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sourjayne
worker bee

67 Posts

sarah
seattle washington
67 Posts

Posted - May 24 2004 :  1:38:13 PM  Show Profile
We're gathering ideas for MaryJane's upcoming first book. If you're new to the forum but have an idea on something that should go into MaryJane's book, here's a quick "How to."

Once you've registered for a username and password, click the "Book Ideas" link and choose "Start a New Topic." Say you'd like MaryJane to write about sauerkraut. You can type in "sauerkraut" as the subject, then include specific ideas/suggestions in your message. Click Preview to make sure everything looks right, then click "Post New Topic" when you're done!

You can also reply to other people's topics by clicking any "reply" links. Let me know if you have any problems with the forum. There should be a little e-mail icon near the top of any of my posts (it has an envelope on it) that you can use to contact me directly. Thanks!


Sarah (sourjayne)



No artificial sweeteners added.

Paula J.
True Blue Farmgirl

68 Posts

Paula
OK
USA
68 Posts

Posted - May 26 2004 :  08:40:26 AM  Show Profile  Send Paula J. an AOL message  Click to see Paula J.'s MSN Messenger address
Heirloom plants, veggies, herbs. How to spot them along roadsides, or where it's possible to access sources. Tips for growing them.

Finding the spirituality in living closer to the earth. How it's possible to be fulfilled in doing the little day-to-day things, like laundry and dishes. And I love Lori's suggestion on passing this knowledge on to future generations. I know I'm having to learn it and learn to appreciate it on my own (through no fault of my mom's; it was just a chore for her and that's how she passed it on). I want my children to learn to revel in doing a good job and living in that appreciation.

pj

Paula J.
Collinsville, OK
dragonflybodywork@earthlink.net
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mitchell
Farmgirl at Heart

1 Posts

Pat
Bland VA
USA
1 Posts

Posted - May 27 2004 :  8:25:44 PM  Show Profile
What is it about MaryJanesFarm that caught your attention and brought you to us in the first place?
The cover of the 2nd magazine. It was like walking into the past. Had never seen or heard of it was in B&N's and grabbed it like a child grabbing candy. I was raised in the country and have spent my life working and doing for everyone else and in the past 8-10 years I have looked at my life and wondered why I have become who I am. I love every page of it..


What would keep you coming back for more?
I think the list from the other people cover the same ideas I have. I have not watched TV since they took Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman off. I love all the past. Milking cows, making butter, feeding the hogs, making cottage cheese, gathering eggs, horse and buggies. Homemake ice cream. Square dancing, ice cream suppers, lye soap, no butchering...about bees, canning, picking berries, that awful hot strawberry patch, apples, applebutter, ....Amish have work days..they go to one another homes to help out..I could go on and on...Raising sheep..wool..
Thanks for asking
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl

11381 Posts

Jenny
middle of Utah
USA
11381 Posts

Posted - May 27 2004 :  8:49:19 PM  Show Profile
What caught my eye was for sure the cover of the " Art of the Egg" issue..the first I had seen..but what made me NEED to buy the magazine was the content!! I LOVE the products..especially a couple of the soups (can't live without the Pea soup and the corn and black bean chowder) and I loved the articles by people who seem to think like me, like the things I love and feel the same way I feel.
I love the fact that the things that were listed as important includes clotheslines !!! I love it all!!!!
What would I like to see in the book? I love the connection with our grandma's and the way they did things. I love to see the recipes of course. The whole lifestyle...I love animals and gardening more than anything but my family..so of course I couldn't get enough about them. I loved the story about MaryJane's dad. My dad passed away recently and it was extra special to hear how someone else loved her dad.

Jenny in Utah

Bloom where you are planted!
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HiDez Gal
True Blue Farmgirl

122 Posts

Roberta
Joshua Tree, CA
USA
122 Posts

Posted - May 28 2004 :  07:53:02 AM  Show Profile
I have been thinking about MaryJane's questions since they first appeared under this topic:

"What is it about MaryJanesFarm that first caught your attention and brought you to us in the first place? What would keep you coming back for more?"

