crop mob: coming soon to a farm near you

Check out the crop mob flyer!

Click image for a larger version of the flyer.

Crop Mob Connection in Slippery Rock

Are you a farmer with too much work on your hands and not enough time? Do you wish you could cultivate community and share your experience with other food and farm enthusiasts? Or maybe you’re an aspiring gardener seeking to expand your current skills?

If so, then we’re going to make you an offer you can’t refuse: come join the Crop Mob. An idea that began a few years ago in the fertile piedmont of North Carolina, a Crop Mob brings together farmers, gardeners, community members, and other like-minded individuals to celebrate sustainable agriculture while working together. The basic premise of a Crop Mob is an open and informal group which holds monthly rotating work sessions at local farms and gardens. While the idea normally attracts experienced farmers and landless would-be farmers, the Crop Mob is open to anyone who wants to get their hands in the dirt and support the local food movement.

One of the many benefits of Crop Mobs is the knowledge that passes between people while working side-by-side. Despite the overwhelming benefits of sustainable agriculture, it can be more labor intensive than “conventional” or industrialized methods of farming. A Crop Mob can help accomplish tasks on a farm in a far shorter time, while empowering the community to be more involved in agriculture and the local foodshed.

The first Crop Mob in the Slippery Rock area will be held at the Macoskey Center on April 17th, 2010. The Crop Mob will start at 9 am and last until 12:30pm. The basic operating principles of the group will be discussed and then we will get our hands in the dirt. Lunch will be provided to all Mobbers. People are welcome to stay after lunch to continue to help. Come, learn, work, and celebrate the beauty of community and cooperation.

After the initial mob, all future Crop Mob events can only be suggested at a Crop Mob. To be eligible for a Crop Mob at one’s farm or garden, someone representing that farm must participate in a prior crop mob. The Crop Mob idea has few other rules, and has been likened to old-fashioned barn raisings. No money exchanges hands, just a lunchtime meal provided by the host. A Crop Mob is a community not a charity, and is not for hire. “We Crop Mob for Crop Mobbers.” Participants are encouraged to bring their own hand tools, but most of all, bring your desire to learn, share, and work hard with other members of the community.

For information on future Crob Mob events check out: www.cropmob.blogspot.com

Welcome to the Crop Mob Blog, NY Times article

Welcome to cropmob.blogspot.com. This blog is maintained by The Robert A. Macoskey Center for Sustainable Systems Education and Research at Slippery Rock University here in western Pennsylvania.

Check out the Feb. 24th NY Times article about crop mobs:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/magazine/28food-t-000.html

Tim Zeitler

RAMC Market Garden Coordinator