Author Archives: Virtual Farmgirl

If you haven’t yet experienced a traveling clambake, this Virtual Farmgirl highly recommends it. My gracious hosts in Westport picked up a Capt’n John’s Travelin’ Clambake in downtown Newport, just off Wall Street. I think you would’ve had to live here forever or really listen carefully to directions to be able to find the place.Continue reading “The Best Carryout Ever”

I’m headed to Connecticut and NYC. If I have a chance to check out the buy local/small farm scene, I’ll post.

So says the venerable New York Times biz section. Apparently investors are pouring billions of dollars into land, grain elevators and, no surprise, bio-fuel. The good news is that food production will increase to meet world demand. The bad news? Not sure yet. We’ll see if investors are looking to just make money by controllingContinue reading “Latest Investor Gold Rush? Farming”

One happy customer sent this photo of freshly picked strawberries from The Farm. I absolutely cannot wait to pick my own! I don’t recall ever having strawberries on The Farm when I was a kid. But I have fond memories of going raspberry picking with my grandpa. We’d tuck our long pants in our socks,Continue reading “Finally, Photo Evidence of Strawberries”

Illinois ag officials are greenlighting a large-scale dairy operation in the northern part of the state near Nora. From what I’ve read about the project, I’m not necessarily opposed. I was interested to see comments from other dairy farmers who believe a large-scale farm spearheaded by California businessman A.J. Bos might actually help them tooContinue reading “Will MegaDairy Actually Support Small Farms?”

Sadly, no new pix from Hoosier Outsider. And from what I hear, there’s plenty of delicious plump red strawberries to photograph. The baskets are ready for the U-Pickers. There’s even a new gravel parking space at the end of the drive. So what’s the going rate for a perfect basket of locally-grown strawberries? I’ll letContinue reading “U-Pick Strawberries at The Farm”

We finally coaxed our little surprise guest out from hiding under the porch to get a glimpse of her. Clearly petrified, she didn’t stay out long. But we did manage to snap a few shots. http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf We believe her mommy came for her at some point last night. By morning, the crying had ended andContinue reading “Our Wayward Guest Appears”

Wow. It’s been a long, busy, fun day. We got back from Future Farmboy’s party at Monkey Island. It was fantastic to see so many old friends. But I was so starved afterward…pizza may be kid-friendly, but it’s definitely an Atkins no no. So is cake, btw. The 4H Champ and Teacher Man rescued meContinue reading “A Surprise Guest Has Moved In”

This story about the isolated tribes in the Brazilian rain forest is fascinating…and sad, considering their territory is being threatened by over logging and illegal logging. According to the AP story I was reading, Brazil’s National Indian Foundation thinks there are 68 “uncontacted” groups around Brazil. Only about two dozen have been confirmed. The photoContinue reading “Tribe Threatened By Deforestation”

I had the great pleasure of dining at Le Lan on North Clark Street in Chicago today for lunch. I’m not sure I would have gone there on my own, but I’ll definitely go back. A friend took me and she clearly knew her way around the place. Plus, it was impressive that the hostContinue reading “Le Lan – Mouthwatering Perfection”