Frequently Asked Questions About Our Farm

FAQs

We are asked a variety of questions from people regarding our farm, our CSA, our practices–you name it. We have tried to provide answers to the more frequent questions, but if for some reason these FAQs aren’t able to accomplish that task, please thoroughly peruse our website for answers. If our site does not answer your question, feel free to email us with your question at email hidden; JavaScript is required.

The FAQ categories that we address further below are:

  • General Questions About Our Farm
  • Visiting the Farm
  • Delivery Sites
  • Volunteering

Please note: if you are a current shareholder, and you have a question about your CSA share, it is best to consult our FAQ’s in CSAware for the most up-to-date information.

FAQ’s

General Farm FAQs

What is Angelic Organics?

Angelic Organics is an organic, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) vegetable and herb farm, run by life-long farmer John Peterson, who grew up on this farm. We have 35 acres in production and 35 in cover crops (for soil fertility) in any given year.

We’re located in north-central Illinois, less than 2 hours northwest of downtown Chicago and 30 minutes northeast of Rockford, at 1547 Rockton Rd., Caledonia, IL 61011. We started growing organically in 1990 and have operated as a CSA since 1991.

Learn about the farm’s history here.

Watch the feature documentary The Real Dirt on Farmer John for free on our website here: Watch the Movie. The film documents 50 years of Angelic Organics and Farmer John’s life, has garnered 31 festival awards and has been seen by millions throughout the world.

Peruse our website to learn more about Angelic Organics.

What is Community Supported Agriculture?

Click here to learn more about Community Supported Agriculture.

How can I receive vegetables from Angelic Organics?

Visit Receive Our Vegetables for information about joining our CSA program.

Are any of the crops genetically engineered?

Every effort is made to keep our crops free of GMOs.  In fact, our primary seed supplier Johnny’s Seed is a member of the Safe Seed Initiative. “ [They] pledge that [they] do not knowingly buy or sell genetically engineered or modified seeds or plants.”

Visiting the Farm FAQ’s

Can I visit the farm?

Yes, visitors are welcome at the farm, with some conditions. Our CSA shareholders have more varied opportunities to visit the farm than non-shareholders. See Visit the Farm for details.

Can I visit the farm before I sign up for a share?

Sorry, we are not currently staffed to offer tours to prospective shareholders. See Visit the Farm for opportunities for non-shareholders to visit the farm. Note: with all the information about Angelic Organics on the internet today, including hundreds of shareholder reviews, people can readily determine if they want to join our CSA without an on-site visit.

Do you sell produce directly off the farm? Can I stop by to purchase some vegetables?

No to both questions. We do not sell any produce directly off of our farm at any time. Our farm focuses on selling and delivering season-long shares of organic produce directly through our CSA program to local families and individuals, who we refer to as shareholders.

Delivery Site FAQ's

Where do you deliver?

Visit our Community Delivery Sites page to see our current delivery locations (over 40 sites in the Chicago and Rockford, Illinois area). Most delivery sites are porches or garages at a volunteer shareholder’s home.

I’m interested in your CSA, but I live outside of your delivery range. Can you still help me?

Unfortunately we cannot offer our services to those who live outside of our delivery range. For those who are too far away to receive our vegetables or if we are sold out and you would like to try another CSA in the area, we recommend you visit Local Harvest which focuses on matching people to CSAs in their immediate area.

What if I can’t pick up my share during the scheduled delivery times?

Vegetable boxes should be retrieved within a site’s pick-up window and, preferably, as close to delivery time as possible, to ensure that proper refrigeration happens in time to maintain the peak freshness that local produce can provide. Also, since our sites are mostly volunteer shareholders’ homes, respecting the time window also respects our hosts’ generosity.

