This month has been a whirlwind of activity for Crop Mob! Just as the weather is (finally) getting crisp and cooling down, we’ve stirred into action and been helping some farmers get ready for the colder months. We even got a great shout out on CNN’s Eatocracy blog with cameos from some of our most dedicated mobbers.

Earlier this month, a group of mobbers went out to Whippoorwill Hollow Farm the day before the Field of Greens festival to help get the farm in shape for tons of company. There was only a small group of us but we sure did get a lot done. Hay bales were moved, sweet potatoes dug, fall plants seeded, lima beans and peppers picked, horse manure removed from the “parking lot”, tables and chairs setup, and the layout for the market tents staked.

The following day was also a great time with tons of folks coming out to support Slow Food Atlanta and eat some great farm-to-table chow! All in all, it was quite a success. But in mobber fashion, we thought “why stop there?”

So, on the 17th we drove up to Cumming, GA to meet the wonderful Lynn Pugh and lend a hand at her beautiful Cane Creek Farm. Thanks to some generous mobbers (thanks, Amy!) we were greeted with delicious Dutch Monkey Doughnuts and got together to look at the to-do list for the day. It looked something like this (except that it really went up to about #15):

But we mobbers love a challenge and got to work right away! A large portion of us started on the hoophouse (something of a Crop Mob specialty, these days) while the rest planted a field of strawberries and garlic. We *almost* knocked out that whole whiteboard of to-do’s, but the smell of pork and beans graciously provided by Farm Burger, crisp farm greens, and amazing cornbread (thanks again, Amy!) was too much to resist and we got to share a meal after a job very well done.

While sampling some Folksy Brews braggot and kimchi, we announced that the last mob of 2010 will occur in town at Rashid Nuri’s Truly Living Well Natural Urban Farm, and we’re doing all we can to really do it up right! That’s not ALL the fun we have in store, though, as we’re also working on a holiday get together to celebrate all the hard work we’ve done and the amazing amount of work we’ve accomplished.

We’ll post more info on the Truly Living Well mob soon, but clear your calendar for the 21st and get excited! This has been such a fantastic year that we’re surely going to ring in the end of it right!

Y’all are the best. No kiddin’.

Photo credit: Pattie Baker

There’s still time to join us for the mini-mob this Saturday at Whippoorwill Hollow Farm. If you’d like to come out and help lay the foundation for the Hilda Byrd Memorial Garden and get the farm ready for Field of Greens then Register Here.

If you can’t make it on Saturday we hope to see you at the big mob of the month! We’ll be heading to Cane Creek Farm on October 17 to spend some time with the amazing Lynn Pugh, organic gardening guru extraordinaire. Looks like we’ll be putting up a hoophouse (since that’s our area of expertise now), as well as planting strawberries and garlic, some general farm cleanup, and maybe digging a few sweet potatoes.

Cane Creek is in Cumming which is only about 45 minutes north of the city, so we can actually get up at reasonable times for a 9AM arrival. We’re capping this mob at 50, and it’s bound to be a good one, so be sure and reserve your space! And, now that it’s cooling down, it’d be the perfect time to invite a friend!

Click Here to Register

Even though autumn hasn’t quite cooperated yet with the cooler temperatures we’ve all been waiting for, we still had a fantastic mob. Everybody was up and at’em good and early to get to Royston, and we were greeted by the lovely Tammy Burnell and her husband Joe. In mobber fashion, we got to work and started knocking out chores almost as quick as Tammy could tell us about them! While the guys tore down the remains of an old, wooden greenhouse and secured the plastic sheeting of the new hoophouse, a bunch of us harvested okra, beans, peppers and more as well as clearing a field of rocks. We seeded and planted grape vines and all got to hunker down and trade stories while shelling and weighing beans.

We took an amazing tour of the property including a 9 1/2 acre pond (a few of us made mental notes to bring fishing poles next time around), chickens, rabbits and a beautiful cabin (well, we got to see the outside). And, as always, Miller Union was greeted with happy, hungry mobbers and provided a fantastic lunch of house-cured ham sandwiches with H&F bread, green bean salad, eggplant salad, and farm greens. Every meal they provide is a 10, and the homebrew from Folksy Brews doesn’t hurt one bit!

