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Merit Badge Awardees - Woo-hoo Sisters!:  Farmgirl Sisterhood Merit Badge Awardees |
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16783 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16783 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 02 2025 : 2:06:23 PM
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Jeanette Parker (#8699, PrairiePearl) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Backyard Farmer badge!
"I would love to raise my own flock of chickens but our yard is not big enough to get town approval so we have adopted a friend's flock in town (they have a double lot). We keep our kitchen scraps and have the pleasure of feeding them to the chickens when our bucket is ready. We buy organic fruit and veggies, so we feel good knowing that the chickens are not getting any chemicals from our scraps for them. The chickens are friendly and are used to being hand fed and petted. I love the little "western building" front of their coop and their chicken run along the fence line that allows them to run and yet not run into the gardens.
What a lovely way to get to know how chickens are raised! The coop remnants were shoveled into our gardens for weed control and fertilizer.
I even had the pleasure (yes, pleasure) of having our friend show me and allow me to help butcher a chicken humanely.....no chickens running around with their head cut off. To see the bird in peace and practically fall asleep before she blessed us with herself for dinner was nothing short of beautiful. I am thankful for friends who truly love their chickens from beginning to end."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16783 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16783 Posts |
Posted - Nov 02 2025 : 2:17:26 PM
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Tina Vandaam (#8437, TinaTina) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Safe Toys badge!
"This badge was fun. I picked out some fun material and made bean bags for my son and his friends. I used dried beans from my garden to fill them.
This turned out good because my son needed bean bags and I needed to make some for a merit badge, so it worked out."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16783 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16783 Posts |
Posted - Nov 16 2025 : 09:21:38 AM
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Shennandoah Connor (#8578, shennandoah) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning a Beginner Forage for Food badge!
"My local extension service did not have anything on foraging, but I picked up this Foraging in Texas guide at the Texas Bee Association Conference. I also took a couple of wild medicine outdoor courses with some local herbalists.
There are quite a few plants considered "edible" in my area. A few include:
Henbit - a beautiful annual ground cover that emerges in early spring and lasts till summer kicks in. It blankets my property with whorls of small ruffled leaves and purple flowers. Not only are they great for pollinators (and chickens), you can also infuse honey with the flowers and add the flowers and leaves to salads and sandwiches. My oldest loves eating them (and has since she was 10 - she's 23 now).
Purslane - another flowering annual that can be used as a salad green. It self sows easily, is very drought tolerant, and pops up all over the place.
American Beautyberry - Its a hardy perennial that the birds help sow all over my property. It leaves out early spring, with purple berries forming over the summer and ripening in the fall. The leaves can be used to make a natural insect repellent (not good for eating), and the berries make great jellies. They don't have much flavor fresh but the chickens love them.
Wild grapevine - Mustang grape vines grow wild here, and the fruit is popular for making homemade wine and jelly. The leaves are very sticky though and the plant can be invasive.
Cleavers pop up late winter, early spring here. They are a great tonic for clearing the lymphatic system. The herbalists recommended making juices and tonics with them, as the plants have sticky fibers that can irritate the throat if eaten raw. I make a spring tonic juice with cleavers, as it helps to remove any winter build up and prep my sister for spring.
Prickly Pear - the fruit of the prickly pear cactus is a popular ingredient in lemonade and margaritas in Texas. The cactus itself is often dethroned and cooked to make a traditional Mexican dish "nopalitos." I'm not fond of the texture, but they are popular in restaurants.
There are also a number of native fruit and nut trees and bushes, as well as amaranth, lambs quarters, and other wild greens.
I knew about some edible wild plants, but was surprised to learn how many wood plants/trees are edible. I knew about acorns (thanks to the book "My Side of the Mountain). The blogger behind "Foraging While Black" recently shared a gluten free acorn cookie recipe. I have almost five acres of oaks, so plenty of acorns if the mood strikes!
What really surprised me was to learn that the leaves of Juniper trees are edible.
Of course, we also have persimmon, pecan, paw paw, mayhaw, and lots of other well known natives trees. Now that I have this book, I am curious to see what other Wilde edibles are on my property!"
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16783 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16783 Posts |
Posted - Nov 16 2025 : 09:23:53 AM
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Shennandoah Connor (#8578, shennandoah) has received a certificate of achievement in Make It Easy for earning a Beginner Macrame badge!
"For this badge I started by researching resources for learning macrame. I found a great website, macrameforbeginners.com They had a ton of free resources on learning macrame including choosing cord type, a downloadable knot guide, reviews of suppliers, and tutorials for a few projects.
I also did a search on Amazon (thanks to fellow sister Krista aka MaryJanesNiece) and found a kit for making Christmas ornaments and another for making flower keychains. Each kit let me use a few basic knots, such as a larks head knot and an overhand knot.
I had a lot of fun, though I do need to work on my technique some more. I'm still figuring out how to tight to tie the knots, and did have to study each step repeatedly to be able to get the cord going in the right direction. Still, I think they turned out great. I was also surprised to learn in my research that the friendship bracelets I used to make as a kid are actually macrame. I think this might become a steady craft for me (like I need more lol) as I really did enjoy the process not just the outcome."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16783 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16783 Posts |
Posted - Nov 16 2025 : 09:26:42 AM
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Christine Kenney (#8680, bellepic) has received a certificate of achievement in Outpost for earning a Beginner First Aid badge!
