Ind. Raw Milk Cheeses Recalled

Just a quick note to pass on word that Indiana health authorities are warning cheese buyers to check their purchases of Grassy Meadows raw milk varieties.

Grassy Meadows dairy, based in Howe, sold the suspect cheeses directly to consumers, the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette is reporting.

High levels of staph were detected in routine testing.

The farm sells its raw milk cheese primarily in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.

No injuries have been reported.

Hoosier Wines Close to Home

Good news from a friend of VFG: There's a new Butler Winery tasting room getting ready to open in Chesterton. I'll be looking forward to that.

I love that little artist's community by the lake. Chesterton is full of suburban Chicago and NWI hidden treasures.

Now back to American Idol.

Hoosier Wine Update: Butler Winery

I opened a bottle of Indiana Red from Butler Winery near Bloomington this week.

I'd say it's much better than my experience with the too-sweet Reggae Red.

Indiana Red, on the other hand, is a nice, smooth table wine. Still a bit on the sweet side, but just about right for me.

Butler Winery bills itself as the fourth oldest winery in Indiana...having been established in 1983. Not exactly old-world Italy, which I just learned -- from Alpana Singh on Check Please -- has more than 900,000 registered wineries. That's a lot of grapes.

More Women than Men Enrolled in University of Wisconsin Ag Program?

I stumbled across this great Farmgirl feature in the Sunday Green Bay Press Gazette, "Women take the lead on more Wisconsin farms."

The piece notes that Wisconsin is among the top 10 states in which women are principals in farm operations.

Deb Reinhart, who was the 2007 Dairy Woman of the Year at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, says more women are drawn to agriculture because there are more opportunities for "smart, articulate people."

But here's a sad reality for so many families. Diane Grezenski, who farms with her husband on a dairy farm near Stevens Point, says she handles much of the day-to-day farm work. Her husband does the field work and some milking when he's not working at a nearby paper mill so the family can have a steady income and health insurance.

She says, "somebody has to work elsewhere to get health insurance, and often it is the man, because they usually can find better-paying jobs."

Still, women aren't shying away from farming. Thirty years ago at the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences there were 796 men and only 353 women enrolled. Last fall, more women (1,311) were enrolled than men (1,005).

Wow.

Backyard Milk?

We ran out of milk over the weekend. So this got Future Farmboy wondering..."Why don't we get a cow?"

That would surely solve the problem. But I asked him where he'd put it. "In the backyard." When I said that the cow would need shelter, he said daddy could build it a barn.

When I asked where we would put the barn, he said we'd have to buy another house.

Indeed, our urban backyard is not big enough for active children and livestock...unless I can get a variance to allow a couple of goats and/or rabbits and a few hens.

Anyway, Future Farmboy was not deterred by the second house bit. So I asked how he would keep the cow clean. He in turn asked me how big cow poop is.

When I drew a circle in the air to demonstrate the size of a cow patty, he said, "I guess I'll need a shovel."

Ready for a Road Trip

If our schedules permit, we're going to try to get it together to go to this Organic Farming Conference in La Crosse.

It's supposed to be the largest organic farming conference in the country with tons of workshops and more than a hundred exhibitors.

If we go a day early, there's an Organic University, with intensive sessions on diversified vegetable farming and organic sheep and goat production.

Sounds too good to miss.

Plus, a visit to La Crosse will be a chance to pay homage to the World's Largest Six Pack. Of course the last time we saw it, the six pack was painted red, white and Old Style.

Supposedly, it's been repainted to match a City Brewery lager pack.

Eureka! A Pressman's Hat is Born!

Finally, the iFarmer figured out where we were folding wrong to make a pressman's hat.

We can, however, now confirm that the incredible shrinking newspapers mean that the hats are truly child-sized. I doubt there were many full-grown pressmen who could fit these on their head...

Folding and Instructions:



On the old toy horse, with the iFarmer's Hoosier Homestead in the background:


On the iFarmer (It's a liberal hat, prominently featuring e-columnist Eric Zorn):


And a better fit on Future Farmboy (who may have ink in his blood...from his great grandfather who wrote a Talkin' Turkey column for his local paper and his momma, who peddles more in virtual ink these days):

Easy as 1, 2, 3...But Not for Me

Apparently, I don't know how to follow simple instructions. At least that's the only conclusion I can possibly reach after going through whole sections of the newspaper to try to properly fold a pressman's hat.

[Pressmen used to fashion the hats out of newspaper to keep the ink that spewed out of the presses from getting into their hair.]

Anyway, hungry for a craft, I started folding my paper on the train as soon as I saw the how-to graphic in today's Chicago Tribune (good luck finding an online link).

When my multiple attempts failed, I ventured beyond the Trib to find more detailed instructions. The iFarmer found a nice step-by-step in the Detroit Free Press. But, sadly, the video links had been removed.

