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One Simple Thing That Can Improve Your Day
Jan 29 2015 - 12:58pm
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Angelic Organics, CSA, organic farm, mindfulness, benefits of walking

It was the kick that I needed to change up my routine again and face the cold, northerly winds and get outside for a walk and tune my awareness to the voice of the farm.

The First CRAFT Field Day of 2015
Jan 28 2015 - 2:39pm
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Events
Farmer Training
CRAFT
Farmer Training
CRAFT Field Day at Tiny Tempest Farm

On Tuesday, January 20th about 20 CRAFT members squeezed into Sheri Doyel’s home at Tiny Tempest Farm in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for the Small Farm Operations Panel Discussion. The field day was originally supposed to be in a more ‘farmy’ room in one of the barns but the heater was too loud and the room was too cold… So we took to the indoors.

Season extension: the hottest thing in the cold
Jan 28 2015 - 9:44am
Events
Farmer Training
Partners&Friends
Garlic drying

Guest blog by Jeff Hake, Farmer Training Program Manager, The Land Connection

Although I’m not currently farming, I love reading industry rags. So when Vegetable Growers News showed up at our office recently, I was excited. Headlines like “Higher potato consumption goal of social...

Ringing in the Year of the Goat!
Jan 15 2015 - 4:53pm
AOLC Blog Home Page
On-Farm
Goats
goat new year, cute farm animals, funny goats

Curious, playful, smart, and stubborn are just a few of the adjectives describing one of the most entertaining animals in a farm. This year, however, goats are getting their moment in the sun as 2015 marks the Year of the Goat (and sheep) in the Chinese Zodiac. Angelic Organics Learning Center is offering several special programs to give the public an opportunity to spend time with these fun animals. Children have the chance to kid around with the goats at two upcoming spring events at Angelic Organics farm. Kidwatch is a full-day event on March 28 that gives children...

Eat to Live Farm in Englewood Gets a Helping Hand from the Cedar Tree Foundation
Jan 7 2015 - 1:45pm
AOLC General
E-Newsletter
Chicago
Farmer Training
Urban
Vernice King at the Eat to Live Garden in Englewood, E2L, urban agriculture, urban farming, chicago

Angelic Organics Learning Center is excited to announce a generous grant from The Cedar Tree Foundation to support the Eat to Live (E2L) project in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. Angelic Organics Learning Center and the E2L partners are installing an urban agriculture campus at the intersection of 70th Place and South Princeton Avenue, incorporating both an Urban Farm Incubator and a Community and Learning Garden.

Farm for All: Welcoming Everyone to On-Farm Programs
Dec 18 2014 - 11:43am
On-Farm

At the Learning Center, one of our guiding principles is that biological and cultural diversity are essential to the health of our world. We believe that having all kinds of living things on the farm is not just good and healthy, but necessary for our future.

As the On-Farm Program Director, I'm always thinking about how to weave this important principle into our work, particularly when it comes to welcoming all kinds of people to the farm for our programs. How do we ensure that our program participants reflect the diversity in our communities? Since our programs are funded primarily...

Vote with Your Food: In Pursuit of Sustainable Farming
Dec 12 2014 - 3:00pm
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Hot Topics

Every time we eat, we're placing a vote either toward our old, environmentally harmful food system, or a new, sustainable one. As both chef and scholar, Dan Barber holds an interesting perspective on sustainable fish farming: he's not only interested in helping the planet, but is also concerned with serving his customers delicious food. In his in-depth TED Talk, Barber explains the ins-and-outs of creating a sustainable eco-system for farming that benefits the earth and animals, as well as produces delicious food.

Giving Gifts of Experience
Dec 9 2014 - 2:02pm
AOLC General
On-Farm

Stuck in a rut for gift ideas? Skip the stores and give the gift of a fun and educational farm experience! You'll have memories (and photos) to last a lifetime! Give a gift certificate or a class at Angelic Organics Learning Center!

Pan's Perfume
Nov 28 2014 - 11:22am
AOLC General
Partners&Friends

Who could have guessed? Through a crazy set of coincidences, chance encounters, and beginners luck, a tincture made from the scent of Angelic Organics Learning Center’s amazing goat buck, Addam, will be featured in an upcoming class on animalic basenotes for perfumemaking at the prestigious Institute for Art and Olfaction in Los Angeles.

For the Love of Food & Farms
Nov 18 2014 - 2:27pm
AOLC General
Donate

Lenae Weichel, longtime volunteer and supporter of Angelic Organics Learning Center, is working toward a good food revolution. Undaunted by the state of industrial agriculture, Lenae focuses on the positive choices that nurture a sustainable food system. She explains, “I think when any of us as individuals are thinking of sustainability, the little things matter. When we participate as consumers in a local food system, it has an impact. Each individual together becomes a group, and the little choices we make every day becomes a movement.”