I think i saw an article in the Sunday paper about MJF...it was one of those suggesting that she could be poised to become the next Martha. Now that i have been exposed to MaryJane through her writing i think not. Don't get me wrong there are lots of good things about Martha but IMO she got a bit big for her britches (as my mom would say).

I think the next thing that happened was that i accessed the MJF website and was delighted with what i found there. Then i ordered a magazine, Then some food realizing it would be ideal for camping and packing as well as hurry up meals at home on days when i was pushed to capacity for time. I like that the magazine is high quality i enjoy the great photos and the tips and vignettes scattered through the catalog section. I think what would keep me coming back for more is for MaryJane to stay on track. It seems to me she has a clear vision of what she would like to achieve at this point so don't get too spread out or over exposed, How terrible it might be for MaryJane's publishers to expect her to be doing book tours to the point that she doesn't have time for real life. Yes, i understand books need to have publicity to be successful but i would think there need to be limits set as well.

I don't think the way many of us are choosing to live is necessarily for the majority - it is hard work and lots of people don't want to do it. Heck, there are some days i don't want to do it but there are animals to care for and plants to be watered and veggies to be picked...yep, it's a lot of work and i need to get busy right now <g>.

MaryJane, to quote the song..."Don't go changin'...."




From my favorite coffee cup:
"A gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do." Minnie Cody, 1901

Edited by - HiDez Gal on May 28 2004 10:12:25 PM
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SuperStarVega
Farmgirl at Heart

1 Posts

Elizabeth
New Hudson MI
USA
1 Posts

Posted - May 28 2004 :  08:48:46 AM  Show Profile  Send SuperStarVega a Yahoo! Message
My first Mary Janes Farm magazine was the egg edition. I love the photography in the magazine. I read it though in pieces several times. I hope the book has the same look and feel as the magazine.

I would like the book to include suggestions on how to live like farm girl when you live in a subdivision or apartment, where space is a premium.

Also, I would like more information about how Mary Jane and other women like her created their lifestyle/successful business. As a small business owner I often feel isolated and at a loss for support and ideas.
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Carly Coleman
Farmgirl at Heart

1 Posts



1 Posts

Posted - May 28 2004 :  12:08:41 PM  Show Profile
I have loved your magazine from the moment I saw it on the shelf at my local Natural Foods Store. I am a farmer, and I guess the name and cover photograph are what drew me to purchasing the magazine. I then ordered from you, just to get the free subscription to the magazine! I am interested in the female side of farming. We can get all of the technical information from many other sources. For those of us who are "real" farmers, we get lots of trade magazines, and subscribe to every periodical that teaches us the ins and outs of our business. Therefore, from Mary Janes Farm, I am interested in the spritual... the natural forces that draw us to this lifestyle... the things that we don't get from our other "farm" magazines. I love your alternative approach to mundane topics such as raising chickens and drying clothes. I like the articles about simple living and lifestyle choices. I like reading all of the options and then deciding how I want to be... like washing dishes or clothes - sure you can use the machines - but some of us like doing things the old fashioned way, this is why I love your magazine. Living the simple life means knowing that there are other options than keeping up with the Jones' and doing everything everybody else does. I hope your book show us some new options to things we do because "we're supposed to." Thank you and good luck.
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felicia
Farmgirl at Heart

1 Posts

felicia
wrentham ma
USA
1 Posts

Posted - May 29 2004 :  07:42:37 AM  Show Profile
What attracted me to maryjanesfarm was my searching the web for organic food that I could eat. I developed allergies to egg, milk and soy when I turned 41 years old. I had to redesign my diet completely. The grittle cakes are the best!

I think the increase in allergies and obesity in this country is due in part to the over processing of food and possibily the genetic engineering of proteins. I think that would be an important subject for the book.

