicles that it dawned on me that I don't have "tons" of hummingbirds visiting it, but rather a very territorial male (Allen's?) hummingbird that is persistently chasing others off of it. Since it is hung right outside our main door, he can get overzealous and try to chase us away too before falling back to his favorite secondary perches in the avocado, guava, pepper tree, orange or power line."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16905 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16905 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2026 : 08:49:14 AM
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Christine Kenney (#8680, bellepic) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning a Beginner Lost Art of Letter Writing badge!
"I got a letter writing station organized!
Full summary is blogged here: https://steamstead.blogspot.com/2026/03/lost-art-of-letter-writing.html
I am still curious how others organize their address books and keep track of their friend's important dates. Share your ideas!"
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16905 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16905 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2026 : 08:52:52 AM
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Sherri Haines (#1350, Dare2BUniquelyMe) has received a certificate of achievement in Cleaning Up for earning an Intermediate Path to Zero Waste badge!
"During our waste audit, I discovered that our biggest producer of waste was single use packaging. I also found that too much of the packaging couldn't be recycled or composted. I did figure out that some of it could be recycled into No Till gardens (cardboard) and plant signs (cans). Since I take all our recycling and trash to the dump myself, I was surprised to find my family was not very onboard with finding ways to cut back our waste.
After several months of buying bulk, handing my family baggies to portion things out (I wash and reuse them), and getting portion size containers to make our own single serve items, my family finally started to adjust."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16905 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16905 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2026 : 08:55:36 AM
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Sherri Haines (#1350, Dare2BUniquelyMe) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning an Expert Know Your Food badge!
"With my chapter, I have shared the names, locations and operation times of my local markets (farmer and butcher), and where they are sourcing their products. As they are local, less money is spent on transporting goods as well as supporting local businesses. Fewer preservatives and chemicals (carcinogens) are used in the local produce, most of which is organically grown on family farms. Since cancer has touched everyone's family at some point, this information is vital and shared.
In Western Washington we are fortunate to have many local producers. I have spoken with the owner of our local market who gets as much of his fresh produce as possible within neighboring farm communities (corn, kale, green onions, lettuce, etc). I have spoken with the farmer who makes a wonderful fresh yogurt with a nice bite (Skagit Valley Farms) when I was at their farm shop (the cheese is amazing too). When I go to the ocean, I stop to pick up my seafood fresh from that day's haul. I buy as much organic, local, and pasture raised as possible (about 80% of my food).
I have read “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan. I loaned it to my dad and have succeeded in converting him to grass fed meat as well.
This year I have started teaching a series on eating in season and foraging. We do wild plant walks where I point out what edibles are currently available, what is toxic, and what is invasive. I also make sample food they can try that is in season and mostly wild. I talk about what systems in our body the plants support, what actions they might have (dandelion is a diuretic), and when to harvest the different parts.
As the wild plants come in, I am adding recipes and classes on flavored vinegars, canning, drying, tea blending, and fermenting to the list.
I correlate listening to how our bodies feel after we eat different foods and the time of day we eat them. It's been very interesting and educational for me."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16905 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16905 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2026 : 08:56:43 AM
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Sherri Haines (#1350, Dare2BUniquelyMe) has received a certificate of achievement in Make It Easy for earning an Expert Jewelry Making badge!
"I made several wire wrapped pendants and hung them on chains. I gave one of the necklaces to my best friend for her birthday. I sold one of the other necklaces to a lady I work with. I wear the last one myself.
The wire wrapping class was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. I've made a few more pendants since then and have enjoyed playing with the wire and sea glass that I found."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16905 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16905 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2026 : 08:58:11 AM
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Sherri Haines (#1350, Dare2BUniquelyMe) has received a certificate of achievement in Cleaning Up for earning an Expert Path to Zero Waste badge!
"Small and meaningful ways to reduce waste include buying bulk and repackaging into washable single serving containers, using cardboard to create No Till gardens, and burying the compost in the raised beds.
I have a large compost pile in the corner of my property that I compost yard waste in. The pile has become home to many small animals such as rabbits, so I only turn it in the summer when everyone is out of the nests eating and growing fat for winter. It's also a good source of nettles in the spring because of the water it holds. I use this compost to fill in holes from the rock that come up every year (I live on an ancient moraine pile) and to add another layer of good soil in my wildflower field.
The biggest problem for me has been rats and other scavengers. Since I am changing out my old raised beds for new ones in metal troughs, I will be burying the compost in the bottom of whichever trough is currently laying fallow. It cuts down on the smell and builds up the soil."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16905 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16905 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2026 : 08:59:36 AM
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Sherri Haines (#1350, Dare2BUniquelyMe) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning a Beginner International Civics Challenge badge!
"I chose Canada.
The current form of government of this nation is Westminster-style parliamentary democracy.
The general structure of the government: Westminster model, is a type of parliamentary government that incorporates a series of procedures for operating a legislature, first developed in England. Key aspects of the system include an executive branch made up of members of the legislature which is responsible to the legislature; the presence of parliamentary opposition parties; and a ceremonial head of state who is separate from the head of government. Parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of the legislature, to which they are held accountable. This head of government is usually, but not always, distinct from a ceremonial head of state. (Constitution of Canada & Provincial Constitutions)
The basic doctrines and ruling bodies of this government are: The monarch, King Charles III is head of state and is personally represented by a governor general (currently Mary Simon). The prime minister (currently Mark Carney) is the head of government, who is invited by the Crown to form a government after securing the confidence of the House of Commons, which is typically determined through the election of enough members of a single political party in a federal election to provide a majority of seats in Parliament, forming a governing party.
The economic system in this government is Capitalism and their international trade partners are anyone but the U. S.
Canada trades with China, Europe, Mexico, and many other small countries. Were it not for the behavior of this country's leadership, they would still be trading with us as well."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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Merit Badge Awardees - Woo-hoo Sisters!: Farmgirl Sisterhood Merit Badge Awardees |
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Farmgirl Sisterhood Merit Badge Awardees
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