Author Archives: Virtual Farmgirl

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”

My favorite King Corn filmmakers are at it again, out to show the world – or at least Brooklyn – that fresh, local food can be grown in the most unlikely places. Their vehicle of choice is, well, an actual vehicle. Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, the guys who brought us the corn-free challenge andContinue reading “This Green Vehicle Will Get You Where You're Going & Feed You Too”

I’m still shaking my head after reading this piece in the LA Times about a savvy, forward-thinking restaurateur who convinced a developer to let him transform an old railroad spur into a bountiful urban garden with more than 500 tomatoes plants and 40 fruit trees. His idea was to use the fruits of his laborContinue reading “Urban Farming Illegal in Culver City. Really?”

This afternoon, the iFarmer and I dropped our kids off for a week of cousins camp in NW Indiana. I’m having some mixed feelings as I miss my kids, but know they’re already having a fantastic time with four of their cousins. To cheer me up, we’re having some adult fare at home tonight, startingContinue reading “Easy Watermelon, Dill & Tomato Salad”

Great to see Pat Terry writing in the Chicago Tribune about the myth of buying organic at a farmers market. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge supporter of farmers markets (you can catch me on occasional Saturdays at the Oak Park Farmers Market info booth). But she’s right to say that many food buyersContinue reading “Think You're Buying Organic at the Local Farmers Market? Probably Not”

This is a little new to me. The Hoosier Outsider, apparently still joansing for a berry crop after strawberry season finished, has been buying up blueberries at auction. Sounds like a good move, considering the roadside stand keeps selling out. Not a surprise. These Midwest blues are amazing. Future Farmboy ate up a pint likeContinue reading “Burried in Blues”

We had a fantastic vacation, really packed in a ton of activity. So it’s no wonder we’re so happy to be home, in our own beds and ready for a calmer routine. Here are a few pix from our final two days in the Traverse City area. http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf

Thanks to a tip from a chef the iFarmer met at Right Brain Brewery, we visited the one-time Northern Michigan Asylum, a beautiful campus of Victorian-Italianate buildings that’s being repurposed as art galleries, trendy bistros and organic food shops. We spent a few minutes at the TGIF Farmers Market, which takes place from 2-6 FridaysContinue reading “Crazy About This Off-the-Beaten-Path Answer to Urban Sprawl”

I had to travel all the way to Traverse City, Mich., to learn that Learn Great Foods offers farm-to-table tours in my own backyard. There’s a whole range of tour options, from local farmers market tours to full-day excursions that include touring local organic farms, cooking demos and dinner. There’s apparently a Chicago tour. ButContinue reading “My Kind of Daytrip: Midwest Farm-to-Table Tours”