Felicia
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HiDez Gal
True Blue Farmgirl

122 Posts

Roberta
Joshua Tree, CA
USA
122 Posts

Posted - May 29 2004 :  09:20:30 AM  Show Profile
Okay, i've been thinking again (dangerous...i know <g>). Received MaryJane's email re this subject and although i answered one of her questions earlier i didn't respond to the other. So here is the answer i started to give her in email but later decided to post here because when i got to the bottom of her email i realized that she was indicating that she would like the answer here.


MaryJane said: In my magazine, MaryJanesFarm, I’ve talked about the first book I’mworking on, “MaryJane’s Gathering Place, Ideabook, Cookbook, Lifebook, for the farmgirl in all of us.” I’m plugging away at it and have come up with some gathering ideas, recipes, sewing projects, mending tips, cleaning tips, hard-to-find farm tools, farm advice, plants and animal know-how, camping and outback living ideas, and some easy shop projects. But recently my editors at Random House/Clarkson Potter suggested I ask you directly, “What do you want in my book(s)?”

I think that perhaps you should do a series which would give you the page room and time to cover some of these subjects in more detail. I don't like how to books that are so sketchy that they are virtually useless. There have been some good ideas posted on the Forum and more than likely there will be plenty more as more people join in.

Things that interest me are some sewing projects...we have been discussing clothes pin bags on the Forum and one of the ladies has an old clothes pin bag that ties around the waist. She may post some photos. Aprons are a suggestion for a sewing project but not too frilly for me - i like the type that are almost like pinafores (messy me) - found a Mc Call's pattern #3068 that has a great looking apron and i will probably make a couple of these but i can always use more apron ideas. Another great thing i saw recently, while perusing some magazines on the newstand. It was in the most recent copy of Country Living magazine (i think that was the one, there are two really prominent ones and i get them mixed up). Anyway, they had made a cover for an old hammock. It was in patchwork style using old flowered fabrics and some new fabrics in stripes, etc. They had sewn fringe around the bottom and from looking at the photo i would guess that it ties on. The had made a matching pillow in the flowered print. I could find no instructions but think it would be easy to replicate. I just love things like that and fully intend to try this idea but am interested in similar sewing projects.

Another thing that has been on my mind lately is ideas for healthy dutch oven cooking (outdoors with coals). Many of the recipe books and instruction books for this type of cooking are filled with recipes using canned soups, fatty meats, etc. I don't do much of this type of cooking on the trail because of the weight of carrying the dutch ovens (a lot of weight even with pack animals). We do like to do some outdoor cooking at home and i am always looking for recipes to adapt. We have even built an Horno based on those used by the Native American tribes in Northern New Mexico and use it for some of our outdoor cooking. Outdoor ovens are really neat.

I think a series might work best because then people who already have a bunch of books on a certain subject but not another subject could buy the ones they need or prefer. Someone that i greatly admire as an author, etc. is Dr. Deb Bennett who has done an amazing book on horsemanship called The Birdie Book. It is basically her life's work and rather than put it in paper form she has done it on a CD. Now, i realize that doesn't work for everyone and when i first heard this is the way her book would be produced i was disappointed. However, her book is going to be a work in progress, she wanted to manage how it would be produced, etc. herself so it made sense. She can much more easily produce revisions and update the photos and diagrams with this method and she allows people who buy the book to copy sections or whatever for their own use. Now that i have settled into using the book in this way i really like it and i like the fact that i can receive the updated version without having to buy another entire book. Did you know you can make some amusing garden "scare the birdies out of the new lettuce" mobiles and scare crows with old CDs? Great for those freebie AOL disks <VBG>. Anyway, i mention this CD thing mainly because down the road you may discover that doing book after book - which is of course would be easy to promote if you had your own TV show and line of products in stores ala Martha or Chris Madden or any of the others, you may want to return to a quieter less harried pace and producing your own books on CD might be a possibility. Whatever the future holds i sincerely hope it is all you wish for and more.



