Author Archives: Virtual Farmgirl

Tonight, I was rushing to try to get supper on the table. I was a little behind because we had to go to the polls to vote (conveniently located where we pick up our Future Farmkids) this evening. So when I got home, I set to making supper: baked chicken w/Spice House’s Milwaukee Iron SeasoningContinue reading “Processed Food Mishap”

Southern Illinoisans aren’t there yet, but the Daily Egyptian reports that my neighbors downstate are edging closer to building a sustainable food system – one in which residents can get fresh produce from farms not more than 250 miles away. The region needs more than willing farmers to pull off a fully connected system. StorageContinue reading “One Step Forward, Two Steps Back”

We’re pretty proud of ourselves that we never come close to filling our garbage bin each week. If anything, we’re overflowing our recycling bin. I expect we’ll trim that down quite a bit more when we start composting this spring. But I’m in awe of this Gloustershire family of three who managed to reduce theirContinue reading “English Family Aims for Zero Waste Lifestyle”

The Local Beet, one of my favorite buy local/foodie news site, has a new contributor. Chicago lawyer Wendy Aechlimann, who splits her time between the Windy City and wine tasting through Michigan, will make The Case For Local Wine. Out of the gate, Wendy starts making her case for supporting local winemakers. These will soundContinue reading “Chicago Lawyer Makes The Case For Local Wine”

There are so many houses in my life like the one Cheryl Tevis writes about for Agriculture Online. They dot the countryside between Oak Park and The Farm, some boarded up, others succumbing to the elements. There are homes from my childhood, meticulously maintained by grandparents and great grandparents, that are in various states ofContinue reading “Sometimes It's More Than Just a House”

Today was an Institute Day at my children’s elementary school. I’m still not exactly sure why, the week after Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, our kids are off school on a Monday. I’m told the teachers are receiving extra training on these days (isn’t that what summer is for?), but I don’t recall ever gettingContinue reading “Lazy Day With the Kids”

For years I’ve heard from friends and family about “progressive” dinner parties – not the kind of progressive as in political leanings. Here, the idea is that everyone plays the role of host and guest, often starting at one house for appetizers, then heading to another for the main course and the final house forContinue reading “Taste of Barrie Park”

As if I needed any more encouragement to explore hobby farming, AOL’s Wallet Pop has a recent story about the upswing in so-called lifestyle farming. A lifestyle farmer, according to this piece, takes on a manageable 1 to 12 acres. And these folks make up a remarkable half of the 2.1 million farms in theContinue reading “Lifestyle Farming Takes Root”

After my grandparents died, while we were cleaning out their house, I remember seeing a pile of rusty cast ironware: muffin pans, cornbread pans and a skillet or two. I think I know where one pan went. But the rest probably went to the trash. Oh, how I kick myself for letting go of anyContinue reading “Reclaim Your Cast Iron Treasures or Hunt Some Down”

The other night I was invited to attend a mommy blogger dinner near my old Rogers Park neighborhood to meet the enthusiastic and engaging co-founder of an organic tea beverage business: Steaz. I happened into the invite because a fellow blogger wanted to go, but needed a ride back to Oak Park. I agreed toContinue reading “Three for Tea”