We’ve been mighty busy in the past month or so, but now it’s finally time for our next full-scale, in-town mob! Join us at Gaia Gardens on the 27th for some mobbin’ fun while the weather is gorgeous. It’s right in Decatur, so it can’t get much more convenient than that!

Plus, with the Georgia Organics conference behind us, the beginnings of another group in the making and a SpeakEasy under our belts by then, we’ll have a lot to discuss! We’re working on arranging something fun on the food front…but you’re bound to be fed well no matter what.

Spring’s the perfect time for mobbing, so bring a friend! And remember we’ll be posting to the new Crop Mob Georgia site (thanks Rationally Creative!) so check there for all our increasingly frequent updates! Crop Mob is growing faster than kudzu, and we love having y’all’s input as we develop. See you at Gaia Gardens!

Click Here to Register

Image credit: bensonkua

Well, mobbers, it sure seems like we’re picking up speed. I guess that’s what folks like us are supposed to do coming on springtime, huh? We had a wonderful micromob at Greg’s this past weekend and discovered how wonderfully warm a greenhouse can keep you on a blustery day. It was a great day of weeding and transplanting little sprouts to their own homes. I must say, if you’ve never signed up for a micromob or minimob, be sure to give it a try sometime; you get to know your fellow mobbers much better, and it’s an awfully cozy feeling – esp. eating roast chicken in a lovely farmhouse together and touring around a very historic farm. Plus, you never know what “treasures” are found on old farm property – and some things you just have to see to believe (wink wink nudge nudge to the folks who made it out).

We’ll be organizing lots of micromobs out to GreenLeaf in the next several months, so be sure to take advantage of one. Greg’s headed to the hospital tomorrow for his procedure, so please keep him and Maeda in your thoughts.

Guess what this weekend is! The Georgia Organics conference and the kickoff of Crop Mob Savannah! We can’t wait to see what our friends down south have in store for us; we have no doubt they’ll help spread the mob love across the state with us. And if you’re going, don’t forget about the time change! Anyone an hour late will be forced to complete their choice of the funky chicken, the electric slide, or the boot-scootin’ boogie in front of all other mobbers before beginning work. I kid…though it does seem an appealing option. I look forward to filling everyone in with a complete recap when we get back.

Things to keep on your radar:

• Later this month we’ll be having the first Crop Mob Speakeasy. You won’t have to know a secret password, and there won’t be any moonshine (though drinks will be available for purchase). Basically, it’s a time for us all to gather together and discuss an issue or two pertinent to Georgia’s sustainable ag movement. Topic and location to be announced shortly, but I have it on good authority that both are pretty awesome. It will most likely be around 7:00 on a weeknight…that work for you folks?
• We will be having a full scale mob in the city on the 27th, so mark your calendar. We’ll fill you in on the details on that one soon, too. You can’t expect us to give away ALL the good secrets at once, can you??

More to come!

This past weekend we had the absolute joy (not to mention tremendous weather!) of helping out Patchwork City Farms and Good Shepherd Community Garden. Patchwork City Farms is located on the Brown Middle School campus and is really a sight to see! The beautiful and amazing Cecilia, Jamila and Jossakeed are working super hard to see it thrive and provide the community and school kids with delicious sustainably-grown food and an education in growing without chemicals in an urban landscape. Half our crew spent the morning there, creating beds & trellises, seeding and generally preparing the area for the upcoming season.

The other half of us took a stroll (or drive…laaazy bones!) through beautiful West End over to Good Shepherd Community Church (historical nerd tangent: did you know that West End was Atlanta’s first suburb? Neither did I until last saturday! Yup, the intersection of Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. and Lee St. is considered the oldest intersection still in use in Atlanta dating back to 1835! Plus the cottage homes over there are just gorgeous…keep an eye out for all the cool original stained glass details! End tangent.) At Good Shepherd, we met the charming Reverend Bright, sweet as pie Mrs. Bright and were kept on task by the unparalleled Ms. Turner – she grew up on a farm in Lovejoy, GA and knows how to get work DONE. We harvested a lot of winter greens and continued the task of keeping the kudzu that once enveloped the entire growing space at bay with sling blades and a lot of back and shoulder strength.

Just as our stomachs clued in to it being after noon, we were treated to the most fantastic spread by Ms. Suzi Sheffield, caterer, chef and all-around awesome human. We were treated to – try not to salivate – gumbo, tofu curry, pimento cheese slices, seasoned sweet potatoes, cole slaw that absolutely everyone demanded a recipe for, cookies, brownies, and sweet little clementines. So. Good.

It was a really great day, but sadly we had to leave a lot of tasks still undone. Which means we may certainly be heading out to these two great spots again sometime in the not too distant future. It also means if you live in that area and would like to volunteer some of your time, we’ve got some folks who would appreciate it more than you know. Plus they’ll keep you cracking up the whole time; it hardly counts as work!

Don’t miss our next trip out there; and please let us know if you’re interested in helping out these gardens when you’ve got some spare time. Good stuff.

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.

Click Here to RSVP

Well guys, it’s been an amazing year! We’ve dug, weeded, and laid the groundwork for a really fantastic addition to Georgia’s sustainable agriculture community, and we think things will only get better next growing season with some experience under our belts. For the time being, however, the last Crop Mob of the year is upon us! And we certainly intend to make it a great one.

On Sunday the 21st, we’ll be sticking around town (that’s right! No long drive!) and going to Truly Living Well to help a legend in urban farming: Rashid Nuri. We’ll be helping him get some land ready for next year as well as learn really fascinating details on urban farming methods. Contrary to what you might think, it’s not simply uprooting traditional farming techniques to an urban landscape. More details to come regarding our specific tasks, but Miller Union will be there to warm us up with some of their amazing grub and we’re hoping to have a little musical entertainment as well (though nothing is finalized). Knowing Mike, we can probably count on some Folksy Brews goodness as well. Who knows what surprises we’ll pull out of our muck boots? It’s definitely a mob not to be missed. And the first one we’ll actually have to bundle up for!

So, go ahead and snag a spot and keep your eyes open for some more details coming your way in the next week or two. We can only accommodate 50 for this mob, so if you sign up and can’t make it, be sure to let us know so folks on the waitlist can come. And if you don’t make it to this, you best be at our Holiday gathering (details on the way about that, too) – cause we want to see your Mobber faces and wish you a happy, restful winter before we get rolling again, full force next year!

See you on the 21st. Be there or be square!

Click Here to Register

Photo credit: Anthony-Masterson