Growing Through Giving
Nov 17 2014 - 5:30pm
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Donate
#GivingTuesday, #ILGiveBig

Angelic Organics Learning Center has joined the #GivingTuesday and #ILGiveBig movements this year to support the concept of spending with a purpose. This new effort will harness the collective power of a unique blend of partners—charities, families, businesses and individuals—to transform how people think about, talk about and participate in the giving season. Coinciding with the Thanksgiving holiday and the kickoff of the holiday shopping season, #GivingTuesday and #ILGiveBig will inspire people to take collaborative action to improve their local communities, give back in better, smarter ways to the charities and causes they support and help create a better world....

Photo Contest Winners Announced!
Nov 6 2014 - 10:55am
AOLC General
Nicole Eckstein farm photo contest

Farmer John's vote is in!
We had many beautiful photo submissions from our Fall Farm Photo Contest! Thank you for all who participated! It was hard to choose between so many great photographs, but we have a winner and several honorable mentions.
The blue ribbon winner is . . .

Blackhawk Courts Trunk or Treat and the Horrible Harvest
Oct 31 2014 - 1:13pm
Events
Partners&Friends
Roots & Wings
Urban

It was Halloween Eve in Rockford, IL. Members of Blackhawk Courts Farm and Garden as well as staff from Angelic Organics Learning Center and Zion Outreach were transformed into the undead. AHHH! Zombie Farmers!

Swag & Sweetness: Learning and Laughing Together
Oct 29 2014 - 1:08pm
AOLC General
Partners&Friends
Roots & Wings
Urban
toothpaste recipe

Laughter pours out of the room that women have gathered in for Swag and Sweetness Classes. The classes, serving women from Blackhawk Courts, are offered through a partnership between Rockford Housing Authority, Zion Outreach, and Angelic Organics Learning Center.

natural body careThe two-month series provide residents with the opportunity to make new friendships while learning to make body care products and sweet treats. One participant, Courtney Aldridge values the fellowship opportunity.  "You get to know each...

CRAFTING a Local Food Network
Oct 28 2014 - 1:40pm
AOLC General
CRAFT
Farmer Training
April Yuds leading Beekeeping Basics CRAFT Field Day at Lotfotl Farm

Watch our new short video about the Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training (Upper Midwest CRAFT).

Beekeeping Basics
Oct 22 2014 - 2:04pm
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Bees
CRAFT
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Farmer Training

Beekeeping Basics: The Bees’ Knees Needs

Beekeeping at LotFotL (Living off the Fat of the Land) Community Farm

Arriving at LotFotL Community Farm on Tuesday, CRAFTers were greeted by some exceedingly healthy and jolly-looking pigs (as well as an impressive heap of winter squash).  However, it was a few hundred thousand head of LotFotL’s other livestock that was the focus of this beekeeping field day.

Beekeeper and farm manager April Yuds (pictured here with LotFotL owner/operator Tim Huth) started off this incredibly informative session with a tour of a Langstroth style hive and an overview of all...

Growing Healthy, Hungry Soils
Oct 17 2014 - 6:25pm
Farmer Training
CRAFT
Tipi Produce CSA Box

Over twenty CRAFT members took a break from their fall cleanup chores to enjoy a wonderful potluck lunch and learn about soil fertility at Tipi Produce outside of Evansville, WI, on Tuesday, October 7th.  Tipi is situated on seventy-six acres with over forty-five...

It's Like a Tour of Hollywood Stars' Homes - Only for Chickens
Oct 15 2014 - 12:51pm
Urban
Chicago
Chickens
Coop Tour, Chicago, Urban Chickens, Chicken Coop

On September 20 and 21, the Learning Center and Chicagoland Chicken Enthusiasts held our 5th Annual Windy City Coop Tour. Between periodic showers, 29 hosts reported good traffic during the 4-hour windows that they were open for tour visitors, with an estimate of 350 at all sites. 16 Hosts were new to the tour, while the others had hosted at least one previous year – and 3 hosts have participated each of the 5 years of the tour! During that time, 70 hosts in at least 26 wards of Chicago and 5 neighboring communities have opened their yards to the...

"Take Your Chicken to Work" Day
Oct 8 2014 - 3:16pm
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AOLC General
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Chickens

Here at Angelic Organics Learning Center, we love chickens.

So much so that we have staff who have worked in their cities, towns, and villages to overturn the chicken laws so that residents can have feathered friends in their own backyard. (By the way, congratulations Roscoe, IL!)

We love chickens so much that we frequently stop a conversation mid-sentence to gawk at their awkardly hilarious run.

We love chickens and we can't get enough of them.

In light of this chicken-love, we recently decided that enough was enough. It was officially time for "Bring Your Chicken to Work" Day.

...
Partnering Together for a Healthy Community
Oct 6 2014 - 1:06pm
Partners&Friends
Roots & Wings
Roots & Wings Youth
Blue Cross Blue Shield, Angelic Organics, Roots and Wings, Blackhawk Courts, urban agriculture, award

We are grateful to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) for awarding a $15,000 Healthy Kids, Healthy Families grant to support the Roots & Wings Urban Agriculture and Youth Development Program. The Roots & Wings network builds leadership, job skills and community through farming in the city of Rockford. Angelic Organics Learning Center coordinates the Roots & Wings network together with Rockford youth, their families, neighbors, and support organizations.

"Giving back to help our communities is...

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