From my favorite coffee cup:
"A gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do." Minnie Cody, 1901
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl

6066 Posts

Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts

Posted - Jun 01 2004 :  05:05:54 AM  Show Profile
The articles in your magazine thus far that have introduced us as readers to Maryjane's life growing up have been fascinating. I have been made to feel she is my friend because I have seen photos of her father, mother, siblings, their farm and garden, and even the rooms of her house as she grew up.

Like many others, I have those kinds of photos and memories, and I think a series of articles on "The Farms We Used to Know" would be a great set of stories which many readers like myself would enjoy. Articles that would be complete with old photos and maybe some new photos of the farms as they exist today, and who tends them now.

Love your magazine, as I have stated in other posts, and I read them again and again.

Farmgirl at heart,
JPbluesky
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soapgrrl
Farmgirl at Heart

1 Posts

Diane
Richmond UT
USA
1 Posts

Posted - Jun 15 2004 :  10:03:58 AM  Show Profile
This is my first post, and I'll use it to introduce myself as well as throw out some ideas about your upcoming book.

For about ten years, I subscribed to MSLiving magazine. It was a publication I looked forward to receiving every month. I liked the interviews with artisans who turned their passions into successful businesses. I liked preparing imaginative foods with an eye on the past (icebox cookies, mac & cheese). But the magazine changed; it became more "high brow" in tone.

I put up with it for a couple of years but became increasingly disillusioned. I'm a freelance journalistÑphotography and reportingÑand I read publications more critically than most people. I don't mean this to be snobby; it's just how I look at things. Here was a magazine I loved to study: interesting layouts, well-written stories, sumptuous photography... But all that changed when the magazine aimed at a more upscale audience. Martha wasn't talking to me anymore.

I'm 46 and a vegetarian. I run a handmade soap making business and work part-time as a shaper at an artisan bakery. The town I live in (population: 2,000) is located in the most agriculturally rich part of the state. While my garden isn't very big, I usually plant lots of heirloom tomatoes from seed and look for landscape plants that don't need a lot of water to thrive. I try to support locally-owned businesses when I can and live as simply as possible. When I have time, I dabble in sewing, make mosiacs and stamp cards.

Honestly, there is no mass market women's magazine that appeals to me. From reading your magazine/catalog and a little of this forum, I'm not alone. My advice is to remember who your readers are: speak to us.
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marshab
Farmgirl at Heart

1 Posts

Marsha
North Huntingdon Pennsylvania
USA
1 Posts

Posted - Jun 16 2004 :  11:07:21 AM  Show Profile
I guess what first caught my attention to a MJF magazine was the word FARM - as I have always been a farm girl. Living next door to my grandparents who maintained a small farm I spent a lot of my time with them. So eating "off the land" is what I know and love. When I held my first issue and began reading I just couldn't put it down. The layout was easy to follow and the combination of catalog, personal stories and useful tips fit my lifestyle perfectly. As far as what would keep me hooked - just keep doing what you're doing. I especially love the addition of simple & delicious recipes. I just made the honey popcorn balls - yum!
Now for the question: What do you want in my book(s)? Since I truly love to cook - especially healthy meals, I would love to see a separate book on natural cooking and techniques. I'm a crazed cookbook collector. I also think that when you love to cook you definitely have a creative side that urges you to create your own consumable household products as well; so I would also enjoy some recipes for natural cleaning products.
All in all I love the magazine style and content so anything you put into a book form would be a great read and companion to me.
Thanks Mary Jane for opening up your world to us!
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rabbithorns
True Blue Farmgirl

544 Posts

Allison
Fort Scott KS
USA
544 Posts

Posted - Jul 01 2004 :  7:26:39 PM  Show Profile
I bought the very first magazine and loved it. I loved the reminders to stick with what worked for our mothers and grandmothers while maintaining an attitude of finding solutions to modern needs ( like packaged foods for convenient living).