If anyone can demonstrate the proper folding to me...I'll be in your debt.

Meanwhile, I'll give it another try at some point (with the "easy" cartoon instructions), maybe when I'm feeling a little better. This frigid weather finally got to me this evening.

From Wicker Park to the Ozarks

Love this story by Laura Putre in the Chicago Reader about a former psychologist, turned used book store owner who chucked his city living for a farm in the Arkansas Ozarks.

Great storytelling Laura. I read it all the way to the end, which is pretty amazing considering I have a pretty limited attention span.

The picture here is a crop of a larger Reader photo of Farmer Joe Judd with a toy tractor. We have this tractor, minus the rubber on one of the front wheels. It belonged to the iFarmer's grandpa, who like Judd and so many farmers, had one career to pay the bills (he was a teacher) and farmed as a way of life.

More about Judd, Myopic books, his farm and his beautiful Jacob Sheep at Judds Farm.

Portable Farmlife Training on the Train

Now that I have my little tiny iPod Nano, I've been able to catch up a bit on my Geek Farm Life podcasts. I still have a ways to go, so I'm starting with podcast topics that might be useful.

I started with the hallmark 100th Podcast on making soap. I have to admit that the description scared the crap out of me. I won't be making soap anytime soon. Working with lye and risking burning holes in my skin. Uh. No.

I'll stick to the glycerin variety with easy molds I can buy at the hobby stores.

Still it was entertaining, educational and I'm looking forward to listening to more podcasts on the train.

It's admittedly odd to hear turkeys gobbling while crowded on the L. But it's a nice escape.

One note...the podcasts can sometimes be difficult to hear in a noisy space. I had to crank up the volume to hear Andrew, though Misty's voice came through clear as a bell.

Happy MLK Day!

Here are a couple of pix by Future Farmboy honoring Dr. King, or as Ben Harper called him, "Our picture of Jesus."



The pencil drawing was inspired by this coloring book sheet from school...

Hot, Fresh Bread in 5 Minutes...Plus 4 Hours

I finally tried the 5-minute artisan bread I was too lazy to make last weekend.

Thanks for the encouragement Zoe! [Check out her blog at Zoe Bakes.]

I can definitely report that it's pretty easy to make. In fact, it took less than five minutes to mix it up and let it start rising. I let my dough rise about 2.5 hours, cut off a grapefruit-sized portion and prepped it like the authors did in the Chicago Tribune's video. I watched it for technique and it was worth the time.

I let the dough sit again for about a half hour, and popped it in the oven. In 30 minutes I had hot fresh bread.

I didn't wait for it to cool before slicing off a couple pieces and buttering them up. Yum!

I can't wait for the book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking, so I can try the other variations with mix-ins.

The best part is that I have a bowl full of dough that I can use over the next two weeks.

Doing the Virtual Farmgirl Shuffle

I have a new music feature to the VFG blog. It's on the right column under the farmgirl/lavender photo.

Hit play and you can listen to my playlist. At this point, I have 46 songs loaded into my finetune widget. It plays in a shuffle format.


I'm guessing it'll be tough to listen to these without a decent Internet connection. But if anyone tries this with dial up and it works, let me know.

Also...warning...some of these songs are not family friendly. Mickey Avalon's Jane Fonda comes immediately to mind. But you can skip ahead if you find a particular song too objectionable.

This is just a sampling of what's on my iPod at the moment...everything from Mickey to Gillian Welch, Nancy Sinatra, Cat Power and The Breeders to the Violent Femmes, The Decemberists, Son Volt and Dixie Chicks.

Prepping for the Big Chill

The iFarmer is one of those people who can go to a grocery store, focused on his objective, say, buying popcorn.

He'll go straight to the aisle, grab the box on sale and head for the checkout. If he passes something else on sale on the way back, he'll grab it, pay the two bucks and that's it. In and out, back home in a flash.

Me on the other hand? I went out for a popcorn run, or as I called it, provisions [We're supposed to hit 8 below this weekend, so I don't expect to go out much].

The round trip (two blocks away) took me nearly 45 minutes. You'd think I would be deterred from veering off course when I opted for a small shopping basket instead of a cart. But no. I loaded that sucker until my arms ached. I eventually had to set it down by the checkout when I realized I had forgotten, what? Yes, the popcorn.

Anyway, I spent $26 and now have the makings for several new recipes, including a red orange and radish salad.

Hoosier Wine Update

I finally had a chance to down, I mean try, the Reggae Red from Easley Winery in Indy. The winery advertises itself as the oldest family owned winery in the state.

Here's my verdict. In a word: Sweet. Really, really sweet. The cork wrap that warned that it was sweet should be bright red.

I tend to like sweet wine, but this was even too saccharine for me.