Now it’s the time we’ve been waiting for: October mobbing. What could be better than a day on the farm when the air is crisp and it’s chilly in the morning. Not to mention not having to get up *quite* so early! This October we’re going to have one large mob and one mini-mob. The mini-mob will take place October 2nd, and will help Whippoorwill Hollow Farm get organized and spiffed up for the next day’s Field of Greens festival!  It’ll be a great time, and come back the following day for the festival itself! If you’ve never been to Field of Greens, you can’t afford to miss it. Tip: come hungry! There are about 10 spots remaining for the mini-mob on October 2nd. Lunch will be provided, and Crop Mob attendees are welcome to hang around after lunch to walk the farm’s trails, visit the animals, check out the fruit trees and see what’s growing in the fields — so sign up now!

And for our big mob of the month, we’ll be heading to Cane Creek Farm on October 17 to spend some time with the amazing Lynn Pugh, organic gardening guru extraordinaire. More details to come on our exact chores, but looks like we’ll be putting up a hoophouse (since that’s our area of expertise now), as well as some general farm cleanup, harvesting and more. Cane Creek is only about 45 min. north of the city in Cumming, so we can actually get up at reasonable times for a 9AM arrival. We’re capping this mob at 50, and it’s bound to be a good one, so be sure to keep an eye out for the registration info coming soon! And, now that it’s cooling down, it’d be the perfect time to invite a friend!

More updates on all our October excitement soon! We’re so lucky to get to enjoy the cooler temperatures (hopefully) and start wrapping up this stunningly awesome year with our mobbers.

Hint: we might have a holiday/mobber appreciation party in the works!!!

Well, it’s about that time again. Our sore muscles are all limbered up and our sunburns have faded, and that can only mean one thing: time for another mob! This month we’re heading to Burnell Farm in Royston, GA to do a variety of fun things. For those of you who helped out at Tewksbury, you can experience hoophouse construction from beginning to end, since we’ll be helping Tammy finish up her hoophouses as well as do some weeding, seeding and pulling out fence line. I don’t *think* we’ll be needing any special tools or equipment, but you can always feel free to throw what you’ve got in terms of shovels and such in your trunk just in case! Be sure to remember gloves, water, sunscreen, bugspray, boots, and plates and utensils for lunch! (We haven’t confirmed yet, but are pretty sure we’ll be getting a Miller Union visit. Get excited!)

The impossible happened: we went to a mob and didn’t do a lick of weeding (except, of course, the few weedaholics who just couldn’t help themselves). Instead, we covered fields with straw for winter, picked and bagged some ruby-red field corn, and…oh, you know…built a greenhouse or two. Two, actually. Maybe we didn’t COMPLETELY finish them, but we got the structure up and ready for Farmer Tate and had a heck of a good time in the process! Mr. Tewksbury (Tate’s dad) brought Lou and Sue, their gorgeous and enormous horses, down to the field so we could watch some old-school plowing, and we loved meeting all of the Morgan County locals who came out to help.

Once we were done working, we head up the road to meet some fantastic animals, have a cold one, stuff our faces and listen to awesome music. Seriously, does it get much better than that? The generosity at this mob was really amazing; Plow Point Farms donated and smoked so much delicious pastured Poulet Rouge chickens, Suzi Cooker Catering made amazing sides and desserts (I had no idea slaw could be that good!), the Morgan County Conservancy graciously donated 4 cases of much needed refreshment. And, to top it all off, The Bearfoot Hookers played an awesome set that kept our toes tapping (and perhaps inspired one or two of us to lead an impromptu hoedown by the lunch tables). The weather was finally starting to cool down a bit and hinted at a Fall we never thought would come.

And my oh my did we get our five minutes of sweaty fame! There were no less than four groups doing media pieces on the event including the Morgan County Citizen, Athens’s ezine BLVD, Ramsey Yount, and CNN! Crazy stuff, but it was fun to see all our mobbers getting interviewed – can’t wait to see how everything turns out!

Aaaaaand we’ve already got our September mob planned, too! On the 19th of this month we’ll be heading NE on 85 to Royston, GA (right before Lake Hartwell) to help Burnell Farm get ready for fall. Having relocated from Iowa a year ago after losing everything to floodwaters, the Burnells have worked hard to establish their farm and have several acres for production as well as chickens and rabbits. We’ll have an official chore list soon, but it will probably include finishing up some hoophouses, weeding, seeding, pulling out fence line – nothing our mobbers can’t handle! Expect more details and eventbrite registration soon!

This seriously just keeps getting better and better. And now we’ll have a good Georgia autumn to enjoy it by! I smell bonfires already…

Go Mob!