April News from the Learning Center

Fresh Eyes and New Perspectives

The Learning Center is abuzz with activity and I’m loving every second. Our spring programs have been well attended, often by new program participants who have been thrilled to visit for their first time. And can you blame them? Our programs are educational and fun, and on top of that, they get to visit the baby goats. There is arguably nothing cuter than quirky, playful, mischievous goat kids. Summer program registrations are picking up steam. Our overnight camps are full but we still have spots open for day camp participants, plus a whole host of adult and youth garden programs to choose from. In addition, lodge rentals are picking up steam as families realize the lodge is an affordable and enriching place to spend a weekend. More programs and opportunities to visit are being added every day. Make sure you check our new website regularly. Prep work, planning, and partnerships are also underway. Farmer Training program staff is organizing CRAFT field days for beginning farmers and offering a virtual Farm Dreams workshop in partnership with The Land Connection and Food Works in June. Roots & Wings program staff is helping the United Way Strong Neighborhood Houses and Rockford Environmental Science Academy get their gardening programs off the ground, while simultaneously planting the CSA farm and community gardens at Blackhawk Courts. Which reminds me: Have you purchased your Roots & Wings CSA share yet? Finally, in addition to new partnerships and program participants, the Learning Center has welcomed two new Board members over the past few months and hired a new Farmer Training Program Coordinator, Ritchie Wai. Experiencing this place through fresh eyes and first impressions is extremely reinvigorating and affirming. It’s a great time to be a part of Angelic Organics Learning Center! Warmly, Jackie de Batista Executive Director

The Learning Center & Farmer Training Family Grows

We are happy to welcome Ritchie Wai, our new Farmer Training Program Coordinator, to the Angelic Organics Learning Center Team! Ritchie hails from the low, red clay and sandhills of North Florida. In his past, he studied environmental science and policy near the dredged sand beaches surrounding Tampa Bay and served amongst the limestone cragged Appalachian foothills of South Middle Tennessee with AmeriCorps. Ritchie has worked with high tunnel horticulture, aquaponics, regenerative grazing, and small organic vegetable operations in a temperate continental climate. He has also coordinated between educational institutions, students, and communities developing and running environmental and food production focused on programming. He is a member of the National Young Farmers Coalition and the current secretary of the Southeast Tennessee Young Farmers Chapter. Welcome, Ritchie!

What's Growing at Roots & Wings?

Happy Spring to all! With the recent blast of frigid temperatures behind us from this past week, we can start to think about the warmer days ahead. Things are looking really good on the farm! Yatte has all the beds prepared and ready to go in both the high tunnels and on the farm. We have started our seedlings in earnest and by next week we will begin to transfer them into our high tunnels, with the anticipation the vegetables will be ready to harvest during the first week of our CSA.  I want to take this opportunity to thank our CSA customers that have remained loyal and supportive of our program for many years. Also, I want to thank my colleagues and board members from Angelic Organics Learning Center who have chosen to donate CSA shares to the residents in the Blackhaw Courts community. All of you know who you are! We take great pride and care in growing the vegetables that will eventually show up on your table and we are privileged and honored that you have chosen us to be your source. Speaking of our CSA shares, they are selling quickly and we have limited capacity for both our Summer and Fall season. With this in mind, we would like to invite others to sign up for a CSA share this season. I encourage you to sign up as soon as possible because this will allow us to plan accordingly, purchase needed supplies, and make any hiring decisions about the staff needed to support our programs. If you're interested in eating fresh, healthy organically grown vegetables from a local farm then we have what you're looking for. For your convenience, I have attached a link to our website with all the specific details about our program.  Also, please pass this information along to anyone that you think would be interested in becoming a shareholder as well. We look forward to having you join the family of Roots & Wings shareholders! Warm regards, Tedd & Yatte

AOLC Welcomes New Board Members

Brad Kemp Brad joined the AOLC board in early 2021 after spending much of 2020 cooking at home with the CSA boxes from Angelic Organics. While he has always been a passionate home cook and interested in local food, the pandemic really fertilized (pun intended) this part of his life and drove him to join the board. Brad owns and operates Second Bedroom Studio where he works as a music composer and producer in Chicago. He has collaborated on projects with notable artists such as Yvie Oddly (RuPaul's Drag Race Season 11 winner), Shea Couleé (RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 5 winner), and Chris Redd [SNL, Disjointed]. He currently composes music for podcasts with iHeartRadio and has written original music for over 20 musicals that have been produced in New York, Los Angeles, and of course, Chicago. Brad is also a member of comedy hip hop trio Handsome Naked (NBC's Bring The Funny, Billboard Comedy top 10, #2 iTunes comedy chart). He loves the Green Bay Packers, his dog Frankie, and his incredible, supporting wife.

Jamie Zimmerman Jamie is obsessed with the food we eat for our health and how we grow our food for the wellbeing of our families and the planet. She is passionate about learning and serving by assisting families and local farmers grow and provide healthy, sustainable food for our community. Jamie is a CPA and has her Masters in Business Administration and works with a local engineering firm. She is also an educator in the accounting field teaching at various colleges and universities. Jamie and her family have 5 acres of property where they experiment, grow, and share their food sources utilizing and learning as much as possible about regenerative farming. Part of their land is also registered as a natural pollinator habitat through the Xerces Society of Invertebrate Conservation. Any extra time she devotes to being out in nature with family, gardening, reading and trying to master the perfect loaf of sourdough bread.

Spring Break Camp 2021

It was great to welcome young people back to the Learning Center for Spring Break Day Camps. Even though things looked different with masks and social distancing, some things didn’t change. The campers enjoyed ample time with the goats and chickens, made new friends and tried new games and activities. The weather was colder than hoped for, but the rain held off while we worked in the gardens and explored the farm together.

One of the highlights of the week-long camp for many campers was hiking out to the piano under the oak tree in the fields. We had all heard about it, but none of us had ever been out to see it before.  In 2018 Tom Spaulding wrote this about the piano- “A majestic bur oak stands in the center of the West Fields. Farmer John placed a piano and bench under its branches in Spring. From the bench in the shade, you can see the tall windrows in the composting area, the flowing stand of grass and alfalfa in the hay field, horned cows grazing in the Highland Field, the oak savanna restoration that shades the Learning Center facilities, the red roofs of the barns with silo, and a patchwork of rectangular fields half green with cover crops and half in lines of abundant vegetables. What on paper looks like distinct parcels, from this bench, shows up as one whole being. “

For the campers, discovering the piano was a magical moment of unexpected beauty and time shared together on the farm. If you’d like to give your young person magical moments on the farm and the opportunity to make lifelong friends and memories, there’s still time to sign up for Summer Day Camps!   We are also hiring camp staff right now. For more information about day camps or to read the job descriptions for camp counselors, visit our website!

AOLC Strategic Planning

Last week the staff and board of the Learning Center came together on Zoom for our first official strategic planning session. Together we spent three hours talking about the history of the organization, our most pivotal moments, and our struggles. This process comes at the perfect time as we gather ourselves from the hardship of the past year and refocus on how we move our mission forward into the next stage of our growth.  Over the next month we will come together every week to envision our path forward and how we can best serve the community that uplifts us. Thank you to everyone who responded to our online survey - your thoughts are an important part of the process. And we look forward to sharing our strategy with you soon.

Session doodles done by Laura Sjoquist

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