Dig This: Georgia Organics Gardening Workshop -- Irrigated with Beer, March 27

Because “the ultimate local food is the food you grow yourself,” Georgia Organics is planting an organic gardening workshop smack dab center in a well-irrigated urban setting, 5 Season’s Brewing on Atlanta’s Westside. On Tuesday, March 27, rub elbows over beer, enjoy local farm tastes then glean seeds of knowledge -- seven steps to creating your own organic garden, what to plant and when, controlling bugs and diseases organically and more -- from Mike and Judy Cunningham of Country Gardens Family Farm in Newnan. The 6-8 p.m. event is free for Georgia Organics members and $25 per person for everyone else. Plant your registration here. See you at the watering hole! Bib overalls and gardening gloves not required.

Georgia Organics Sprouts 20th Anniversary, Celebrates at Annual Conference & Expo Feb. 17-18

The annual Georgia Organics Conference and Expo is a biggie (one of the largest in the Southeast), and this year’s 20^th anniversary event amplifies it even more so. This year’s conference at the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park takes place over the weekend of Friday, Feb. 17-Saturday, Feb. 18. More than 1,000 attendees are anticipated to connect with peers, tour farms, hear speakers, cultivate new skills, see innovative food and agriculture-related exhibits and enjoy memorable culinary experiences. Educational topics spread like kudzu, covering edible gardening, foraging in the city, “Microbial Makeover,” “Working Across Differences,” SPIN-farming, whole farm planning, “Vows and Vegetables” for couples, holistic crop rotation, urban agriculture, homestead planning, community health and so many more. Will Harris of White Oak Pastures will be on hand for Saturday’s class covering “Certified B.S. – Livestock Certifications and Consumer Confusion.” Keynote speakers are Barbara Brown Taylor and Matthew Raiford. A new mobile app keeps attendees in the know for this year’s conference. After soaking up the big “20,” Georgia Organics hopes conference goers will return home invigorated to grow the shared vision that all Georgians will be able to eat organic food from local farms, transforming health, the environment and the economy. Register for the conference and related events via cvent.com; see pricing here. Sneak a peek at “Georgia Organics Celebrates 20 Years” on YouTube.

Aria, Ormsby’s, Gunshow and Milton’s Ambush Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival July 17

The stockpile is deep and ripe. Chefs, mixologists and farmers exchange code words like “Green Zebra,” “Mr. Stripey” and “Cherokee Purple” and strategies such as juice, dice, slice and fry. It’s time to roll. The Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival is going down Sunday, July 17, at Park Tavern in Piedmont Park, and chefs from Aria, Ormsby’s,Gunshow and Milton’s Cuisine & Cocktails are elbow deep in the action. Who will contrive the tastiest tomato dishes and the best adult elixirs during the 1-5 p.m. battle backed by live music? One way to find out: Buy tickets to this eighth annual bombardment benefiting Georgia Organics. General admission tickets are $45 each; Georgia Organics members pay $40 per person; Garnish & Gather AKTF package is $70 per person. Buy tickets at Xorbia through July 16 (small service charge added at checkout).

Who Let the Tomatoes Out of Their Cages?

When Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival takes command of Westside Provision District on Sunday, July 19, “JCT” in JCT. Kitchen & Bar could become an acronym for “Just Consume Tomatoes.” Dozens of Atlanta chefs and mixologists woo guests with an arsenal of tomato-ey bites and shooters while live bands jam. Restaurateur Ford Fry oversees the seventh annual fundraiser for Georgia Organics and The Giving Kitchen. Squeeze out juicy details on our blog and pluck tickets from the vine here. 

6th Annual JCT. Kitchen & Bar Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival Salsas into The Goat Farm on July 20

The festival we have all been waiting for is finally here! The JCT. Kitchen & Bar Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival is happening this Sunday, July 20 from 1-5 p.m. at The Goat Farm Arts Center. More than 50 of the Southeast’s most talented chefs, 19 skilled mixologists and at least 30 farmers will create delicious dishes and cocktails to raise money for Georgia Organics and The Giving Kitchen. Continue the fun afterwards at JCT. Kitchen & Bar for the official Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival after party from 5-9 p.m. Don’t forget to hashtag all your tweets, Facebook posts and Instagram photos with #AKTF2014. 

