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Partnering Together for a Healthy Community
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...

Fall Farm Photo Contest
Oct 1 2014 - 11:38am
Jessie Crow Mermel
AOLC Blog Home Page
Events
pumpkins

Autumn in the Midwest offers ample opportunities for shooting pictures of beautiful barns, rolling fields, and grazing livestock. You are invited to send in your favorite shots from any farm during the month of October for your chance to win an organic t-shirt.

By the Root: Food Sovereignty
Sep 29 2014 - 8:34am
Jessie Crow Mermel
This-n-That

By the Root: Food Sovereignty
An occasional post from Harvesting Justice: Transforming Food, Land, and Agricultural Systems in the Americas
 
Food sovereignty is a term used around the world to call for food systems that are just, sustainable, and democratically governed by people and communities (not corporations). Food sovereignty is not a one-size-fits all approach, or a singularly defined demand. It is an expansive, and evolving vision that looks different in different communities. Six widely accepted principles of food sovereignty include: the right of everyone to healthy food; the valuing of all those involved in growing, harvesting, and...

Washing Veggies
Sep 17 2014 - 11:01am
Shelbie Blank
AOLC Blog Home Page
AOLC General
Events
Farmer Training
CRAFT
Farm Beginnings

This Sunday the sun shown brightly and warmed up Chicagoland just in time for our CRAFT field day. On September 14th, CRAFT members gathered at Green Earth Institute in Naperville, IL, to learn about postharvest handling. Amongst the group of CRAFT members were also special guests - four students from the horticulture department at College of DuPage, enrolled in "Organic Vegetable Production" taught by CRAFT farm member Kim Marsin of Sweet Home Organics.

Green Earth Institute is surrounded by many subdivisions within a suburb of Chicago. The farm is 60 acres total so it’s not really constituted...

Heart of Gold
Sep 15 2014 - 4:32pm
Jessie Crow Mermel
Urban
Partners&Friends

Janice Forrest has one of those smiles that can turn even the worst day around. Her open and welcoming heart radiates through her bright grin. Her joyful nature is a breath of fresh air to a community that has gone through hard times.

Janice has worked with Zion Lutheran Church for 5 years as the Buddy House/Blackhawk Farm Involvement Supervisor at Blackhawk Courts, a Rockford Housing Authority (RHA) community. Blackhawk Courts Farm and Garden is a partnership between RHA, Zion Outreach and Angelic Organics Learning Center.

When I interviewed her recently, she told me...

Scrap the Scraps!
Sep 4 2014 - 12:44pm
Kellie Laurson
AOLC Blog Home Page
Events
On-Farm

“Can I name this one Henry?” or something similar, has come from many of the kids that I’ve seen hold a worm.

A red wiggler. Our tiniest farm animals, they are also one of the most valuable.

Every day, we have to eat. We also tend to have a little bit of waste every day…that extra handful of rice, the last bite of a sandwich, an apple core or banana peel. 

The good news is that red wigglers have to eat, too. And they are good-to-the-last-drop definitely not-picky eaters. Throw in that apple core, they gobble it up. The rice...

See What the Clucks are About on the Windy City Coop Tour
Sep 4 2014 - 10:31am
Jessie Crow Mermel
Events
Urban

Curious about urban chicken keeping? This is your chance to take a peak at the wide variety of chicken coops and breeds in the Chicago area at the 5th Annual Windy City Coop Tour on September 20-21 from 10 AM to 2 PM each day.

As many as 29 hosts in Chicago, Riverside, Blue Island and even Hammond, IN, will be opening their gates an sharing their coops, yards, and chicken-keeping wisdom with visitors.

In addition to chicken-gazing, visitors can also learn about other green features at some of the host sites. Like this home in Lincoln Square that also...