When you’re not able to pick up your box during the scheduled times, you may:

  • Log in to your membership account at least two weeks ahead of time and click the date on your delivery calendar that you would like to reschedule. From there, you can change the date of delivery under the “reschedule single delivery” field.
  • Have a friend pick up your box. If you have someone else pick up for you, share these instructions, and also let them know if you have or do not have a fruit box as well. Errors and shortages can otherwise occur.
  • Contact your site host ahead of time to arrange for a later pickup. This feature is not available at all site locations. The site-specific pickup instructions that you receive after you sign up will contain the policy that your host has for late pickups. It is rare that your host will be able to accommodate you if you contact them after scheduled pickup hours. We request that you make the request to pick up your box outside of pickup hours no more than once or twice per season (if your host even offers this consideration.) We are very grateful for the generous families who have offered to host our sites and do not wish to burden them any more than is necessary.

Please note that the farm can only guarantee your box will be available during your site’s stated pickup hours. If you do not pick up during the stated hours, the farm will not make up for this missed box.

What happens if there aren’t any boxes left at the delivery site?

Missing boxes do happen occasionally, for a variety of reasons. If you arrive at your site one day to find that all the boxes are gone, first, make sure your name is on the checklist and that you are supposed to pick up a box that day.

Then check the hours that your site is open. Are you picking up in the correct time frame?, Some hosts remove extra boxes promptly at the end of the posted hours, and you might have to contact them to get your box if you are going to be even 15 minutes late.

When you are sure that your box is truly missing, please contact us at the farm as soon as possible by emailing email hidden; JavaScript is required.

If your box was not at your pickup site on your pickup day during your site’s pickup hours, you can either:

• Get a replacement box scheduled for another date later in the same season
or
• Receive a refund for your missed box (your refund will be for the amount that you paid per box when you signed up)

If you have any other problems with your box, delivery site, or anything else, please email email hidden; JavaScript is required. We will do our best to rectify the situation.

How does sharing a box work?

The most convenient way to limit your produce volume is to sign up for a 10-week (every other week) share. However, there are shareholders who choose to share their every-week box or their every-other-week box with box mates. We leave this responsibility almost entirely up to the shareholders and their box mates. How and when they split the produce is their individual decision. However, we require that we are informed who is sharing with whom. We record the complete contact information (mailing address, phone numbers and email address) for all persons involved in splitting a box. This is to ensure that all parties are informed about general farm news, as well as any specific changes or notices that are necessary to communicate to shareholders.

Sharing a box means that you have to be extra-vigilant that your group only picks up one box each week. Please coordinate this amongst yourselves in advance, especially if you have more than one box-mate.

Go to Sharing a Box? In How to Have the Best Shareholder Experience for specific instructions on sharing your box.

Can I change my delivery site temporarily?

Sure, log into your membership account at least two weeks in advance and choose your temporary site. (You can only change from one community site to another, not from a community site to home delivery or from home delivery to a community site.)

How can I permanently change my delivery site partway through the season?

If you need to permanently change your delivery site, email email hidden; JavaScript is required at least two weeks before the week you want the change to take effect.

Can I recommend or host a new delivery site?

We are grateful to hear from any shareholders who may be interested in becoming site hosts, as this is a golden service to our farm and community. Details on hosting a delivery site and the application to host may be found here.

Can I pick up my box at the farm? Is it any cheaper?

There are typically no discounts for shareholders who opt to pick up their boxes at the farm, and yes, we have shareholders every season that choose to come to the farm to pick up their boxes. If you live close enough, it can be a rewarding opportunity to interact with the farm more, as well as come to know and recognize the farmers who grow your food.

Volunteering FAQ's

Receive a Share through our Pack Volunteer Program

There is a way that you can pick up your box at the farm every week for free. Become a Pack Volunteer. Read about the program here.

This program is a lot of fun and has given rise to a super-committed, enthusiastic group of pack volunteers. How much fun is it? We even converge for a farm lunch some days ahead of the pack! Even though the farm is a long drive from Chicago, we do have two shareholders who currently drive from the Chicago suburbs to volunteer to pack.

Is there any other way I can volunteer at the farm besides the Pack Volunteer Program?

Sorry, the farm is not currently staffed to work with volunteers.