Sometimes the people who brighten your day each time you see them need your help. Many of you know farmer Greg Brown from GreenLeaf Farms in Barnesville, GA. Whether you’ve purchased enormous produce from him (he is, after all, the compost master) at one of the city’s farmer’s markets or have had the fortune to learn from him, Greg has an amazing ability to make everyone around him happy, at ease, and better educated about sustainable growth.

But now Greg needs our help. He has a health condition that has not only resulted in some very high medical bills, it’s also taken him out of commission on the farm for a bit. One of the risks sustainable farmers take to provide the rest of us with clean food is forgoing any sort of benefits package, so when the hard times hit, sometimes they hit very hard.

That’s why we’re trying to raise money to help Greg keep GreenLeaf Farms. Whether you know Greg personally, have enjoyed his delicious produce or simply want to make sure that our sustainable farmers like him have the help they deserve when they need it most, please consider donating $10 — or whatever you can.

As many of you know, it’s hard to endure any sort of physical ailment that keeps you from doing what you love. But sadly, in Greg’s case, being unable to do what you love means it may no longer be there once you’re recovered and able. That’s why we’re all pitching in, both financially and physically, to help one of our favorite local, sustainable farmers when he needs it most. As a dedicated member of Crop Mob Atlanta, as well as an outstanding friend to farmers and consumers alike, Greg is always there for others. We’re happy to repay the favor.

Please join us in helping Greg. For more info — or if you’d be interested in helping on the farm — please contact Mike at mike@cropmobatl.com

A few weeks ago, a handful of us were lucky enough to head up to Blairsville to help Biodynamic guru Hugh Lovel get the UAI farm in good shape. How does it get better than working beside and learning from a guy who’s so full of knowledge about the soil that you just want to write down everything he says? By staying at Birds Nest with Hugh’s wife Shabari Bird (whose late husband, Christopher Bird, wrote “The Secret Life of Plants” and “Secrets of the Soil”) who not only put us up in awesome accommodations — I, for one, had a bed suspended from the ceiling — but fed us like kings and taught us dowsing and all sorts of interesting stuff.

After a full day of cleaning out the barn and farmhouse (just ask us at the next mob about the treasures we found), clearing a bunch of bamboo, and finishing a bunch of other tasks we all got the chance to settle in and really get to know each other over dinner and drinks…including, of course, Mike’s famous homebrew. Following that, Hugh gave a fantastic talk about learning to read weeds and what they’re saying about your soil. The big takeaway is your land will let you know exactly what it needs if you learn to speak its language, but Hugh explained the chemical makeup of the weeds, what they need, what they produce, and how it affects their physical structure. It was pretty awesome to say the least.

We (mostly) behaved and got to bed (relatively) early so that we were ready to roll the next morning. A little more barn cleaning, and a wood chopping session later, we had a fantastic lunch and sadly headed back to the city. Luckily Shabari told me she just might need help with a few more things in the next several months, so we might just have a chance to head back up there and let more mobbers enjoy Birds Nest and UAI.

But in the meantime, we *might* have a full size mob later this month (still working on that one) – but we do have some work for a few of you who are itching to get dirty. We’re looking for about 5 or 6 people to help out Paula of Heirloom Gardens (if you’ve been to Peachtree Road Farmer’s Market, you know who she is) with her lily field on the 20th. I guess this qualifies as our first micro-mob! She’ll be providing some seriously tasty sounding Chicken and Okra Gumbo as well as a few sides — certainly worth a trip to Cumming and some time digging in the lilies. Figure about 9:30 ’til lunch?

More updates soon if a larger mob will come together this month…if so, it’ll be on the 27th, so keep your calender clear! Plus updates on Crop Mob’s involvement in the Georgia Organics Conference; there are some exciting things afoot!

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Image credit: mike lowe

Local filmmaker Ramsey Yount put together a new video on Crop Mob! Check it out and let us know what you think.

If you’d like to contact Ramsey you can do so at ramsey (at) 2600productions.com or 404.514.4944

Happy new year, mobbers! We’ve got a really fantastic opportunity for a handful of folks to kick off a tremendous year of Crop Mob. We’ve been invited up to Birdsnest Retreat and Union Agricultural Institute Farm in Blairsville to help get the first biodynamic farm in Georgia back into good shape. We’ll be going up the morning of Sat. the 22^nd of January and returning after lunchtime on the 23^rd. That’s right: Crop Mob overnight! And it’s sure to be an amazing, edifying time. The farm is shared by Shabari Bird and Hugh Lovel and is the basis for Hugh’s book “A Biodynamic Farm” — which is considered globally to be one of the best books on biodynamic farming available.

Shabari’s late husband, Christopher Bird, was the coauthor of “Secrets of the Soil” and “Secret Life of Plants”. Birdsnest is the retreat center built by them to provide a venue for events for agriculturalists as well as transformation. It also houses the 4000 book library and archives of Christopher Bird.

Hugh and Shabari are now a married couple after 37 years of friendship and being neighbors. They spend most of the year in Australia as Quantum Agriculture consultants and Workshop leaders. UAI farm is now being offered for sale and is in desperate need of some TLC to the farm house where we will spend most of our time as well as cleaning up some of the 200 biodynamic growing beds. Shabari will be providing housing in the 7 guest bedrooms of Birdsnest for the Mob as well as meals. Please let her know if you prefer vegetarian meals. The evening will be spent in asking Hugh any questions regarding Biodynamics, CSA, market gardening or Quantum Agriculture. Shabari is available to teach you dowsing (she originally taught Hugh dowsing in 1977) and speak on food preservation.

Be sure to bring your musical instruments or wine and beer so we can cut loose and have ourselves a time in the meeting room. Also feel free to bring a sleeping bag if you’d like, though sheets will be provided. Due to the space constraints, we can only fit 15 mobbers. If you’re on the fence about it, leave the spaces open for folks who are really interested in learning more about biodynamic farming, as this is a unique, once in a lifetime opportunity.

We can’t wait! We’ve got some great ideas about the upcoming year and can’t wait to share them with you and get your feedback — both at this outing and future ones. Look for another, full-sized mob in March.

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Photo credit: Jaymi Heimbuch

Our last mob of 2010 at Truly Living Well went…well…WELL! It was a fantastic time at two of Rashid’s properties right around the corner from one another. It was a really unique experience to get to see how much can be grown in an urban space with very little. As Rashid said, everything done on his urban farm can be done with nothing more than a hoe, a rake and a shovel (some quality compost sure doesn’t hurt either!). We separated and planted garlic, transplanted kale, cleaned up existing beds and created some new ones, spread lots of compost and mulch, and decimated some mobber-high brambles. Once we had tuckered out and were slowing down before a veggie feast from Miller Union (with some seriously delicious pear crisp to boot), Rashid told us a bit more about his experiences, how his efforts have been received, current issues in the urban farming world around Atlanta, and generally inspired mobbers that we’re on the right track to help not only farmers but also folks in the city by helping provide access to quality foods.

If you’ve never visited Truly Living Well, be sure to put it on your to-do list. And great news: Rashid just broke ground on a new, 4-acre farm in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, so even more Atlantans will be able to eat healthy, natural foods grown close to them. At Crop Mob Atlanta, we hope to see more urban farms springing up and look forward to helping many folks get them up and running or maintain them. Our first large urban farm visit was a definite success, and we hope to keep helping Rashid as he turns more vacant spaces into thriving, life-sustaining farms.

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