Still, I may have to try another wine from their collection.

I probably won't buy again though until I've visited and done some tasting.

If I wasn't already committed, I might even check out the Chocolate Lovers Weekend on Feb. 9 and 10.

If you're in or around Indy that weekend, you can check out the participating wineries at Indy Wine Trail.

Triumph of the Home Remedy

Good news. The mayo worked and a second pesticide hair treatment wasn't needed.

Now I guess I build nit hunting into my regular child-care routine until...well...they can do it themselves.

To give you an idea of how thick the mayo was...Even after I removed the shower cap, Future Farmgirl felt like it was still on and kept asking me to take it off. She was in surprisingly good spirits though and cooperated fully.

A Few Nits To Pick

I have a new appreciation for a phrase I use quite a bit: nit picky. That's what I've been today. Literally.

Indeed, the horrors, my household was struck with head lice. I haven't had to deal with this since I was in grade school, so I was hoping there'd be some fancy new cure. Some magic pill in the uh-um-odd years it's been since I was a girl.

But no. It's basically the same drill. Wash your hair in a stinky pesticide, then attempt to hold a rambunctious child between your knees while you carefully comb all the nits out. Then wash everything in the house that you can, vacuum the carpets and couches and quietly quarantine the stuffed animals.

I can say one thing...my house feels pretty clean.

I've also learned something today. Boys are way easy. I had Future Farmboy treated and cleared by his school nurse by 8:15 a.m.

As for Future Farmgirl...that remains to be seen. Her chemical treatment didn't take, so we intend to repeat it in the morning. That is if the non-chemical treatment doesn't work.

What might that be, you ask? I'm afraid to say, it involves mayonnaise and a shower cap. She cried and cried when I lathered it in her scalp. I can only imagine what it'll smell like in the morning. But this is what the doctor ordered. And I confirmed it's a legit treatment, at least according to my trusted friend Google.

So, I guess, we're in the nit picking business for a few more weeks to be sure it's all cleared up.

Either way, it'll be haircuts all around in VFG's house, me too. I wanted to go short again anyway.

Bread So Easy, I Skipped it This Weekend

This was the weekend I had planned to experiment with bread making.

Other than corn bread and sweet breads, I've never actually made a loaf of yeast bread, on my own, without a machine. I'm not a big fan of machine bread (those loaves aren't natural), so I was excited to hear about this book, "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery that Revolutionizes Home Baking." Sounds just up my alley. I don't have my copy yet, but the Tribune printed what's supposed to be an easy artisan bread recipe that only takes 25 minutes to prepare.

The plan was for me to whip up a batch of dough Sunday morning, let it rise, then have it for dinners throughout the week. This dough keeps for up to two weeks, making it pretty easy to have fresh bread with just about any meal.

Anyway, that was the plan. But I told the iFarmer that I couldn't make the dough this week because I didn't have the yeast. He misread that signal. Instead of dropping the idea, he walked to the neighborhood grocery and bought me some yeast packets. It really was sweet, a nice gesture. But it was too late. I opted to take a nap. We'll try it later this week and report back.

To keep the Future Farmkids entertained, we did mash up some ripe bananas and made whole wheat muffins, sprinkled with raw sugar.

And the iFarmer, still craving fresh bread to go with his chili, made himself a batch of corn muffins...we add green chilies and cheese to the batter to add some flavor, heat and texture.

Want Nutrient-Rich Food? Buy Fresh. Cook it Yourself.

There's more evidence in this San Francisco Chronicle story to support ponying up the extra bucks to buy organic.

But like the headline suggests, "it depends" a lot on how and where the organic food is produced.

That's one reason I'm starting to focus more on buying local and in season. I think those habits will translate to healthier, more nutrient-rich foods. Plus, I hope it will help better connect my family to our community.

Plus, plus, "organic" is so trendy, I don't trust the labels anymore. [There's another resource though: the Organic Center a science-based pro-organic organization.]

Not surprisingly, the article notes that researchers found that processed food, whether organic or not, obliterates nutrients. That's definitely a weak point in our household. We need to find more ways to rely less on processed foods.

One of the researchers summed it up best: "[G]row food when you can, support local farm systems when you can, try to buy organic and, whatever you do, buy fresh and cook it yourself."

Abstracts of the UC Davis studies cited in the story are available at pubs.acs.org.

Striking Farmgirl Photo Gold

I finally found the picture I was looking for...three Farmgirls actually dismantling a barn.

I know there are more like this, so that'll keep me motivated as I continue to sort through the bins of family photos.

[Just waiting for the iFarmer to hop to it and scan it in for me so I can post it. I know, Farmgirls should be more techsufficient. But alas, I still don't do my own scans. But I did just figure out by my own self how to do strike through in html.]

