Hey folks…we’re pretty to excited to announce that a generous benefactor has donated use of his land to Concrete Jungle, so we’re turning it in to a farm! It’s got lots of sunshine, a small stream, and tons of potential. Conveniently located in Sylvan Hills, the land is barely a 10 minute drive from downtown Atlanta. And the name? Well, it’ll make sense when you get there.
Our current plans for the farm include:
- Grow lots of produce to donate, especially during our picking off-season
- Plant lots of fruit trees
- Start some beehives
- Offer our volunteers new and fun opportunities
- Get a little money for Concrete Jungle to hire a summer intern to help with the picking season
Things are still pretty open-ended in the design, and this means we absolutely want yall’s help in planning things and making it real. For now, we know for sure that we need to clean the land up, so we’re starting with that: we’re having our inaugural farm work day / meeting on Saturday, February 4th at noon. The farm is located in the empty lot next to 1117 Birch St.
Unlike our usual summer picking events, which tend to be at least somewhat well choreographed and organized, we are flying by the seat of our pants with our farm, which means this is your chance to help get a great urban agriculture project off the ground.
Since this our first work day, our tool supply is going to be somewhat limited, and it is highly encouraged that folks bring tools if they can. This would include weed eaters, lawn mowers, tillers, trash bags, loppers, pruning shears and rakes.
Our general wishlist is of course much larger and includes:
- Seeds (cucumbers, beets, bell and spicy peppers, greens, summer squash, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, eggplant, flowers/herbs for pest control)
- Seedlings
- Mulch
- Garden hose and nozzle
- Organic pest control: neem oil, pyrethrin/pyganic, bt, horticultural vinegar
- Gloves
- Stirrup Hoes
- Shovels
- Flat Shovels
- Hoe
- Soft and Hard Rakes
- Organic Fertilizers
- Fence post driver
- T-posts
- Metal hoops for floating row cover
- 5 gallon buckets
- Backpack sprayer
- Large water totes/rain barrels
Long list right? Well, that’s okay. It’s a wishlist. We’re hoping that maybe 1 out of 50 people have something they’d be happy to donate to us and that things will all work out.
Look forward to seeing yall!