But I have two problems with the catalog offerings part of the magazine:
1) It's processed, packaged food. Nutrition labels are based on the raw foods. Once processed, grains lose most of their B vitamins and NO C vitamin food retains its vitamin C after processing. I used to work for a USDA nutrition program and there's lots they don't tell people. Organic or not, processed foods still lack nutrients which are listed on nutrition labels.

2) The cost is prohibitive. If I fed my family from the catalog, my food budget would go from $300 a month to...I can't even imagine! We only spend about $10 a day now. One 8" BakeOver will not feed my family of four although it might serve 4 portions and the batter alone in the package costs 1/3 of my daily budget. One soup serving is also 1/3 of my total daily budget for all four of us. To be fair, the organic Corn and Black Bean Chowder can be bought in bulk at health food stores for about 60 cents an ounce and that IS the price per ounce for the 10 lb. bulk item sold through MaryJane's Farm.

So really, I'm just whining on that one. In exchange for not working, being the wife and mom and volunteering in my community and not earning an income, I am excluded from many of the options offered by MaryJane's Farm because of the high cost per serving in general for most of the items.

So what would I want to see? I want to see how folks in the world have bridged the gap between the have-nots and the lifestyles of the haves. I want to know how organic cotton clothing has been made affordable for single mothers who seesaw on the poverty line. I want to see shoestring or family businesses that didn't make a million dollars, but do provide a viable income for families. I want to see how convenient, efficient , organic food models are made available to the working poor - which happens to be the actual, quantitative majority in this country right now. I thought the whole MaryJane's Farm thing would have a more frugal tone, but to me it's just as high-brow as Martha Stewart, just more home-on-the-range/victory garden style and less Barbara Stanwyck/Christmas in Connecticut....

Sorry to be negative, but that's what I want to see.

Padma in AZ

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Juliekay
True Blue Farmgirl

237 Posts



237 Posts

Posted - Jul 04 2004 :  5:58:52 PM  Show Profile
Rabbithorns,

I feel that Mary Jane is promoting a legitimate alternative way of eating for many people regardless of income level. The magazine is promoting a lifestyle that can be adjusted up or down depending on income level. I feel that Mary Jane has been there as far as not having much money, especially when her children were younger, even if I have no proof of this.

I think she is promoting the increased consumption of organic foods, even if not purchased from her. Why would she do this? Because the more demand there is for organic foods, the more all organic producers benefit. If demand goes up, more producers will enter the field, which will lead to more supply, which is good for consumers, as it usually causes prices to go down.

As far as the food being expensive, that is relative. For everything in life you spend money on, you forgo spending it on something else. By eating healthier, even if the money seems like a lot, you will be receiving the dividend of better health in the long run.
Most magazines I look at provide ideas, and solutions if I want to spend the money. The same with MaryJanesFarm. Many of the foods in her magazine are affordable if you buy them in bulk. Probably the best way for lower income individuals to do organic food is to grow it themselves. If you don't have a lot of space try square foot gardening.

On the issue of the ingredients losing nutrients, it depends how the food is processed as far as how many vitamins are lost. If you don't want to see any vitamins lost, you basically have to become a raw foodist, which Mary Jane has never claimed to be. The inputs into her foods are still organic, which is a farsight better than the common supermarket fare.

Please don't take this as an attack. I just felt the need to respond to your complaints, and try to explain that I too have grappled with the same issues as you, and the resolutions I have come to regarding eating healthier.

Julie
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rabbithorns
True Blue Farmgirl

544 Posts

Allison
Fort Scott KS
USA
544 Posts

Posted - Jul 04 2004 :  7:15:01 PM  Show Profile
I completely agree that the quality of organic food is a darn sight more nutritious and beneficial than most of the everyday market choices we are being offered. But any chemist and nutritionist will tell you that packaged orange juice and any fine milled flour do not have the nutritional content listed on the labels. An orange, when cut in half, loses 50% of its vitamin C in 5 minutes through oxidation...That is a fact of its plant biology.

