Angelic Organics

We have experienced Angelic Organics from two different perspectives, and we’ve been thrilled with both. We just became shareholders this year and I’ve been very happy with the vegetables we have received so far. We have expanded our diet, trying new veggies in interesting ways, and the free recipe site they provide is an added bonus.
On top of being a shareholder, we have also visited the farm twice with different groups. Each time we visited we were able to check out the animals, learn all about organic farming and their earth friendly practices, and we cooked a farm fresh delicious dinner that everyone loved. The people at Angelic Organics are friendly and knowledgeable and we’re so glad our money goes to support this farm.

It is overpriced. Plus, over the last two years their boxes have become skimpier. It is discouraging to open up a box and see a lot fewer vegetables than in past years. I wonder if they just have too many «members» so they have to fill their boxes ¾ full to make the produce stretch for more people.
I emailed them about the skimpy boxes and their only response was they’d mention it to Farmer John. The boxes continued to be ²⁄₃ to ¾ full. So I didn’t renew for next year.
I will say the quality of vegetables is very high. And they have a good variety.

I’ve been a shareholder since 1995. If you are looking for Community Supported Agriculture this is the place! They will get you your fresh, 100% organic vegetables to a pick-​up location near your house efficiently. Everything is just picked and you can tell by the wonderful taste! You will get all your old favorites, carrots, onions, potatoes, be reintroduced to veggies from your past, beets, rutabagas, cabbage, and make new «friends» celeriac, chard, lemon balm. If you are trying to eat healthier, try Angelic Organics.

We were members for the first time in 2014 and we have been members of other CSA’s in Central California. Angelic is the best we’ve been a part of. They have an awesome variety, you get weekly news about happenings at the farm, and the boxes are HUGE with delicious, locally-​grown, organic produce. It’s definitely cheaper than getting organic produce from the grocery store with way less food miles as well. For my family of 4, we get a box every other week which is a perfect amount of produce. They also have a recipe service you get to sign up for which helps you figure out what to do with things you might not be as familiar with. One of the most venerable CSAs in the US, Angelic simply rocks!

I despise this place. The only things that they seem to know how to grow are roots, such as beets, turnips and so on. They don’t seem to have any concept of tender vegetables, or probably do not care. Last year they sent us some okra which was almost seeded and even hard to cut. I sent them a note. They ignored it. When I persisted they responded with some condescending response. I just got ONE eggplant in our box. That too was overgrown, heavily seeded, and not tender at all. And some cilantro, the stalk of which was almost as long and hard and tasteless as a lily stalk — not that they would know. Their zucchini is as long as, something I don’t want to say, the cabbage as large as a basketball. I know what tender vegetables are like, for I grew up with them. These people will not listen. They seem to depend upon ideological eaters, who delude themselves into thinking that what this farm provides must be ambrosia.

I used this CSA many many years ago, tried another one that went out of business, cruised the farmers markets, and came back to these guys. Some people claim they’re a little pricey, but I don’t spend any more than I would shopping at a farmer’s market each week.
Pros: I don’t have to lug that stuff home from a farmer’s market. I also get to try things I would normally not purchase on my own. I eat out less and cook more. I can things (or will be once tomato season rolls around). They provide a free membership to a recipe site that focuses on local produce and what is in your weekly box called Local Thyme.
Cons: What am I going to do with two heads of cabbage?
I sign up for the extended share and went from a half share last year to a full share this year. There are plenty of drop points across Chicago, one of which is four blocks from my home.
One day, I will get out to that farm — another perk of signing up with them.

We are just finishing up our first season with Angelic Organics and have already signed up for next year. There were lots of convenient pick up sites, and unlike friends in different CSAs, we get a balanced assortment of veggies and don’t end up with enormous amounts of a few things. The recipe planning service that is included (Local Thyme) rocks as we can be creative if we want, but also have a lot of excellent fast ideas at our fingertips. Last but definitely not least, the half share every other week is great for two adults. We use the more delicate items first, and have been consistently impressed at how long other things last compared to supermarket veggies (plus everything is very high quality– we can really tell the difference). We highly recommend giving this CSA a try, and will be returning next year.

