Paradise Farm In 1986, Butters purchased a five-acre homestead and farmhouse at the base of Paradise Ridge in Moscow, Idaho, for $45,000. By 2001, the black-and-white food catalog she had been printing since 1996 had evolved into a self-published magazine, ''MaryJane's Farm,'' and customers placing food orders over $50 received free subscriptions. In 2007, the company was profitable for the first time. At the time, the company was attempting to raise $500,000 to build a facility for shipping dried-food orders, and was still recovering from the 1996 fire, which had left her with $100,000 in credit-card debt. The company raised the funds with 45 investors, who receive "dividends" in the form of fresh produce,
free-range eggs, and stay at her bed and breakfast. The magazine began in 1996 as a mail-order catalog. Later editions included gardening articles, recipes, farmer bios, homemaking projects, photography, and essays. In 2008, Butters partnered with
Belvoir Media Group to re-launch the magazine as a bi-monthly. Belvoir marketed the publication to environmentally- and health-conscious women between the ages of 25 and 49. Advertisers include
Mountain Rose Herbs and Eden Foods. , the magazine claims a circulation of 150,000 and is sold at
Walmart,
Whole Foods Markets, and
Barnes & Noble. The magazine also operates a website to sell its product lines to readers. Marketed items include dried foods, products for the home and garden, crafting supplies, clothing, and household goods. The column provided concrete suggestions for green and organic living and was targeted at current and aspiring women farmers who wished to have good fields and crops.
MaryJane Farm Bed & Breakfast Butters opened a
bed & breakfast on the farm in 2004. and “
glamping" -- glamour camping -- a term now widely used in the media. Butters’ brand and merchandising rely on the notions of “glamorous camping” and feminized outdoor activities in a marketing approach she has described as “the juxtaposition of rugged and really pretty, grit and glam, diesel and absolutely darling.”
Pay Dirt Farm School In 1995, Butters founded a not-for-profit organization called Pay Dirt Farm School, designed to teach the business of organic farming to new farmers. Skills taught include chopping firewood, budgeting, composting, biofuel production, food preserving, and craft selling,
The U-Pick Country Club Butters also ran a u-pick membership organization. For a $100 fee and the cost of production, a household was given permission to collect produce and eggs from the greenhouses, fields, orchard, and chicken coop during daylight hours, seven days a week. Members could also gather flowers, picnic on the farm, or visit animals. Butters’ goal in starting the country club, according to son-in-law Lucas Rae, was to give others a chance to live out their “farm fantasy” and educate families about the source of their food. Butters has also said that she wanted to combat the culture of
convenience food, which has “created a nutritional famine”.
Historic schoolhouse MaryJane Butters and her husband, Nick Ogle, serve on the board of a group dedicated to preserving the historic schoolhouse where Ogle's mother attended classes.
Historic flour mill In 1997, MaryJane Butters and her husband, Nick Ogle, bought the organic flour business owned for 40 years by Joseph Barron in Oakes dale, Washington. The mill was the only one left of the many mills once standing in the area. The deal included an electric grinding mill machine and an old, four-story mill building with the original equipment. The grinding mill was moved to Moscow, Idaho, and is used by Butters to grind flours, cereals, and legumes for her line of dried organic foods. The historic mill building, built in 1890, is maintained in its original location. Butters has invested over $300,000 of her own funds toward restoring and preserving the mill. ==Books and Special Publications==