I agree that it's still better to eat processed organics rather than processed conventional foods (pesticides, support of corporate rather than family farms, etc.), but I just think people should know how food works. I have worked in women's and family health for 25 years and have always worked by guidelines of informed choice.

Not being much of a cook, mostly because I just hate to spend time on my food, I find the efficiency of the MaryJanes Farm system absolutely elegant! It's what first drew me to read on and then become even more enamored by the magazine.

Perhaps it's just that I've never had the experience of having more than about $50 to $75 per person per month (for food) in my whole adult life. I have never known anyone who has. Everyone I know falls into the working poor category.

About half of the people I know are well-educated, they would relish the products, I know, as they are already "on board" with the thinking. Others I know aren't aware of the benefits of organics either for themselves or their world community.

Either way, it's simply hard from where I stand to see a good company - one that I easily believe in and want to support - out of reach. Like the Body Shop, it's simply too expensive for what I know statistically to be the majority of families in the US.

So my question isn't with the system or even the processing (we all eat some processed foods or, as you say, we'd all be raw foodists or milling our own grain), it's that I had hoped that a group culture such as this one might have some idea as to how to add frugality and global thinking (not so much philosophically, but more practically as maybe one's unemployed neighbor) into the incredibly elegant system that MaryJanes Farm has produced.

The call, I believe, was for book ideas. That was simply my request. Perhaps I put it badly. Thank you, Julie, for letting me be more clear. I don't want to attack the product; I want to see it it more people's hands.

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Juliekay
True Blue Farmgirl

237 Posts



237 Posts

Posted - Jul 05 2004 :  3:35:41 PM  Show Profile
Hey Rabbit,

I must have been feeling testy. It came out sounding attackish sorry. I know what you mean about frugality. It is hard to justify spending a lot of money on food when you don't have a lot.

That would definitely be a conundrum to tackle in a book. How to do organic foods cheaply.

I've been trying to do organic and one thing I found helpful was a list from this organization that lists which foods are best to eat organically because of the amount of pesticides, and which ones are okay to eat that have been grown conventionally, either because they haven't been exposed to much chemicals or because you remove the peels anyway. Something to that extent, can't quite remember at this moment the name of the organization.

We are starting our first tiny little garden in Oklahoma. Tomato and pepper plants. I certainly don't want to use pesticides so we'll see how they turn out.

Julie
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rabbithorns
True Blue Farmgirl

544 Posts

Allison
Fort Scott KS
USA
544 Posts

Posted - Jul 05 2004 :  10:20:12 PM  Show Profile
Susun Weed, Wise Woman herbalist, used to say that, in general, avoid all but organic meat and dairy as animal fats store organochlorines (the cancer causing agents in pesticides) and are more easily absorbed by the human. And that fruits and veggies don't harbor so much because organochlorines aren't present much in the watery composition of produce.

Of course, she advocated ALL organic, but wanted to help folks decide just where to spend their money to get the biggest health-bang for their buck. (when it came to pesticides anyway)
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl

6066 Posts

Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts

Posted - Jul 06 2004 :  05:38:09 AM  Show Profile
Juliekay,

Your peppers and tomatoes will do fine. I grow them all the time, here in buggy Florida, with no pesticides of any kind except my hands. Though I have a little struggle with worms on the tomatoes, I still get a good yield. It is good to keep your garden small to begin with, and then you can learn how big of a job to take on without pesticides. The thought of spraying anything on my plants makes me cringe, and I am not even tempted.

In the early stages of my tomato plants, I even hand pick the caterillars, etc. from the leaves. Taking just a half an hour or so to go around and manually kill the little pests can make a big difference in how much damamge is done. In addition, I have learned that to be an organic gardener, you have to share a certain amount of produce with the bugs, birds, etc.

There are disease resistant plants (and seeds) to buy, especially with tomatoes, and I have found that those plants really do fare better in terms of less bugs. Give your plants lots of room and stake them securely and pay attention to good mulching. Spread a little manure around, too!

