Playin' in the dirt helps food co-op

For now, though, he's digging in dirt for a cause in Gwinnett County.

He's a member of the Spud Crew, a group of volunteers from Mountain Park United Methodist Church who, for the past few years, have grown Irish potatoes and sweet potatoes on a tract of land off Lilburn's Rockbridge Road.

This season, they planted 18 rows of sweet potatoes and a dozen or so rows of Irish ones.

"We just ran the plow between the sweet potatoes to cut out the grass that was coming up," said Thornton, a former engineer for the Kennedy Space Center in Brevard County, Fla. "Now I have to get a crew out there to get the grasses between the plants. Two rows of our Irish potatoes didn't do too good because we did an experiment on some older leftover potatoes. We know not to do that again."

Thornton of Lilburn figures the first batch of Irish tubers will be harvestable by month's end; the sweet potatoes can be unearthed in October.

When the time comes, the Spud Crew will pick the spuds, then haul them a few blocks to the Lilburn Cooperative Ministry, where they'll be stocked in the nonprofit's food pantry.

Charles Barnes, a retired minister, and Diane Whetstone, wife of former Mountain Park pastor Gary Whetstone, started the high-yield, low-maintenance project.

They encouraged others to pick up their tillers and hoes and help start a tater patch to stock the cooperative ministry, which is always in need of food items with a decent shelf life.

Buckhead Electric Co. of Lilburn owns the tract they farm near the church. They gave a neighbor whose house abuts the property permission to farm it.

The church approached him with the idea of producing produce for the nonprofit. Today, the garden is an interdenominational effort.

"The guy who comes over to help do the mowing — his name is Carlin Cumby and he belongs to a Baptist church," Thornton said. "And Buck Hendrix — the guy who lets us farm it — attends Mountain Park Baptist Church. And all churches support the co-op."

Last year, the garden yielded more than 2,000 pounds of potatoes for the co-op. They hope to best that amount this year, weather permitting.

Kay Whithear, the cooperative's director, said the produce won't rot in bins. Lilburn is relatively affluent, but people are still hurting. She has a request.

"Anybody growing a garden — if they have surplus, bring it to us," she said. "All of it can be distributed."

On work days, anywhere from six to 15 Spud Crew members show up to plow, plant, fertilize and weed. Weekends attract more hands because most of the 28 or so volunteers on Thornton's e-mail list hold jobs.

One recent morning, Thornton dropped by the garden to see whether the weeds had taken over the rows of plants. Some weeds will have to be pulled by hand. He hopes to get a crew out today. Of course, he'll be among them.

"I was raised in the dirt," Thornton told me. "I like to get out there and play in it."

Rick Badie, an Opinion columnist, is based in Gwinnett. Reach him at rbadie@ajc.com or 770-263-3875.