Roots & Wings Summer Reflections
Aug 28 2014 - 4:22pm
Jessie Crow Mermel
Roots & Wings
Roots & Wings Youth
Urban

As the summer comes to an end I asked the Youth leaders and young adults from the Blackhawk Courts community to reflect on some of their experiences over this summer with the Roots & Wings program. Here is what they had to say:

Milca St. Fleurose (Age 16, Youth Leader Apprentice) 

"One experience that I’ve had through the Roots & Wings program this summer is going out to Pecatonica IL, and seeing Andy Hazzard’s farm. I have a love for nature so seeing all the green fields and feeling the fresh summer breeze makes me happy, as well as...

Training the Next Generation of Family Farmers
Aug 26 2014 - 11:09am
Jessie Crow Mermel
Farmer Training
Irish Grove Farm, Stateline Farm Beginnings, Angelic Organics, farmer training

The Illinois Food, Farm, & Jobs Act has called for support of programs that recruit, train, and provide technical assistance to beginning farmers in order to meet the demand for 5,000 more local farmers in Illinois by 2020. Angelic Organics Learning Center has been fulfilling that role by training farmers for the past ten years.

Farm Field Transformed into Gala Event for a Night
Aug 25 2014 - 1:33pm
Jessie Crow Mermel
AOLC General
Events
farm dinner, angelic organics, peak harvest farm dinner, local food event, benefit event, angelic organics learning center, field-to-table

A golden glow blanketed the field of organic leeks and lettuce as guests made their way to their tables overlooking the colorful crops at Angelic Organics Farm. They gathered for a gourmet, 5-course meal prepared by celebrity chefs from Chicago and Rockford with produce and meat sourced directly from the farm.

Community Supported . . . Health Care
Aug 14 2014 - 2:44pm
Jessie Crow Mermel
AOLC General
CRAFT

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is all about building relationships and supporting one another through good times and bad. Most CSA farmers rely on the money they make through their shares to support their families and many cannot afford health insurance or have very limited coverage. If a farmer or a member of their family becomes ill, they sometimes have to reach out to their community for support.

In June, one of our CRAFT farmers, Lori Vierow of Bob's Fresh and Local was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, or ALL for short. Lori's insurance does not cover all of her...

Mindfulness on the Farm
Aug 14 2014 - 9:51am
Liz Whitehurst
On-Farm
Bill Conover, Mindfulness Instructor, Angelic Organics Learning Center, meditation

Guest post by Bill Conover, Director, Spiritual Life Program at Beloit College and Mindfulness Workshop instructor


A cool summer sunset illuminating tower clouds over Angelic Organics fields. Thousands of fireflies dancing upward from the crops, sparks lifting off from a greenish fire. The steady diesel thrum and cough of a parked refrigerator truck, loaded with veggies bound for Chicagoland the next morning.

And out in the middle of that scene, at the end of their eighth and final weekly session in the Learning Center's Mindfulness Workshop, a small group of people practicing mindfulness, opening to it all ......

Impressions from Farm Animal Camp
Aug 11 2014 - 1:45pm
Liz Whitehurst
On-Farm

Guest post by Rozalinda Borcilă

This was our first time at Angelic Organics and the Learning Center. We live in Chicago, time is tight and so is our budget, so attending a five-day camp at the farm seemed like a stretch. Still, it was time for an adventure, or actually, it was time for two adventures in one. We decided to camp at Rock Cut State Park for six nights, and explore the Farm Animal camp during the day. Upon first arriving at the Learning Center, my daughter was, as always, a bit shy, a bit unsure of being left...

“Everything Good Grows in Englewood…..”
Aug 1 2014 - 1:22pm
Deb Crockett
Urban
Chicago
Gardening
Urban
Eat to Live garden in early July

….is the motto of the Eat to Live project, and certainly that is happening this summer! 

We are grateful to the many neighbors, volunteers, and friends who have contributed hours spreading compost, planting, weeding and harvesting in the Eat to Live garden space at 70th and Princeton. 

