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Crop Mob

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Started 2 years ago by mrsgeedeck
Latest reply from racheltb

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mrsgeedeck
Castle of Lions
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This seemed like an interesting concept:

Urban living has its perks, but sometimes, the old fire escape garden just isnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t enough. Now, when the mood strikes to dig in the dirt on a larger scale, wannabe farmers can now simply join a Crop Mob and get to work on somebody elseÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s land.

Crop Mob is a monthly event that spreads mostly through word-of-mouth and the web, wherein volunteers meet up on a local small farm and spend a few hours doing the kind of work that would normally take the farmer months to accomplish.
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Posted 2 years ago #
rus

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Crop mob?

First thing I thought of:

Caution: Link is hot.

Posted 2 years ago #
gramarye
In Exile
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Someone plays too much WoW.

Posted 2 years ago #
michaelcoyote
!seabus
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I would work for part of a CSA share. Especially if the CSA share contained meat and/or eggs :-)

Posted 2 years ago #
rus

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In the NYT article under TFA, there's this:

One of the biggest issues facing sustainable agriculture is that itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Ã¢â‚¬Å“way, way, way more labor-intensive than industrial agriculture,Ã¢â‚¬Â Jones said. Ã¢â‚¬Å“ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s not sustainable physically, and itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s not sustainable for people personally: theyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re working all the time and donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have an opportunity to have a social life. So I think Crop Mob brings that celebration to the work, so that you get that sense of community that people are looking for, and you get a lot of work done. And we have a lot of fun.Ã¢â‚¬Â

Kinda makes it sound like an Amish barn raising; a community coming together for a specific task. On the other hand, a barn raising is a singular event while raising crops is an ongoing effort.

I wonder if the "way, way, way more labor-intensive" method can be maintained.

Posted 2 years ago #
manticore33
Delaware, OH
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I think there is a CSA that you can work for up around Mt. Gilead.

Posted 2 years ago #
Bear
The woods
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Looks to me as though these things happen, when they do happen, monthly... and that the participants are mostly compensated with a meal.

It's an interesting idea, I'll admit. I bet a lot of people wouldn't mind getting out in the open air and getting some exercise in once a month, in exchange for a good meal. I'm not sure how they go about building up a critical mass of people, though.

Posted 2 years ago #
yurtgirl
far, far south end
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There are many community gardens that would benefit from local labor.

Posted 2 years ago #
10sun
Columbus, OH
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I'm betting Kent over at Blackcreek would be willing to host something like this. Kent has been saying he needs some things done on his farm & I've been to a hog roast at his farm... it was guuud.

Posted 2 years ago #
Bear
The woods
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10sun wrote >>
I'm betting Kent over at Blackcreek would be willing to partially organize something like this. Kent has been saying he needs some things done on his farm & I've been to a hog roast at his farm... it was guuud.

Hmm... that might be the necessary catalyst.

I gather these mobs are regular events, and the participants are regular attendees... so it might be Kent's farm one month, someone else's the next, that sort of thing. Certainly Dick Jensen at Flying J would be another good candidate -- I'm sure he's got work that needs to be done, and with the big oil-drum grill he's got set up, he could probably feed a small army.

Posted 2 years ago #
michaelcoyote
!seabus
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Funny this should come up today.

Denise from 2silos is doing a CSA work day this Saturday the 27th

She's going to be doing a 9a-2p and a noon-5p shift, as well as 7-noon shift working the 2silos booth at Cardington HS.

Future work days will be in the 2nt,4th and 5th Saturdays of the month until June. Tuesdays and Thursdays are also work days if you have time during the week.

The Morrow County Farmer's Share breakfast is going on that day from 7a-11a and costs $1, and features her eggs and local pork and milk.

Contact Denise at 2silos
+1(419)947-1009
info@2silos.com
eggs4u@gmail.com

Also, she also encourages you to bring a large container and bring some compost back with you. It's available for pickup anytime with appointment.

ETA: AFAIK, she's not feeding people at the farm, but the $1 breakfast at Cardington High School looks like an amazing deal.

Posted 2 years ago #
10sun
Columbus, OH
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Bear wrote >>

10sun wrote >>
I'm betting Kent over at Blackcreek would be willing to partially organize something like this. Kent has been saying he needs some things done on his farm & I've been to a hog roast at his farm... it was guuud.

Hmm... that might be the necessary catalyst.
I gather these mobs are regular events, and the participants are regular attendees... so it might be Kent's farm one month, someone else's the next, that sort of thing. Certainly Dick Jensen at Flying J would be another good candidate -- I'm sure he's got work that needs to be done, and with the big oil-drum grill he's got set up, he could probably feed a small army.

Bear, you got me before I edited my post. Kent said he would host, but not organize something. Organization would have to be performed by someone else and would be subject to Kent's review.

Posted 2 years ago #
Bear
The woods
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10sun wrote >>
Organization would have to be performed by someone else

Hmm.

(n.b.: how to organize a crop mob....)

Posted 2 years ago #
mrsgeedeck
Castle of Lions
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I'm focusing on other things the next few weeks so I wouldn't be able to organize, but I'd be interested in participating.

ETA: I don't have farm/garden space that needs mobbed, and my overall gardening experience (planting, trimming) is limited, to my grandmother's garden over 10 years ago. However, the husband and I did pick and process 48lbs of strawberries last year.

Posted 2 years ago #
takeasiesta
Harrison West
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Interesting idea. I have some friends that have a couple of different urban community gardening plots, but this is much bigger scale.

Posted 2 years ago #
Bear
The woods
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Hm! This answers a question I'd had (and completely makes sense). From their Guidelines:

"After the initial mob, all future mobs must be suggested at a crop mob event by someone from that future farm (can be an intern, apprentice, owner, etc.). This guarantees that someone from the next suggested farm has worked at least one crop mob before the mob comes to their place. (this can be hard to do at first but is worthwhile instituting because it simplifies things as the mob grows)"

They seem to think Google Groups works well for organizing.

Posted 2 years ago #
racheltb
clintonville
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There are several community gardens listed as Update 2010 Earth Day worksites: http://update2010.org/worksites/

Posted 2 years ago #