"Young Cultivator Fallon and I checked our kitchen and garage fire extinguisher. We ordered a fire extinguisher for our upstairs floor because we are starting to spend more time up there renovating rooms.
We checked the contents of our first aid kits in kitchen, bath, and both vehicles. Many were running dangerously low on band-aids. We added a tiny first aid kit to our newest vehicle, Fallon's geared bike.
We didn't see a Young Cultivator First Aid focus area, but if one gets written in the future, Fallon highly recommends the books "The Children's Book of First aid Skills" by Sophie Giles and "The Kids' Guide to First Aid: All About Bruises, Burns, Stings, Sprains, and Other Ouches" by Karen Buhler Gale. The second title has a great 2 page first aid kit check list which allowed us to create an additional portable kit for Fallon with extra supplies from our main first aid station."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16783 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16783 Posts |
Posted - Nov 16 2025 : 09:27:56 AM
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Christine Kenney (#8680, bellepic) has received a certificate of achievement in Outpost for earning an Intermediate First Aid badge!
"Technically, this was a recertification for Red Cross First Aid/CPR/AED Adult/Pediatric.
I learned a lot that I posted in the Merit Badge Chit Chat about Intermediate First Aid.
There is a chance my daughter's scout troop will need a volunteer with a Wilderness First Aid certification which is an extra 16-20 hours of training, so I might work on that to feel like more of an "Expert." "
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16783 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16783 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2025 : 09:56:59 AM
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Christine Kenney (#8680, bellepic) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning an Intermediate Her-Story badge!
"I read a book by a woman rancher who got established in my neighborhood right before my historic house was built.
The 5 points shared with my fellow Wild Flower henhouse are cross-posted here:
https://steamstead.blogspot.com/2025/11/her-story-mary-teegarden-clark.html"
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16783 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16783 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2025 : 10:09:50 AM
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Denise Thompson (#43, levisgrammy) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning a Beginner Farmgirl Grammar badge!
"I spent two weeks learning a new word each day.
I posted a word-of-the-day on the forum in the henhouse.
It was a lot of fun finding the words and trying to use them in my conversations. I think it helped others to learn new words too!"
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16783 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16783 Posts |
Posted - Dec 21 2025 : 09:43:11 AM
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Tina Vandaam (#8437, TinaTina) has received a certificate of achievement in Make It Easy for earning an Expert Let's Get Physical badge!
"This merit badge was challenging as trying to do exercise in the colder months was harder to stay motivated. But I did do more than an additional 2 months of exercise and ran a 5K race with my son in 2023.
This badge turned out good, as it is inspiring me to keep going for my health and exercising my mind and body."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16783 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16783 Posts |
Posted - Dec 21 2025 : 09:51:39 AM
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Cindy Kinion (#6058, AussieChick) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning an Intermediate Community Service badge!
"In order to achieve my intermediate community service merit badge, I went on another mission trip to Guatemala with Health Talents International, which was my chosen organization from my beginner badge. I joined the October Surgical Team again which means I was able to reconnect with friends that I had made from last year’s trip. This time, our focus was on gynaecological & general surgeries (with a particular focus on hernia repairs, cholecystectomies, and fistula repairs). We performed 47 surgeries over the course of the week at Clinica Ezell, volunteering 8 hour shifts each day. We had some paediatric patients this time which was extra special. The children are understandably apprehensive coming in to this unfamiliar environment, but to see them leave with a smile on their face is so rewarding.
I journaled each day as a way to remember my patients & the impact that we are making not only on their physical lives but, as our goal outlines, on the whole person (mind, spirit, body & social relationships).
During last years trip, I learnt more about another aspect of the work that HTI does in the rural Mayan communities of Guatemala. It’s called the ABC program. HTI sponsors an adopt-a-child program that aids poverty-stricken families of the Church of Christ in Guatemala. Sponsors provide $40/month per child to provide food, clothing, school supplies, and bi-annual medical and dental check-ups. There are over seven hundred children from forty-seven congregations currently enrolled in this program. Again, the beauty of the program is that it focuses on the 'whole' child by providing food and clothing plus activities to encourage individual growth in multiple areas -spiritually, educationally, and socially. Each year the children see our medical and dental providers for well-child check-ups, dental cleanings and may even be referred to a surgical clinic to care for any of their surgical needs. I signed up to be a sponsor after last year’s trip & was connected with a 7-year-old girl called Heidy. She & I had written letters to each other over the past 12 months & I had the absolute pleasure of meeting her while on this mission trip. She came to the clinic with her mother & little sister, so we were able to play frisbee together, do some colouring-in, and share lunch together. She is such a sweetie & I was so blessed to have the opportunity to meet her in person. The ABC program has since added another component to their program called the ABC Prenatal program, an effort to address infant mortality, growth and developmental stunting associated with chronic malnutrition and poor prenatal care.
This community service opportunity was once again so incredibly fulfilling. My patients are so grateful & affectionate, and to have added another element of child sponsorship means that I have another special connection to this community.
I have shared my experience on the Merit Badge Chit Chat."
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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