Crop Mob takes on big jobs at small farms

(Updated Oct. 24):  How many small-scale farmers have wished they could have a crew of strong hands and backs to help with the heavy lifting?  Crop Mob has invented a way to fulfill that wish, which explains why last night they won the Abundance Foundation’s Not Stupid Award. The honor was presented to the Mobsters at the US premiere of the Britsh film, The Age of Stupid, at the Piedmont Biofuels plant in Pittsboro.

 Last fall, this group of eager young farmers and farm hands showed up at Piedmont Biofarm in Pittsboro and harvested 1600 pounds of sweet potatoes.  In the past year, they’ve gone to a dozen farms and done more than 2000 hours of work, just because they love building strong farms and community.  This summer they converged on  an Orange County farm incubator plot and spent all day clearing, tilling and planting the fall crops.  Here’s how it worked:

From The Independent: ‘On a sweltering Sunday last August, a peaceful mob of 35 local farmers, armed with shovels, hoes and wheelbarrows, raided Serendip Farm in Orange County. But instead of a traditional raid, which is about taking, this raid was about giving: The Crop Mob, as the group is known, spent five hours cutting down starter crop, tilling beds, weeding and mulching—for free. For the past year, the local Crop Mob, mostly landless, self-proclaimed farmers, has spent one Sunday each month “raiding” a small farm that is not theirs, working the land and planting and harvesting crops.’

This Sunday, Oct. 25, they will celebrate their first anniversary where it all began, at Piedmont Biofarm, located at the Piedmont Biofuels plant in Pittsboro. If you’d like to work hard, then party, you’re invited.

Joe and Angelina’s Hearth

Despite cold temperatures, it was warm and cozy at the Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) Green Trade Show in Pittsboro this fall Friday evening.  About 20 local green vendors showed off their approaches to green building, renewable energy, biofuels, landscaping, and farming, accompanied by live music, tasty snacks and intense conversation.

I wandered over to the campus farm, the hands-on project of CCCC’s innovative Sustainable Agriculture Program,  to check out the outdoor brick oven constructed by master stone mason Joe Kenlan and students during a class workshop.  I was pleased to find Joe stoking the wood fire and Angelina Koulizakis-Battiste, whipping up mini-pizzas for a gathering crowd. Angelina, who hails from Crete, runs an authentic Greek carry-out less than a mile away (Angelina’s Kitchen).  My stomach told me to stick around.

Angelina insists on using and promoting locally raised greens, vegetables, cheeses and meats in her inspired cuisine. She publicizes local farmers’ names at every opportunity – on her menu board and her website — and she sells local arts and crafts at her carry-out. She’s a one woman economic development machine.

Now she was casually reciting where each ingredient of her impromptu pizzas originated. The fresh dough came from Donna Bianco’s Our Neighborhood School and Pizzeria (where lessons include helping to run the restaurant).  The  first batch featured zucchinis freshly picked from the CCCC farm a few feet away and peppery chevre from Celebrity Dairy goat farm down the road in Silk Hope.

The next batch had feta cheese from Celebrity and a special pesto made from pineapple sage, garlic and cashews, from friends of Angelina who have an Alpaca ranch. Scrumptious.  

Angelina began explaining what made Greek food Greek. For example, her salad dressing has to be a perfect combination of olive oil and lemon juice (forget about balsamic).

As the sun went down, aromas beckoned and a crowd gathered around the hearth, we all began fantasizing about having regular communal bake-offs with this amazing brick oven.   We could have pizza nights, bread-baking sessions, and apple crumble fests. Angelina could teach us all how to cook authentic Greek fare. We’d pluck all of the food direct from the campus garden. Even in this down economy, we would be warm, well-fed and happy.

All we needed was a little Greek music, some wine, and, Angelina added with a deep laugh, “belly dancers.”  When do we start?

Heirloom apples tell local stories

April McGregor (The Farmer’s Daughter/Grist) discovers her core values and the importance of a sense of place, while visiting Leigh Calhoun’s carefully tended heirloom apple orchard. Calhoun, who grows 450 varieties of Southern apples at his farm in Chatham County, is the author of the classic Old Southern Apples.  Read April’s essay in Grist here.

Carrboro Market distributes 10,000 pounds of produce to food banks

Thanks to the ingenuity of a newcomer and the generosity of local farmers and their customers, the Carrboro Farmers’ Market has collected more than 10,000 pounds of fresh produce for the hungry. It all began when Margaret Gifford overheard a local farmer at the market say that he would have to compost the tomatoes that didn’t get sold that day. Gifford, who had recently moved to the area from San Francisco with her family, wondered why the unsold food couldn’t be gleaned for local food banks. Soon she began taking boxes to the twice weekly market asking farmers to donate their unsold produce for the soup kitchens and food pantries.

The farmers thought that was a great idea, and it grew. UNC students began helping to collect and distribute the surplus food. Then the Farmers’ Market asked customers to get involved.  On a recent Saturday, market shoppers were encouraged  to buy an extra bag of produce to be donated to the food banks. In one day, customers purchased more than 1,700 pounds of fresh food for the program. When added to the 19-week collection of surplus food begun by Gifford, the Market has now distributed more than 10,000 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables for several local programs.

Learn more in Valarie Schwartz’ feature, “The market with a soul” in the Carrboro Citizen.