AOLC Blog

Community harvest dinner recap

Oct 14 2013 - 8:45am

Tara Lamb-Ward

AOLC Blog Home Page

By L. Anton Seals Jr., Project Coordinator, Chicago Urban Initiative

Project Coordinator, Urban Initiative

As the summer season came to a close, Eat2Live celebrated the new fall season with food, music and great dialogue at the 1st annual Community Harvest Dinner. With over 50 participants, and help from the University of Chicago’s community service center, the dinner was a great success. We pitched a tent and set the tables in the...

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Finding inspiration at Troy Gardens

Oct 11 2013 - 11:36am

This year in Rockford we expanded the farm operation at Blackhawk Courts Farm and Garden significantly, increasing both productivity and community activity. As the season winds down, we will soon enter a planning and visioning process with Blackhawk leadership to collectively envision the future of the farm.

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Oct 1 2013 - 11:52am

There is always so much to do. Many days, my to-do list seems to grow longer rather than shorter. Lately, I have been finding myself mindlessly eating in front of my computer at lunch or skipping lunch all together. Yesterday, I didn’t have time to eat lunch or dinner and I knew it was time for an intervention.

Today I packed some lettuce from my Angelic Organics CSA box and harvested some zebra tomatoes and purple peppers from the Learning Center garden. I did not attempt to multi-task as I prepared my food. Instead, I quieted myself and focused on...

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Corn from ear to bread

Sep 26 2013 - 10:21am

Tara Lamb-Ward

On-Farm

By Liz Whitehurst, Program Director, On Farm Initiative

Dave Kostka is one of our original On-Farm Educators. When he is on the farm, you're likely to find him identifying insects or sharing his expansive knowledge of nature and agriculture through jokes and stories. When he isn't on the farm, you'll likely find him at his own market garden, where he grows tomatoes, herbs, corn, and more for a farmer's market.

One of his favorite things to grow is corn: not the genetically modified stuff that many farmers in our area grow, but heritage varieties. Besides sweet corn and popcorn,...

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Roasted green tomatoes - salsa to soup

Sep 24 2013 - 10:35am

Danica Hoehn
Program Director, Roots & Wings Network

We cooked together in the rain last Wednesday at Blackhawk Courts Farm & Gardens in Rockford, IL. Folks ran home
from the outdoor cooking session & came back donning big umbrellas to shelter the cooks as they roasted green
tomatoes, garlic, green onions, & all kinds of peppers on the three burner propane stove.

The plan: transform simple garden fresh ingredients into salsa, then salsa to chili chilaquiles, and then salsa to soup.
Ambitious & just like personal transformation, it was messy and mysterious. The final...

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Trogg’s Hollow Farm Paying it Forward

Sep 5 2013 - 9:15am

Trogg's Hollow, Chris Prchal, Stateline Farm Beginnings, CRAFTWhen Chris and Marcy Prchal started a family, they decided to go into farming. They weren’t aiming to strike it rich; they simply wanted to provide for their family of six, give their children a meaningful upbringing, and support the community with sustainably grown, real food.

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Winners of the 2013 Photo Contest!

Sep 4 2013 - 10:49am

Thank you to everyone who submitted photos for the Farm Photo Contest! We received many beautiful entries and it was interesting to view all the different perspectives of the farm. You can enjoy all of the submissions on our Facebook page.

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Common Milkweed

Aug 28 2013 - 10:55am

By Martha Boyd, Program Director, Urban Initiative, Chicago

This summer, at the Eat to Live Garden in Englewood, many Yale Elementary School students knew about the connection between common milkweed and Monarch butterflies, who lay their eggs on milkweed plants. When a Monarch caterpillar hatches, it eats milkweed leaves until it forms a chrysalis and -- if all goes well -- becomes an adult butterfly and continues on its journey.

I saw only one or two Monarchs this early summer when the milkweeds were starting to flower in the Eat to Live Garden -- but they attracted many other...

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Those Pesky Weeds: A 2013 Beginning Farmer CRAFT Field Day

Aug 28 2013 - 10:29am

By Jenny Meyer, Program Director of Farmer Training Initiative

Program Director of Farmer Training Initiative

On Tuesday, August 6^th the Upper Midwest CRAFT (Collaborative Farmer Alliance for Farmer Training) fulfilled an objective conceived by C.R.A.F.T.’s steering committee last November: offer an extended field day that caters specifically to earnest, established beginning farmers so that the length and detail of the day’s activities draw a high farmer turnout from a broad portion of CRAFT's geographic area.

By featuring trainings from...

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Youth Leader Blog: Rooted in Community Conference

Aug 26 2013 - 11:13am

By Ketura and Milca St. Fleurose and Desmond Moore

Three Roots and Wings’ Youth, accompanied by Market Manager, Tedd Snowden, attended the national youth-led urban agriculture conference-Rooted In Community (RIC) in Los Angeles, CA in late August. Milca and Ketura along with farm apprentice, Desmond Moore were selected as workshop presenters for the conference.

We caught up with three of the youth, Ketura and Milca St. Fleurose and Desmond Moore to learn about attending this national gathering. When asked why they went to the conference (besides the fact it was in L.A.) the answer was: “To learn...