Good luck, and happy gardening!
jpbluesky (Jeannie)
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cecelia
True Blue Farmgirl

497 Posts

cecelia
new york
USA
497 Posts

Posted - Jul 06 2004 :  5:27:31 PM  Show Profile
Hi,

I see from the last couple of posts here we've gotten a bit off track regarding ideas for MJ's book.. I have to agree about the prohibitive costs of lots of organic foods. You must try, and perhaps Maryjane would agree, the people should search out a local source for organic goods. I tried some of the products in the catalog/magazine and they were good, but I found some items to contain too much sweetener. I can do without that. I even tried the garlic scapes but to ship them 3000 miles or so back east is cost-prohibitive, not to mention the problems of keeping things like that fresh (but they were fresh, shipped as quickly as possible, etc.). I find that cost can be a relative concept: I buy organic soups to keep on the shelf, but usually make my own from scratch using the best ingredients I can find, using organic if I can afford it. You can pay now to limit the use of pesticides, etc. in your food, or maybe pay later in health care costs. There's no easy answer. We luckily have sufficient income but we're certainly not rich and can't afford some things. My favorite thing to do is look what other people have in their carts at the grocery: packaged sweetened cereal, cake, pop, etc. and then see what they & their kids look like: sorry, but there is a connection with what you put in your body, and what your health is. At the natural food shops here I notice a lot of "higher end" vehicles parked in the lot, I don't see anyone coming on a bus to buy the organic foods, so there's definitely a need for a chapter or more in this coming book to help everyone learn how to shop properly. We need to help one another too, point out what you know to your neighbors, relatives, friends just as we're doing in these forums.

Help this doesn't offend anyone.

Cecelia

ce's farm
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl

6066 Posts

Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts

Posted - Jul 06 2004 :  7:29:14 PM  Show Profile
Sorry for being one of the people who are getting so off track in my replies. Conversations can take many directions, and I have noticed those directions happening in many of the topics here on this board.

So, to get us back on track, let's see if anyone can take their recent trains of thought and give them a title - something that could be a legitimate idea for a portion of Maryjane's book.

How about: Living Organic Affordably? Or, Go Organic on a Shoestring?

Let's hear some other ideas.

jpbluesky (Jeannie)



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sourjayne
worker bee

67 Posts

sarah
seattle washington
67 Posts

Posted - Jul 13 2004 :  10:45:43 AM  Show Profile
Here's another one we got via e-mail:



Hey MaryJane!
I just consumed your magazine/catalog, thoroughly inhaled your website (literally) and am now prepared to give you my solicited advice regarding your "Should I or Shouldn't I?" quandary......you asked for feedback and here it comes!

Let me begin with a statement of allegiance. I love you, your farm crew, your farm, your work, your ideas and your standards. You going to commercial television would be like hearing about our parent's divorce. I believe you've answered all of your own questions regarding this decision from my read of your article "TV or Not TV" so to thine own self be true. Do you need this financially? I am sure plenty of orgainic dough will come rolling in. All the hype and comparison to Martha (who?) is ridiculous. She is nowhere near your standard of excellence. Forget that.

Public television, if you must. Definitely your written word, books, magazine, catalog, web site and DVDs.
Let us continue to hold on to you, keep you with us, feel as though we can touch your ideas. I know this to be true.........them thar monsters will gobble you up and spit you out child and ether won't be nuthin' left.

Your following is spreading as fast and as far as it should. Nurture it as you nurture your farm. You have planted, now watch it grow.

With warm affection,
Kathryn
Cimarron, Kansas


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n/a
deleted

10 Posts

Lynne
Bainbridge NY
10 Posts

Posted - Jul 13 2004 :  11:07:27 AM  Show Profile
Hi there,

I agree with almost all of the above. The key element is to keep us, your readers, always in mind. Loose sight of that and you'll go the direction former readers of Martha and Oprah went.

