Author Archives: Virtual Farmgirl

Bad news. My canning class for the first weekend in November is in danger of cancellation. Apparently there just isn’t a ton of interest in pickles & chutneys. Me, on the other hand, I couldn’t wait and have already been stocking up on chutneys when I find them. They’re fantastic for marinades and to kickContinue reading “Fall Canning Class in Danger”

Agriculture Online is sponsoring a photo contest as a way to promote its new social network. Yes, a social network for farmers: Farmers for the Future. It’s pretty new. It would have to be if I’m Member No. 26…as if I need to develop one more online profile. It’s yet another Ning community, but IContinue reading “Farmgirls: Ready. Aim. Shoot!”

The good thing about insomnia is that it gives me time to catch up on blog posts and small farming websites that I’ve neglected. While tooling around, I realized I missed an entire section of the NYT’s Magazine devoted to “Food Fighters” earlier this month. The Food Fighters featured in a slide show include oneContinue reading “What's in Your Fridge? 'Food Fighters' Bare All”

Even on day two, my Española Butternut Squash is, if I may say so myself, excellent. I couldn’t find a recipe I liked after my butternut purchase at the farmers market this weekend, so I decided to enter uncharted territory…at least for me. The recipes calling for fennel and the like didn’t seem appealing. Instead,Continue reading “Test Kitchen Success: Spicy Butternut Squash Soup”

Just a quick programming post to note that I’ve dropped Odiogo’s podiocast from VFG. It took up space, was sometimes slowing down my load time (I still have dial up readers to consider)…and, well, the robo-farmer voice was kind of creepy. I’d listen to him read my stuff for entertainment some evenings, but I don’tContinue reading “OdioGone”

After my goat meat post, I started craving my favorite cheese these days, Little Bloom on the Prairie from Prairie Fruits Farm in downstate Illinois. My appetite gave me a chance to finally check out the new Marion Street Cheese digs. Wow. The space is impressive. And so is the cheese selection. [I was disappointedContinue reading “New Discovery: A Southern Indiana Pyramid”

Check out this article from the NYTs about goat ranching and the prediction that goat meat is the new red meat. My favorite part of this piece was well after the jump when the article touched on the goat-cattle symbiosis. Goats and cattle work particularly well together in a pasture. Goats don’t like clover orContinue reading “Goat. It's What's For Dinner”

I’m very excited about a new shop sponsored by the ChiTown Department of Cultural Affairs: Chicago’s Downtown Farmstand. I am so going there this week to check it out if I can get time at lunch or after work. According to reports I’ve seen, all the inventory is produced within 250 miles of Chicago. That’sContinue reading “Year-Round Buy Local Market in Chicago May be on the Way!”

This San Francisco Chronicle story, “What raw milk and the economic meltdown have in common,” might be the best argument I’ve seen to buy local. Here’s the lesson from the piece, which compares the global financial crisis to the melamine contaminated raw milk from China: The hopeful news in all this is that in theContinue reading “New Ag Labeling is So Un-COOL”

The Midwest apple harvest is in full swing, so many of us are finding ourselves loaded down with extra fruit. Thanks to 4H-Champ, I learned how easy it is to make crock pot applesauce. The hardest part is actually cutting, coring and peeling the apples. There are gadgets available that make that easier. It tookContinue reading “Nothing Like Waking Up to the Smell of Warm, Spiced Apples”