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Guest Post: Our Kids with Your Kids

Aug 19 2013 - 3:58pm

By Rosana Thompson, parent

Owner of Chai Town Tea

Tears streamed down her face as she grieved that “Banana”, the baby goat she helped name, would not be little when they would return the following year to goat camp. Never in my wildest parenting dreams did I see this coming. Both of my little girls had fallen in love with farm animals, an attachment almost as strong as the one I feel for them. During the three days, the girls collected chicken eggs, made deviled eggs and corn bread from fresh ingredients, cooperated with other children from Chicagoland and...

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Extra! Extra! Sign up for brand-new fall programs

Aug 19 2013 - 11:39am

Tara Lamb-Ward

On-Farm

This fall, we’re offering extra sessions of some of our most popular programs: Winemaking! Animal Day! Plus, we're adding new stuff: cheesemaking for kids and a yoga mini-retreat for the Equinox!

In other words, we have an awesome fall season planned and we want you to be a part of it. If you haven't signed up for fall programs yet, do it now!

Read on to learn more about what we just added.

Animal Day for Families: Saturday, September 14, 10 AM - 3 PM, $20. This class is so popular, we added an extra...

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What Goes Around, Comes Around

Aug 8 2013 - 10:44am

When fine artist Iris Moore attended an artist's tour of the farm in May, she was immediately inspired. Realizing that all the abundance from Angelic Organics begins in the compost, Iris took some casts of the compost piles. She transformed the compost molds into beautiful ceramic plates symbolizing the complete cycle of compost to soil to food to plate and back again. After falling in love with the farm, she wished to offer something in return. Therefore, she...

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Angelic Organics Learning Center Celebrates 15th Year of Impact and Vision

Aug 7 2013 - 12:24pm

The following are the remarks of Tom Spaulding shared at the 2013 Farm Dinner event. Tom is a co-founder and Executive Director of the Learning Center.

Thank you for being here tonight to support the mission and programs of the Angelic Organics Learning Center and to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of our founding. I am so very grateful to each and every one of you, whether you are...

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Growing literacy at the Eat to Live Garden in Chicago

Jul 23 2013 - 1:43pm

By Martha Boyd, Program Director, Urban Initiative (Chicago)

Our Little Free Library was installed at the front of the Eat to Live Garden in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood on July 18th!

On Day 1, we had some books on display - and already several borrowers, including neighbor and birthday girl, Shavanna, who picked out a book about sunflowers and then posed for a picture.

Our LFL was acquired through my former landlord Rick Brooks in Madison (thanks, Rick!) - to learn more about the worldwide LFL movement, visit www.littlefreelibrary.org

Eat to Live Englewood is a partnership...

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Urban farmers growing rural watermelons at Hazzard Free Farm

Jul 22 2013 - 1:17pm

Angelic Organics Learning Center, Hazzard Free Farm, organic watermelonOn May 13th, a crew made up of residents from Blackhawk Courts, Eco Advocate participants, and the Rockford urban Learning Center staff headed out to Andy Hazzard’s farm to plant watermelon seeds for a future harvest. Andy is owner of Hazzard Free Farm located in Pecatonica, IL. In April, she participated in our Business Summit as a guest speaker and was eager to support the youth’s entrepreneurial efforts. As a result of her enthusiasm, we entered into an aggregation agreement whereby Andy offered some land at her farm for us to grow...

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Cultivating love and stewardship down on the farm

Jul 16 2013 - 3:39pm

By Jessie Crow Mermel, On Farm Educator & Communications Coordinator

Sharing the love of the farm

If you were asked to choose a place you could take someone you love, whom would you choose and where would you go? 8-year-old Amelia was asked that question at school last year. Her beautiful response is pictured here. Amelia would take her little cousin Jonah to Angelic Organics Learning Center.

Jonah, who turns 3 this month, lives in Denver and loves animals, like Amelia. Amelia doesn’t get to see...

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Prairie Independence Day

Jul 9 2013 - 8:26am

By Katie Townsend, Urban Farm Educator

7-4-13

Bound to celebrate the Fourth of July. The Patriotic Prayer Breakfast begins in thirty minutes. I dress with firecracker speed not to miss out on the doings. After the musical rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, speeches delivered and of course petition to the Maker there is the rest of the holiday. If snappy with my day off chores there will be time for viewing shimmering colors over the river. So why do I suddenly find myself pouring the last of my coffee into a travel mug, grabbing my backpack tossing in journal,...

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Support the Youth Farm CSA!

Jul 3 2013 - 2:07pm

By Debora, Milca, Ketura St. Fleurose and Kolten Luvert, Roots & Wings Youth Leaders

Have you ever wondered how to give back to your community? Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a great way to get fresh produce and support the community. A CSA is paying ahead for the farmer to grow your vegetables.

It might come as a surprise, but the Roots and Wings Youth Leaders and ECO Advocates students are the ones growing the vegetables for a CSA.

We come together to form a “Youth Farm” located at the Tinker Swiss Cottage and Gardens.

It is unique....