Angelic Organics?

Has anyone participated in Angelic Organics? I saw the link at Gaper's Block: http://www.angelicorganics.com/share.html. I saw Vital Informations's post from the summer which mentioned Angelic Organics. There seemed to be a preference among a couple of posters for farmer's markets. Angelic Organics is near Rockford.

I was a nanny for a couple who were shareholders every season. I loved reading the newsletter that came with every box. It included recipes and farm news. You can visit the farm, too, and they have an annual "party" for the shareholders. The boxes were always plentiful, but often filled with veggies I would have trouble preparing in an edible way. The couple I worked for always told me to take what I wanted, because unless you are an avid cook and have the motivation to cook, find recipes, can, freeze, etc...it would be difficult to eat it all in a week unless you shared the box or had a big crowd to feed who love veggies. I've always wanted to share a box with someone, but logistics always get in the way....

Last summer, I was a first year shareholder for Angelic Organics, and I'm already signed up again for next year. I can't tell you enough how much my husband & I enjoyed it. Yes, there were some vegetables I'd never cooked with before (kohlrabi? turnips?) but half of the fun of each week's box was finding some new recipes to try out. The visit to the farm was fun too, all of the shareholders bring a dish, and its a potluck lunch. I'm still dreaming about the corn we got in August - YUM!

Keli

Apple -

I used to be a subscriber to Angelic Organics and just LOVED it. The quality of the veggies was from very good to superb. You got a strong feeling of seasonality from the box, and it made me feel closer to the land, man. Lots of greens at the beginning and the end of the year, more tomatoes and squash than you knew what to do with in the middle. Nice selection of herbs.

Sometimes, a crop would come in that you didn't know what to do with, and there was a lot of it. I explored more beet recipes that I ever imagined I would. One year there were kohlrabi 4 weeks in a row. Turns out it was the only vegetable in YEARS that I couldn't warm to...found a way to like everything else and it expanded my appreciation of veggies considerably. A copy of Deborah Madison's "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" makes a great companion volume to an Angelic Organics subscrption because the recipes are generally quite good and the book is organized by veg... so you just have to go to the kale or summer squash section to get ideas on how to cook your bounty.

Unless you're a dedicated eater of your vegetables, tho, you might want to find someone to split the box with. When I was getting it regularly, the box was split between 2 households [4 adults & 1 kid]. When I got divorced, I tried to eat 1/2 box by myself, but it was just too much and the waste was painful.

Giovanna

Apple

We have been AO shareholers for the past 3 years. Our family of 4 splits a share with another family of 4 and I find that we are never short of good veggies. Lots of greens early on and a really nice mixture of things as the season progresses. We recently got our last box which contained a ton of carrots, onions and large garlic heads as well as a bag of root veggies that look like ginger but smell like potatoes(can someone help me out here?).

AO has various pick-up locations around town and something to consider is selecting a location that you can get to early on drop-off day. Pick up is done on the honor system and some shareholders seem to think nothing of openly digging thru all the boxes as if it were their personal garden. I like celery root as much as the next guy,but I don't need 5 of them inplace of my sweetcorn and tomatoes thankyou . I don't know why,but pick-up locations in trendier areas seem to have a higher pilferage problem.

John

JSM wrote:Pick up is done on the honor system and some shareholders seem to think nothing of openly digging thru all the boxes as if it were their personal garden.

Wow. I'm really quite surprised by that. I would think that people who were involved in community-supported agriculture would understand the meaning of the word "community".

There is no end to the greed of people, especially under the cloak of anonymity.

I've been wanting to join for a couple years now, but my erratic and busy schedule always deters me. This deters me even more.

Best,
EC

We recently got our last box which contained a ton of carrots, onions and large garlic heads as well as a bag of root veggies that look like ginger but smell like potatoes(can someone help me out here?).

I believe those may have been the jerusalem artichokes?? AKA Sunchokes.


Just made some potato latkes with the last of my AO potatoes over the weekend. Yum.

Keli

I believe those may have been the jerusalem artichokes?? AKA Sunchokes.

Keli

Google images confirms your suspicions....sunchokes they is!

John

I don't know why,but pick-up locations in trendier areas seem to have a higher pilferage problem.

Well, at last I have a karmicly-badly need chance to say something nice about Park Ridge. My pick-up spot was there, and I never say any evidence of anyone cherry picking thru the boxes. Occasionally you'd see someone being piggy at the extras box, but there was no box raiding that I'm aware of.

Anyone near the Logan Square/Avondale area that might want to share a box in the 2005 season? The Saturday pickup might be problematic on occasion for me, but if anyone wants to try it send me a private message.

Thank you everyone for your very informative posts! I meant to phone Angelic Organics before the New Year to discuss this further and here it is, the end of the year. Angelic Organics sounds like a good thing to participate in. My only concern is not being able to use up all of the produce, despite my canning fantasies, LOL! Many thanks!