Beat the Clock and Purchase Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival Tickets before the Price Rises on July 1

We are all about saving you money. That’s why we are bringing you the ticket scoop on JCT.’s sixth annual Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival. Get your tickets before midnight on July 1 or shell out more money as ticket prices increase to $70 per person. Through June 30, experience the luxury of paying $55 person and $50 for Georgia Organics members. Spend Sunday, July 20 from 1-5 p.m. with more than 50 of the South’s top chefs, 19 mixologists and more than 30 farmers. The afternoon devoted to tasting tomato dishes and concoctions will benefit Georgia Organics and The Giving Kitchen. Along with festival founder Ford Fry, participating chefs include Gerry Klaskala of Aria, Lance Gummere of Bantam + Biddy and Chick-a-Biddy, Joey Ward of Gunshow, E.J. Hodgkinson of JCT. Kitchen & Bar, Chrysta Poulos of King + Duke and St. Cecilia, Joe Schafer of King + Duke, Derek Dollar of Milton’s Cuisine & Cocktails, Adam Evans of The Optimist, Andrew Smith and Scotley Innis of Ormsby’s, Andrew Isabella and Drew Belline of No. 246 and Craig Richards of St. Cecilia. Mercedes O’Brien of Gunshow, Eduardo Guzman of JCT. Kitchen & Bar and The Optimist and Ronnie LeClair II of No. 246 are on the mixologist list. Head over to Goat Farm Arts Center this year for the festival and again, don’t procrastinate on purchasing your tickets. Visit Facebook for more information.

Georgia Organics and FoodCorps Go Green in the Classroom

The state of Georgia is big on growing fruits and veggies - in fact, we’re number four in the country. But when it comes to eating them? We could use some help. That’s where FoodCorps, a farm-to-school organization, and Georgia Organics step up to the veggie-lacking plate. The two are joining forces to bring hands-on nutrition education programs to schools that are seeking improvement in healthy eating habits. Georgia Organics was the first to introduce the Peach State to farm-to-school programs and continues to lead the pack for the National Farm to School Network. It’s not too late to join in on the green goodness from FoodCorps and Georgia Organics, applications are available until March 30 and can be found online. 

UGA 2013 Grady Fellowship Inductee: Melissa Libby

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them," said Shakespeare. Well, William, we couldn't agree more with you about our inspiring leader Melissa Libby. Since graduating from the University of Georgia's Grady College in 1985, Melissa has impacted the PR and food industries with perseverance, grace and of course, greatness. Because of her dedication, influence and service to the media professions, Melissa, along with six other Grady College alumni and friends, will be inducted into the 2013 Grady Fellowship at the University of Georgia's Hotel and Conference Center this Thursday, November 21. Her more than 20 years in public relations has not only gained her the respect of her many clients but also of her peers. After working several years in hotel public relations promoting fine dining and cafés, Melissa's dreams grew even bigger. In 1992, she launched Melissa Libby & Associates and to this day has opened more than 250 restaurants. Not only is she committed to her firm and clients, but her community involvement as president of the Board of Trust for the Grady College, board member of Georgia Organics and Adopt a Golden Atlanta and active membership in several food-focused nonprofits makes her a role model for many. Of course her love of food isn't restricted to just the restaurants she serves - she loves cooking just as much as the chefs she works with. With two published cookbooks featuring top Atlanta chefs to add to her long list of accomplishments, we can only wonder what's next for this PR guru. Until then, we congratulate her on all of her successes thus far and wait eagerly for the next 20 years. Way to go, Melissa! 

Bantam + Biddy Celebrates First Anniversary with Fall Festival on October 13

We love farm-to-table restaurants, but we just found the next big thing: farm-to-festival! Help Bantam + Biddy celebrate its first anniversary with their fall festival on Sunday, October 13 in the Ansley Mall courtyard. Live music from Lily and the Tigers will be the soundtrack to a full afternoon of family fun. A bevy of local vendors such as  Nottingham Nector, Souvei, Riverview Farms, Tiny Buffalo, Deck Specks, Doux South, Capra Gia and Georgia Organics will be in attendance as well. The celebration begins at 11 a.m. and continues until 3 p.m., but the good times don't end there. Take a seat at Bantam + Biddy for a four-course prix fixe meal prepared by chefs Shaun Doty and Lance Gummere. The limited-seat dinner begins at 6:30 p.m., costs $50 per person and even includes a one-year Georgia Organics membership. For more information and to make a reservation, call 404-907-3469.

Tomatogram! Follow and tag @Attackofthekillertomatofest on Instagram

 

 

 

If you're one of the lucky ones who nabbed a ticket to Attack of the Killer Tomato Fest at JCT. Kitchen this Sunday, bring your phone along and keep up on Instagram at @attackofthekillertomatofest. Take some fun photos and tag us! If you won't be there, we'll miss you! Check out the page for pics of tomato dishes and cocktails, bands, and people having a blast. 