I'm almost to the bottom of one of the larger bins. All that means is that I have several other piles that are growing.

At some point, I'll sort at least the family photos and family history photos by date and try to add names where I can without assistance.

Going Bananas Over This Farmgirl Treat

Thanks to the Chicago Trib's Good Eating section and Universal Press Syndicate writer Sally Schneider, I now have a new favorite dessert. The best part is that it's an ingredient always easy to find, is simple to make and...depending on the add ins...can be a fairly healthy treat.

All I have to do is cut up a banana, sprinkle it with a bit of sugar, dot it with butter, put it on a baking sheet and broil it until it caramelizes.

That's the fairly healthy part, especially if you limit the butter. Adding toasted walnuts adds a bit of crunch and some of those Omega-3s everyone keeps talking about.

Here's how I tricked it out a bit...Caramelized bananas with:

Whipped cream and toasted walnuts.

Whipped cream, toasted walnuts and homemade chocolate sauce a neighbor gave me (She should really make chocolate sauce for a living. It's amazing. When I ran out of that, I used melted chocolate chips. No comparison, but still a nice add on.)

Vanilla ice cream and toasted walnuts.

I plan to experiment with more add ons and am more than happy to entertain suggestions.

Farm Fresh Eggs...Only 390 Miles Round Trip

Word from The Farm is that the chickens are laying up to a dozen eggs a day! Great news.

Now if we can just figure out a good delivery mechanism to Chicagoland.

I just had to buy a crappy dozen from the store. I'm becoming an egg snob. Once you've had those farm-fresh eggs, it's hard to accept brittle, translucent shells, runny whites and fragile yolks that make "sunny-side up" a challenge.

On the more negative side for the chickens, at least one of them...the poorest layer ended up as...well...supper. She was a sweet bird, friendly and compliant.

But in the end, she didn't earn her keep.

Sorting Through Family History

I've started my winter project...going through several bins.

Yes, bins, of photos from my mother-in-law's estate.

Here's some advice. Label your photos. Even a note on the pack of negatives. A year on the back of the photo. Something to date it, place it.

I'm doing a presort first...quickly going through each bin and separating photos into a bin for each sibling. I'm putting family photos and photos of parents, grandparents in separate bins to divvy up later.

And then there's the most interesting bin, filling up quickly with family history photos. Identifying all of these may prove to be impossible, at least not without input from some of the family elders. That'll be a future step.

I'm having a hard time not being distracted by all the presumably '30s and '40s farm shots. I'll try to periodically scan them in and share.

VFG Turns One!

Jan. 3 is the anniversary of my first post on Virtual Farmgirl.

I can hardly believe I stuck with it this long. But I feel like I'm just getting my sea legs here, so I'll keep at it for a while longer.

Thanks to all those who send me suggestions for posts, invitations to farms and food!

I actually didn't get any food until this week when the Style Maven at my office brought me some delightfully smooth organic goat cheese from Vermont.

She gave me a round of Does' Leap Caprella, a bloomy aged soft cheese similar to a ripe Brie, except creamier.

Does' Leap looks like a fascinating place...a diversified organic farm that offers internships and apprenticeships for at least two months at a time.

Prettier Than a Picture: Late Bloomer Painter Captures Essence of Rural Life

Over the holidays, in between our family binges, we did our best to explore.

Thanks to a very lovely woman who admitted she had nothing better to do, we got into an art gallery -- the Brown County Artists Guild -- in downtown Nashville, Ind., just after closing.

There we had the pleasure of learning about Hattie Stanton, a latecomer to the art world, but accomplished nonetheless.

Indeed, this 70-year-old grandmother paints dreamy picturesque settings...earthy oils draw the eye along dirt roads and paths that wind through fall woods and past bales of hay or old farm buildings.

Thankfully, she has a studio in Muncie, closer to our regular stomping grounds. So hopefully we'll get a chance to see more of her work soon.

In her art bio, there are quirky details about her life and interests. She's clearly got the resources of a farmgirl.

She once made a stunning room divider, constructed of rescued from a building about to be demolished in Muncie.

She passes on this excellent advice from her parents: "Your hands can do whatever your brain is capable of telling them."

Toy Review: Connecting with a Child's Unlimited Creativity

Connectagons from the 4-H Champ get the distinction of being the most engaging child gift this Christmas.

By engaging, I mean it kept the Future Farmkids happily creating structures, without parental participation.

The wooden connectors come boxed in a set of 240 colorful, eight-slotted disks that are really stable once the kids know how to match up the slots.

Mostly they're making alien spaceships, futuristic mice (hooked up to a plastic slinky) and apparently some kind of ice cream.

Santa got Future Farmboy a builder set that is also very cool and stable. But that takes an enormous amount of parental participation. That may get put away until FFB and FFG have more finger dexterity.