Introducing Angel Family Farm

After more than 19 years of partnering with us, Matt and Maggie, the farmers at Golden Earthworm Organic Farm, informed us they could no longer deliver to Queens CSAs.

After a significant amount of time and research to identify a new vegetable farm for our CSA, the core group is excited to introduce you to our new farm, Angel Family Farm.

Please read about them and their farm in greater detail below.

Briefly Summarized

Our new CSA farm: Angel Family Farm, in Goshen, NY
Season: Tuesdays, June 14th through October 25th, 2022 (20 weeks)
Shares:
- Vegetable (strawberries and melons too!); weekly whole shares and (NEW!) biweekly half shares
- Fruit: Lewis Waite farm is helping to organize a fruit share
Distribution: details remain the same – Tuesdays at the Church in the Gardens, 50 Ascan Ave, Forest Hills, NY 11375
Lewis Waite Farm: will still be delivering to us every other week. Dates TBD
Volunteering: obligations will be dependent on the number of members
Contract: coming soon!

The Angel Family

Ana is the head farmer. Crisostomo (Fily), Ana’s husband, farms and is the driver.

Ana & Crisostomo

Lizbeth, their eldest daughter, farms and is in charge of Finance & Outreach. David, her fiance, farms with the Angels.

Lizbeth & David
Ana and Cristosomo’s other children help when they can.

History of Angel Family Farm

Ana grew up on a farm in Progreso, Mexico, where everyone farmed organically, although there was no such word in the local lexicon.

Anna and Chrisostomo immigrated to the USA in the 1980s. They lived in Brooklyn and worked various jobs to help raise their four kids, but Ana missed farm life. In 2004, Ana heard about and was accepted to the Grow NYC’s New Farmer Development Project, which helps immigrants with agricultural experience establish small farms. She trained in organic techniques, got help procuring seeds, finding land, and making connections. Two years later, the Angels became a farming family – at least on weekends and in the summer, when they drive up from Brooklyn to work their fields and live in a trailer on the farm. The family owns 15 acres and rents 25 in Goshen, NY, the black dirt region in Orange County, NY,

a 1.5 hours drive northwest from Forest Hills. In the winter, they live in Brooklyn and work other jobs. They sow the early season seeds in their apartment, and they bring the plants to Goshen when they are ready to be planted. They have several CSAs and also sell at several farmers’ markets. With this year’s addition of Sunnyside CSA, Farmspot, and us, they hope to grow more for CSAs and decrease their market sales.

Farming Practices

The Angels follow organic practices but are not certified organic. The soil in the Black Dirt Region is very fertile, and they use few machines in their farming, so the soil needs little nourishment. The only fertilizer they use is compost which they make from any of their vegetables that are not in edible condition. They do not use any pesticides but sometimes use pepper spray (as allowed in organic certification) as a deterrent to insects and mammals.

They use crop rotation to minimize pests and for soil health. They have a tractor, but most of their farming is done by hand. They weed by hand and with handheld hoes. They mainly buy organic seeds but sometimes buy non-organic, untreated seeds when they can’t find the seeds they want organically certified, as is allowed on certified organic farms. They do not use GMO or treated seeds. All the produce in our shares is from their farm. The harvest our shares in the days leading up to our distribution. But when the zucchini blossoms are ready to be harvested, as a special treat for us, they wake up before dawn to pick them because they don’t last long. They use a well on the farm for irrigation, which is infrequently needed. Most of their electricity is solar. This past winter, they purchased a small plot of land near their primary farmland. This plot has electricity, and they bought a walk-in cooler to keep our harvested vegetables fresh until distribution. Their delivery truck is also refrigerated.

It’s a small world! Matt and Maggie visited Angel Family Farm years ago with Just Food!

A Note from Maggie (and Matt)

Matt and I visited Angel Family Farm about 12 years ago.While we can’t speak to the quality of the produce they will grow, we can tell you a little bit about our impressions of their farming practices. They grow on high quality muck soils and from what we saw, they use simple farming techniques (mostly hand work). Farming in this way, without big tillage equipment, means that the soil is minimally disturbed – which is better for soil health and for healthy plants. They were enthusiastic farmers and we can imagine that they have refined their growing practices in the years since our visit.

We know from personal experience that having the relationship with a CSA community provides stability for a farm and allows it to thrive.CSA farms have a guaranteed market for their produce, they can more accurately plant for weekly distribution and they have the financial support to expand and improve their infrastructure. They will be lucky to have the support of your wonderful CSA community behind them.

Maggie & Matt

Our CSA Shares

Angel Family Farm will deliver fresh vegetables every Tuesday for 20 weeks, June 14th through October 25th, 2022. You will receive a generous amount of 6-8 different vegetable varieties, including herbs, that will change from week to week as the season progresses. So it is similar in size to Golden Earthworm’s shares, but with five fewer weeks to the season, due to the shorter farming season in Orange County.

VEGETABLE SHARES

Full share: $648.00

Middle-Income share: $486

Low-Income share: $324

Half share: $324.00 (Half shares are full-sized shares every other week)

FRUIT SHARE Lewis Waite Farm is trying to organize a fruit share. More information to come!

Administrative fee TBD

Pickup schedule for half shares

Full shares pick up vegetables both A and B weeks.

Half shares will be assigned to either group A or B and pick-up accordingly.

SHARE EXAMPLES:

Early season:
Kale
Chamomile
Green Lettuce
Red lettuce
Garlic scapes
Mizuna