We have shared hundreds of pounds of bounteous greens and roots with neighbors and volunteers, with families from nearby Harvard School, with seniors from the Vincennes Senior Center, and with guests of the Maria Shelter. 

Regular summer volunteer hours take place on Tuesday mornings and Thursday afternoons.  Come and join us! ...

Farm Challenge!
Jul 21 2014 - 10:17am
Jessie Crow Mermel
On-Farm
Angelic Organics Farm Adventure Summer Day Camp entrepeneurs

Last week at Farm Adventure Day Camp, the campers faced new, exciting challenges each day - making products to sell to shareholders, caring for the livestock, building rafts to float on Kinnikinnick Creek, beautifying the garden, clearing trails and more. It was a large group of kids in this sold-out day camp, but they all worked together to brainstorm ways to meet their challenges and democratically choose solutions.

Freedom and Fresh Air on a Farm Overnight
Jul 17 2014 - 6:01am
Liz Whitehurst
On-Farm
AO Farm
Partners&Friends
Workshops

As people started tumbling out of cars I could see their faces light up as they took it all in. The kids didn't waste a second before scrambling over fences to pet the goats, running through the orchard, checking out the campfire, and gathering sticks. What is the deal with boys and sticks anyway?

CRAFT “Reviving Your Soil with Cover Crops” Field Day
Jul 10 2014 - 2:58pm
Shelbie Blank
AOLC Blog Home Page
AOLC General
Events
Farm Beginnings
Farmer Training
Molly Bresline of Breslin Farms, a CRAFT farm

The morning after a series of thunderstorms and strong winds moved through northern Illinois, twelve CRAFT members traveled along miles of wind-damaged cornfields to convene at Breslin Farms to learn about how the Breslins incorporate cover crops into their rotations. While the Breslin’s rye field experienced wind damage, our hosts remained optimistic about being able to harvest the crop, speculating about its resiliency due to years of cover crop benefits—nicely prefacing the day’s conversation.

Father-and-daughter team John and Molly Breslin are in their fourth year of transitioning a family farm from conventional to organic row crops. They focus...

Farm Asset Builder Success
Jul 8 2014 - 1:00pm
Shelbie Blank
AOLC Blog Home Page
AOLC General
AOLC general
Farm Beginnings
Farmer Training

By Meg Augustine, Farm Finance Program Coordinator

It’s mid-year, and our Farm Asset Builder participants are well into their growing season. They have also reached the midpoint of Angelic Organics Learning Center’s Farm Asset Builder Program—a program in its inaugural year. The Farm Asset Builder Program is a matched savings program that provides farmers with the opportunity and motivation to save. At the end of our pilot year, farmers in compliance with program requirements will receive up to $2,400 to contribute to a farm asset thanks to our sponsors and donors.

Our sponsors are helping farmers gain...

Be a part of our legendary farm dinner!
Jun 24 2014 - 2:28pm
Jessie Crow Mermel
AOLC General
Events
Peak Harvest Farm Dinner at Angelic Organics 2013

The 7th annual Peak Harvest Farm Dinner is the largest fundraising event for Angelic Organics Learning Center and there are many ways to contribute.

Farming with Horses Field Day
Jun 19 2014 - 11:22am
Shelbie Blank
AOLC Blog Home Page
AOLC General
Events
Farmer Training
CRAFT
Farming with Horses 2014 CRAFT Field Day

By Shelbie Blank, Farmer Training Program Assistant

Nestled in-between subdivisions, highways, and strip malls is the farm home of Lane Linnenkohl’s two Percheron draft horses: Molly and Sally and two Morgans: Daisy and Violet.  Lane keeps his horses at a farm that his cousin leases; his cousin uses this land to grow corn. A bank located just across the street owns this farm and Lane struck a nice deal with them. Instead of the bank having to pay someone to come in and brush hog the adjacent lots twice a year, Lane hays these fields free of charge. Lane uses...

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