Joining a CSA is probably the most important thing you can do to protect our national food supply. And if you’re going to join a CSA in the Chicago area, join Angelic Organics.
Farmer John has a superb operation, and he is fully protected from droughts with a state of the art pump and irrigation system.
Picking up our box is the highlight of our week. The ¾ bushel box is always stuffed to the brim.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) doesn’t get any better than Angelic Organics. We’ve been shareholders for 10 Years. Our quality of life has improved 10-​fold because of this nutritional service. It was a lot of fuss at first, but then as I learned how to identify (ha!), store, prep and use the vegetables it became second nature. The cookbook helped a lot and now there’s the Local Thyme service that helps me cook «out of the box.»
We split a share with another family and it comes out to about $ 14 a week for a 20-​week share. Thank you Farmer John and the crew for all you do.

My family has been enjoying veggies from Angelic Organics for 3 years. Even my 2 year old loves the fresh vegetables! Don’t miss the farm open houses — a very enjoyable day in the fields, meeting the animals, and experiencing a biodynamic farm :)

We’ve been getting our veggies from Angelic Organics for 8 years and counting. We are amazed by the people, the service, the communication — but most of all, the delicious, colorful produce. We’ve learned to enjoy lots of new things, and our first-​grader is an amazingly good eater — all thanks to Farmer John and the team. You will never go back to supermarket carrots.

We have subscribed to Angelic Organics CSA for many years. You simply cannot beat their offerings for so many reasons:
* The produce is amazingly delicious, wholesome, and beautiful (if you’ve only eaten store-​bought tomatoes and carrots in recent years, you probably have no recollection of what a carrot or tomato actually tastes like until you try AO’s)
* Their process is so easy — you just sign up and the produce gets dropped off in a nice variety, weekly, including recipes — what better way to diversify your veggie eating?!
* Their pricing — it is extremely reasonable for what you get, both in quality and quantity
* Last but not least, their people — they are so committed to the food you receive from them. They care for it so amazingly — they remove the weeds with their own hands, they manage droughts and heat waves, they basically do everything you would have to do to have the most amazing garden ever. And you don’t have to do a damn thing!
Overall, I think by 2013, you should realize that the money you’re «saving» by buying non-​local, non-​organic produce isn’t really any savings at all — the pesticides, environmental impact, etc. all comes around. Still not convinced? If for no other reason than you actually like to taste your veggies, you need to become a subscriber.

Last year was our first year with Angelic Organics. My fiancé and I shared it with another couple — and good thing we did too. They said that last year was one of the most productive years they’ve ever had. We had so much produce and at times it was really overwhelming to use a lot of it every week.
A typical weeks’ box (especially at the height of summer) would have the following: some type of cooking green (kale, chard, etc.), at least one type of lettuce, onions, cucumber, beets, scallions, cauliflower, at least one type of herb (easily a large handful), corn, etc. The variety and the amount of veggies was just intense. At one point last summer, we had to parboil and then freeze 4 ears of corn for two weeks straight — and that was our half of the share.
Everything is, of course, great quality. AO definitely knows what they are doing. And as an added bonus, we got a great cookbook in the mail during the season. Each section had recipes for all of the different veggies. That was also helpful. We can’t wait until this season starts!

