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Merit Badge Awardees - Woo-hoo Sisters!:  Farmgirl Sisterhood Merit Badge Awardees |
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
17165 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
17165 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 20 2026 : 3:08:32 PM
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Sherri Haines (#1350, Dare2BUniquelyMe) has received a certificate of achievement in Cleaning Up for earning a Beginner Living Zero Waste badge!
"I have completed the Path to Zero Waste Merit Badge.
The 5 Rs of zero waste: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair (my 6th R), Recycle & Rot.
The different ways in which I practice the Rs include not purchasing things that are single use only, bringing my own bags when I go shopping (including vegetable bags), repurposing and repairing items where I can, donating things I no longer want/need or recycling the parts if they cannot be donated, and composting food waste.
When you run a business related to refuse and recycling, you learn a lot about what can be done to reduce waste. Many things that are thrown away can be recycled. Much that is recycled can be reused, repurposed, or repaired. Before my food scraps go to the compost, they become broth for future meals. Fast fashion is expensive for the environment and the workers who create it. The best foods for my family actually have very little, if any, packaging."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
17165 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
17165 Posts |
Posted - Oct 24 2026 : 4:19:36 PM
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Tina VanDaam (#8431, TinaTina) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Putting Away for Winter badge!
"I earned this badge by freezing produce for the winter. I froze onions, peppers, cantaloupe, corn, tomatoes, and other things over the year.
This turned out well, as freezing is quick and easy. I have a chest freezer in which I can save a lot for the winter and lessen my grocery bill. I shared my method of freezing tomatoes on the farmgirl chit chat."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
17165 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
17165 Posts |
Posted - Oct 24 2026 : 4:49:27 PM
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Tina VanDaam (#8431, TinaTina) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning an Expert Herbs badge!
"This badge was fun as I have been drying herbs for cooking for a while now. I tried a few new herbs like bachelor's button, garlic greens, and lavender. I did package some up and gave them to relatives, friends, and coworkers.
This merit badge turned out good, but I found that the dry herbs didn't have as much flavor as the fresh herbs. I also dried herbs and put them into my spice jars."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
17165 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
17165 Posts |
Posted - Oct 27 2026 : 5:15:54 PM
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Cindy Kinion (#6058, AussieChick) has received a certificate of achievement in Make It Easy for earning a Beginner Macrame badge!
"I had never done macrame before. However, my mother did a lot of macrame projects when I was a little girl. So, who better to "teach me the ropes" than my dear mother. She dug out all of her old pattern books from the 70s & we started with a simple plant hanger made with 6mm macrame cord (90% cotton/10% polyester). The basic knots in this project were square knots, half square knots & a wrap knot.
I was very happy with the end result. I now just have to buy a lovely house plant to put in my hanger. Next time I would like to incorporate some beading into a plant hanger."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
17165 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
17165 Posts |
Posted - Oct 29 2026 : 3:57:17 PM
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Emily Nellinger (#8229, citychick03) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning an Expert Farmgirl Gratitude badge!
"I wrote a letter to the editor of the Chicago Tribune about gratitude.
I wrote 40 letters from July-October to various family members and friends.
I finished reading the Book of Awesome.
I didn't hear anything from the Chicago Tribune, except that they received my letter.
The most rewarding was receiving two audio clip texts from my 5 year old nephew and my 3 year old niece, thanking me for their letters. It really made my day!
I also put little letters in my husband's lunch box every day for a week. He kept every one of them in our kitchen drawer.
I really enjoyed writing the letters of appreciation to those closest to me."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
17165 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
17165 Posts |
Posted - Nov 05 2026 : 4:13:16 PM
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Christine Kenney (#8680, Bellepic) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning an Expert Get It Together badge!
"We learned how to sharpen our knives and set up a monthly reminder on our chore tracker to keep them sharp.
Tips:
1. Use a sharpie to color the knife bevel to be sure you are sharpening evenly.
2. Put the whetstone on a kitchen scale to determine if you are pushing with a good amount of pressure (2-4 lbs for medium grit, 0.5-2lbs for polishing grit).
3. Test and refine your technique by seeing how smoothly the knife cuts through scrap paper.
This was a skill my young cultivator was enthusiastic to learn more about. With safety training and supervision, this periodic chore would be a good candidate to delegate if your knives aren't precious!"
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
17165 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
17165 Posts |
Posted - Nov 10 2026 : 5:23:37 PM
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Christine Kenney (#8680, Bellepic) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Rootin' Tootin badge!
"We learned about 14 root vegetables we can grow in our area and found most of them in the grocery store. Ginger was the jet-setter, coming all the way from Peru and Thailand!
The USDA country of origin labels aren't that helpful. Many just say "USA." We live close enough to the border that something from Mexico might travel fewer miles to get to us than something grown on the north side of our own state. We sent a suggestion to our primary grocer asking them to participate in the PTI Produce Tracing Initiative for greater detail."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
17165 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
17165 Posts |
Posted - Nov 10 2026 : 5:38:21 PM
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Christine Kenney (#8680, Bellepic) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning an Intermediate Rootin' Tootin badge!
"We grew and ate sweet potato and radishes. We also found 7 forage root vegetables in our area.
Radishes are a hard pass for the rest of my family. We continue to plant them mixed with slow-germinating seeds to remember to continue to monitor and water. I will snack on a few raw radish survivors we harvest to "prove" that I am truly hungry rather than just bored before making a big meal. This daikon kept me busy for a while, but I learned these stay crisp longer if you store them in water.
We are continuing to weed out morning glory and replant its territory with its edible sweet potato Ipomea relative. Even granny who is allergic to nightshades can help with this one. I wouldn't say the battle is won, but we are definitely well-fortified this year."
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
17165 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
17165 Posts |
Posted - Nov 10 2026 : 5:51:51 PM
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Christine Kenney (#8680, Bellepic) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning an Expert Rootin' Tootin badge!
"We have now grown or attempted to grow 11/14 root vegetables on our list. We even managed to get some jet-setting ginger to put down roots in a cast iron pot on our back porch! We are still hunting for exotic seeds like jicama and yucca to complete the list.
In our climate, the best way to "store" most root vegetables is to leave them in the ground until you're ready to cook them.
I did learn that we should not store onions and potatoes together. The onions release ethylene gas that causes the potatoes to ripen faster. The potatoes release moisture that can make the onions go mushy. The onions can stay on the counter and team up with our apples and bananas to speed up the ripening of our rock-hard avocados. We are shifting the bulk of the potatoes to the root cellar because they are more susceptible to turning green when exposed to light. That said, in our region, we are finding our "root cellar" is only about 5 degrees cooler than our kitchen and at a balmy 70 degrees, it is dubious that it is doing much for long-term storage."
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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