I would find it essential to have information in your book on how to create a cohesive community of people, particularly since a lot of folks are country ones. There are a lot of ignored sceanarios (?) on the never ending sources of energy in the ground. Well, if that energy runs out, what other options exist (solar, wind), where do you get them, and how do you help those who otherwise won't make it? I ask that wearing a personal interest hat and a hat of association with Habitat for Humanity.

If a book contains materials like that it will be a major best-seller for those beyond your present magazine audience, as it will provide what for many will be their only life-line.

Thanks for reading my thoughts!

In Love, Light and Healing, at_Clearing
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Skiff
Farmgirl at Heart

6 Posts

Kathy
Plainview Texas
USA
6 Posts

Posted - Jul 30 2004 :  10:44:03 AM  Show Profile
The life of simplicity is for everyone, the example set by how we live our life for this next generation of children that is being raised on fast food and tv is what is the most important. I would like to be able to contribute ideas for children that help build character and apprecation in children that watching tv and running in mindless circles is not building.

Sunshine on your face.
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kathleen
Farmgirl at Heart

3 Posts

kathleen
bandera tx
USA
3 Posts

Posted - Aug 25 2004 :  11:33:05 AM  Show Profile
I was in a local store and saw MaryJanesFarm on the shelf, the issue that I saw was the Shoulder to the Wheel issue. The name, picture and the word organic jumped out at me at the same time. I live on 7 acres in the hill country of texas and we have been working on the property for 3 years, trying only to use organic materials and natural fertilizers. I have a medium sized garden, big enough to feed my husband, son and myself and some people at work. My son has developed a strong interest in gardening, he tends the herb garden and berry patches. I have a large collection of old cookbooks, gardening and "how to books" that refer to some of the old practices that people used to depend on to produce their food. I would like to see some of this in your book, herbal use, how to dress a chicken, a few things like that. I loved the article in your new magazine, that I just received yesterday, about the mustard seed, what a great idea! I order your packaged food mostly for my 19 yoa son. He is attending college and this way I can have a handle on what he eats, well mostly! I also have to admit that the picture on that first copy that I bought caught my eye because of Mary Jane's long hair. I am 48 and have very long hair and I am constantly being told by the older female members in my family that I'm too old to wear it like this. I plan on keeping it like this until I pass on!

kathleen
hill country texan
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl

11381 Posts

Jenny
middle of Utah
USA
11381 Posts

Posted - Aug 26 2004 :  08:58:59 AM  Show Profile
Isn't it funny how older gals seem to have no problem telling us how to wear our hair? I am just not the short hair, go to the beauty shop type...and I hear about it too. Glad to see another kindred spririt!!

Jenny in Utah

Bloom where you are planted!
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl

6066 Posts

Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts

Posted - Aug 26 2004 :  11:08:17 AM  Show Profile
Defining our own Image

This could be a good topic as part of MaryJane's book - similar to the glamour on the farm topic we have had elsewhere on this site. But the topic could cover how to cut your own hair and everyone else's in the family! And how to have your own "look" that defines you.

I hate beauty parlors! They smell, they are usually very messy, and you are at the mercy of someone who pulls your hair. For this you pay money! I hope I am not making anyone mad who is a hairdresser, this is just my own personal feelings. Some people absolutely love to have their hair done.

I have slightly wavy but fine hair (blonde) and I have not been to a parlor for years and years. I cut mine, and my daughter's, and she cuts her hubby's and her daughter's. I color my own hair, too, and wear it just long enough to be able to put it up in a clip or tuck it into a hat. I also do my own manicures. That is hundreds of dollars saved in a years time.

It is true - people with very good hair - MaryJane being one of them, have a distinguishing and beautiful-to-look-at blessing. But we can all be beautiful at any age - I do not want to look like an matron, or a young chick anymore, but like an artistic and creative individual. A person can achieve that at any age, sometimes even better as years go by!

jpbluesky

Love those big blue skies and wide open spaces.
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