Pros: Solid, reliable, great quality, great quantity, good variety, great value, lots of pick-​up sites to choose from, swap-​box at each pick up site, and an awesome/​huge cookbook included with membership and mailed to you!
Cons: Uh, I had to share some of my box contents each week, because there was so much. Darn.
I’m signing up for a second year with Angelic Organics, and I can’t wait for my first box of the season! I did the 20-​week share with the extended winter share, and I couldn’t be happier. Each week I picked up a box stuffed with vegetables of fantastic quality and variety. Some reviews have cited imbalanced boxes, and occasionally it’s true. However, I don’t see that as a problem. There was a plethora of tomatoes several weeks in a row, so I took them to my grandma’s and learned how to preserve them. Having organic, home-​canned tomatoes at my disposal is extremely awesome. I also ended up with quite a few butternut squash, which I froze for enjoying throughout the winter.
In addition to the quantity and quality, I most enjoyed receiving vegetables I would usually pass up at the grocery store– if they were even available. I learned that I really like things like kohlrabi (a relative of broccoli), rutabaga, and celery root. I also liked the surprise of each week’s contents, and planning meals around them.
I joined as an individual, and I had a hard time finishing the whole box each week. I almost always gave some to my family and friends. I’d recommend splitting a box, at least the first time. You’ll still probably have a hard time finishing it all.
Lastly, they grow the best beets ever! Oh, the beets. They are apparently one of the farm’s specialties, and you receive red, gold, and the stripey-​kind throughout the season. Sooo good. You don’t think you like beets? You’re mistaken. They are delicious, and versatile, and really good for you. If you’re thinking about the slimy, canned things that you ate as a kid, it’s time to reconsider and try the real thing. yum!
In conclusion, sign up! I give you a no-​suck garauntee!

I really wanted to like Angelic Organics. I really wanted to have a good experience. They are the golden example of the Chicago area CSA and everyone raves. Everyone except me. This is my third organic CSA, the other two in other states. And Angelic doesn’t even compare. Most of the produce we’ve received has looked like it got forgotten in the fields for weeks. I can grow that myself. I can do negligent gardening myself. That isn’t why we get a CSA. Almost everything we’ve received I would have passed by in a Farmer’s Market without slowing down. Oversized, bug ravaged and, well, DIRTY. Sure I know, it’s organic. It grows in dirt. But do you have to send all the dirt to me? None of my other CSA’s have. Also the boxes have been hopelessly unbalanced, which to my mind also means that the planting and harvesting is not getting much thought. At first I thought it was an early season thing, but honestly as the summer moves on the quality keeps getting worse and worse. Not to mention filthier. We’ve had to start unpacking the box in the yard and cleaning the veggies with the hose before we bring them in the house.
It seems Angelic has gotten too big of a reputation and they can’t keep up. I will definitely be giving my CSA dollars to another local farm next year.

I am just about to start my second year as a CSA subscriber to Angelic Organics. My first year I signed up for the 12-​week share and loved it so much that I am doing the 20-​week share this year. Their web site has all of the information, so I won’t bore you with the details. We are a family of 2, and split the box with another family of 2. There is so much food for the 4 of us that we cannot eat it all in a week and I do my best to preserve some of it for the winter. The quality of the veggies is «good» to «great». Some of the veggies are great and some are just OK. Since I know how well the food was grown and that it is fresh, I am able to turn a blind eye on the blemishes on the tomatoes and the dirt on the lettuce. I expect to be a shareholder of the CSA for years to come.

Watch the film «The Real Dirt on Farmer John», then watch «Food, Inc.» and «King Corn» and read «The Omnivore’s Dilemma» by Michael Pollan. Then order your subscription and feel great about yourself and what you are eating and what you are doing for the world. There should be thousands of farms like this yet sadly I only know of one and we are lucky to have it so close to home. SO WORTH THE MONEY!!! and the food is DELICIOUS!!!

