Author Archives: Virtual Farmgirl

What is it about my days off that I can’t sleep in, not even an extra hour? Because I couldn’t sleep and had nowhere to go, I decided to use the time to finish up a bunch of CSA goodies that were on the verge of turning. Whatever I couldn’t freeze whole, I chopped upContinue reading “Couldn't Sleep, So I Got Busy in the Kitchen”

I had a fairly hectic day, so that’s why it was even more satisfying to come home to an unopened CSA box and pull together a pretty simple, but mostly locally grown (freshly harvested) meal. I’d already thawed out a grass-fed, corn finished tri-tip from Heartland Meats, which sells at the Oak Park Farmers Market.Continue reading “Organic. It's What's For Dinner”

Here’s a prime example of why heirloom varieties are not commercially marketed. They simply don’t travel well. But they sure do smell and taste fantastic, much better than the increasingly opaque and uniform tomatoes I see at the grocery. Even the hothouse, vine-ripened varieties don’t come close to these heirlooms. So I have no problemContinue reading “Bruised, Battered and Worth the Risk”

Birders may need to help confirm the identity of this bird, but I think it’s a juvenile red-tailed hawk.This little guy was perched on the fence protecting our neighborhood Sled Hill, which is being re-seeded and restored for what we hope will be a snowy sled-friendly winter. He let me get pretty close, but flewContinue reading “Critter Alert: Was That a Red-Tailed Hawk?”

I wish I could take credit for this delectable creation. But no, these little as-yet-to-be-named butter burgers are the iFarmer’s…all the way. He continues to improve upon them. But here are the basics: Organic ground beef, mixed with hearty slivers of garlic, toasted walnuts, salt & pepper; topped with caramelized onions and goat cheese. He’sContinue reading “Best Burgers Ever”

So fun to see this article at MatadorChange about how guerrilla gardeners known as “Trowels on the Prowl” have taken on parts of Chicago and Evanston. One of the really neat community consequences of guerrilla gardening is that a more beautified community feeds on the positive energy. But there are downsides…like that the guerrilla gardenersContinue reading “Guerrilla Gardners Take on Chicagoland”

I have to only imagine that the Oak Park Farmers Market wasn’t a contender in American Farmland Trust’s contest naming America’s Favorite Farmers Market. Had I been paying attention, I would have submitted a nomination or urged one of my favorite farmers to submit the market, which is truly a treat. [I won’t go onContinue reading “Is Your Farmers Market One of America's Favorites?”

Nice to see the Associated Press do a bylined story about how large cities are growing community gardens in as many vacant spaces as they can find. Here’s the trend AP’s identifying: In the grittiest, grimiest, most unlikely neighborhoods, in cities including Los Angeles, Detroit and Miami, volunteer farmers are growing food that provides notContinue reading “Now Even the Politicians Are in Favor of Urban Ag”

One of the biggest challenges of shifting my family’s eating habits from grocery to farm fresh is the amount of waste. When I buy fresh beets at the local Jewel, I don’t often find them attached to their same-colored stems and leafy greens. That’s a shame, because those greens, as I have recently learned, areContinue reading “Even Veggie Waste Can Be Delicious”

I think besides learning how many new ways I can enjoy cabbage, my favorite new thing in my twice monthly CSA box is the torpedo onion. It’s not nearly as strong as a red onion, so don’t judge it by the color of its skin. To me, it’s closer in flavor to a shallot orContinue reading “My New Favorite CSA Discovery: The Torpedo Onion”