We have been subscribers to the 20 week plan at Angelic Organics for many years now. It’s ironic that I actually grew up only a few miles from the farm. Rural Winnebago county is suffering from the plague of sprawl, and Angelic is trying to maintain a foothold on the farm land in the immediate vicinity. I find that quite admirable, even thought I don’t have the stomach to live in that part of Illinois anymore.
The quality of the veggies that you get in the ¾ bushel box during the growing season is superb, almost always. Yes, an occasional bruised tomato or wormy ear of corn will be in your box. It’s nature, people. Get over it. No pesticides and organic farming will do that do you sometimes.
The variety is great. You will get a lot of greens, herbs and few exotic veggies that will stretch your palate and recipes, but that’s part of the adventure. For us, we do the 20 week plan, and early in the season it’s almost all leafy and green, ramping up to the more soul satisfying hearty veggies that the late summer sun and heat provide.
If I had to make one criticism of the farm it would be that the Farmer John marketing does get old. The owner of the farm did a movie about his farm and its history and then used the CSA members as guinea pigs for the advertising and marketing of the film, I did my best to eliminate it from my mind after being beat over the head by it from the farm every single week for years and years on end. I tune it out, but it can be annoying to constantly hear about the movie.
The veggies we get are delivered to a house up the street from us every Saturday. They’re there around 10−11AM. The only downside is that the delivery driver is a Packers fan. Go Bears!

I echo everything the previous review said. Unfortunately what I found was, there was so much in the box, I could not keep up with cooking it all. Well, I did, but I had to be sure to cook 2 – 3 times per week — usually twice on weekends and once during the week, because my wife and kids ate little of what was sent. But the quality was great, and I like dthe variety. I learned to cook many things I’ve never tried before. And it is very convenient to not need to shop every week — just drop by once a week and pick it up.

Angelic Organics is one of those places that I’ve heard about and wanted to try. Upon spending ridiculous amounts on organic veggies, I did a search and came up with Angelic Organics and their veggie share program. The idea is to be a «community supported agriculture program» where people pay up front, and then when veggie season begins you get a box of what has been harvested for the week. There’s a catch that you are taking a risk in that if there is a bad turn in the crops you won’t get anything, but in all their years in business, (opened in 1990, started the shareholder program in 1992) all of their boxes have been brimming with fresh veggies no matter what mother nature had thrown at them.
So the one year I tried to sign up and then received a polite email that there were no more shares available and to wait until next year. I felt like a sad Cub fan. But I waited. And in the fall I signed up in advance to receive I think 10% off for organic veggie boxes that would be around in June. Can you imagine? I signed up in September, and then literally just watched the calendar, waiting, and thinking that June would never come.
But YAY — here we are in July and I have already picked up a few of my veggie boxes. It works like this. You can buy a 12 week veggie share, 20 week, and an additional 4 weeks in the winter. They also do fruit shares, although the fruit is not from their farm, and you cannot purchase a fruit share without a veggie share. I went with the 20 week veggie share and extra 4 weeks for winder for a total of 670. I think that reflected 10% discount for early sign up. So, in just doing the math, I am paying a little less than $ 28 a week for fresh organic veggies.
Now you ask, what is in the box. I consider myself to know food, and I have to say, I’ve seen things in here that I didn’t know existed. Here’s what’s in this week’s box:
Three heads of lettuce
bunch of swiss chard
bunch of scallions (this week just white, last few were purple and white)
bunch of baby carrots with the greens
bunch of beets with greens
bag of red russian kale
bag of white turnips with greens
a couple of Kohlrabi (german turnip, taste is similar to broccoli stem but sweeter)
a bunch of lemon balm
1 summer squash
1 zucchini
1 large head of cauliflower
1 stalk of broccoli
1 uncured freshly harvested garlic head
Now, I’m not even sure what to do with most of these things, but luckily they had sent me a Farmer John Cookbook that has come in handy. Considering how much we pay for organic produce normally, I think this box is quite a deal. And I’m supporting local farming, which I like as well.
Going to go and eat some of these delish veggies now.
DUH — the most important part — so, even though the farm is I don’t even know where, they have drop off stations and you choose a convenient drop off site and pick up on either Wednesday or Saturday. Mine is just a couple of blocks from my house and I can pick up on Saturdays from I think 10am — 8pm. You go and pick up your box, leave your box from the previous week, take a newsletter, look through the swap box if there is something that you don’t like in your box and would like to leave for someone else and take something that someone else doesn’t fancy and off you go. They also provide some bags for people to split their boxes with — it is a lot of veggies so for a single person, splitting would be a good idea.