Price of tickets for Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival increase on Monday, July 1

Cocktail cravers, food lovers and fun chasers, beware! The Westside of Atlanta will be under a delectable attack on July 21 from 1-5 p.m. The fifth annual Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival, held at JCT. Kitchen & Bar, features prominent chefs, mixologists and farmers who are uniting in a culinary front to create fresh, innovative dishes. Right now, tickets can be purchased online for $55. But hurry, because after Monday, July 1 tickets increase to $70. To make things juicier, this day of live music and tomato-inspired dishes will benefit Georgia Organics. So foodies: wake up, smell the tomatoes and get tickets while they last!

The Attack is Back! Tickets Now on Sale!

The weather is warming up and pollen is in the air, so that means that JCT. Kitchen & Bar is anticipating a killer tomato harvest come Sunday, July 21 when Chef Ford Fry hosts the 5^th Annual JCT. Kitchen Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival to benefit Georgia Organics. Local farmers and 33 featured chefs pair up to create tomato dishes, 14 mixologists shake up vine-tingling tomato cocktails, and high-profile judges choose favorites while about 1,400 guests nosh and drink up all of that fruit-of-the-vine goodness. Live entertainment comes by way of the Spazmatics and local chef band Five Bone Rack. Purchase your tickets now for the 1-5 p.m. festival then relax until July's bountiful harvest. Tickets cost $55 per person and $50 for Georgia Organics members until June 30 and then increase to $70 per person on July 1.

The Plot Thickens This Week As JCT. Kitchen Attack Of The Killer Tomato Festival Strikes On July 22

Such a juicy storyline: bushels of real tomatoes give in to the hands of a united front of 37 star Southern chefs, 12 maniacal mixologists and 30+ farmers whose toiling enables the whole coup. The victors? Georgia Organics, beneficiary of the fourth annual JCT. Kitchen Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival, and tomato devotees. 

The event will spill out of headquarters at JCT. Kitchen & Bar and into the Westside Provisions District complex on Sunday, July 22 from 1-5 p.m. Purchase tickets online through Xorbia for $70 per person. 

Last year’s event raised almost $40,000 for Georgia Organics, and Ford Fry, owner/chef of JCT. Kitchen & Bar, No. 246 and The Optimist, hopes this year’s event will grow even more greens for the group. 

The festival is ripe for people watching as judges include Garden & Gun Deputy Editor Dave Mezz, Esquire Restaurant Features Writer John Mariani, Food & Wine Associate Food Editor Daniel Gritzer and actor David Miller, who played Mason Dixon in the original “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” movie. Co-masters of ceremonies are Angie Mosier, food writer, stylist and photographer, and Carolyn O’Neil, registered dietician, author and food journalist. Jump to live entertainment from The Spazmatics and local chef band Five Bone Rack. 

Get more juice on participating chefs, etc. at www.killertomatofest.com!

Heads up! Ticket prices increase for Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival on June 15

Purchase your tickets for the July 22 Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival, $50 for Georgia Organics members and $60 for non-members, before the price rises to $70 for all on June 15. JCT. Kitchen & Bar hosts this annual "war" between the chefs as they partner with local farmers to put their best tomato dishes forward. Mixologists will also be competing with signature cocktails. This year, Garden & Gun Deputy Editor Dave Mezz, Esquire restaurant features writer John Mariani and actor David Miller, who played Mason Dixon in the original "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" movie, will serve as judges. Don’t miss out on this killer event—get your tickets now!  

Spring has Sprung Just in Thyme for Dinner!

Those photos that show folks chowing down at tables out on a farm, passing heaping bowls, laughing, smiling, clinking wine glasses - can be you. Georgia Organics is planning a big family style farm supper spread at Planted Rock Farm in Chattahoochee Hill Country, on Sunday, May 6 at 3 p.m.  E. J. Hodgkinson of Woodfire Grill, Shaun Doty of soon-to-open Bantam & Biddy and Craig Richards of Ecco, along with a dozen other top Atlanta chefs, will provide the fixings at the Spring Thyme Farm Dinner. Bread for breaking comes from Alon's Bakery and Market. Mixologists will make sure there are plenty of beer, wine and cocktails to quench farm thirsts. Doria Roberts and the Blackeyed Susans bring folk and soul tunes to the table. $200 per person/$185 for Georgia Organics members. To save a seat at the table, click here.

T Is For Tomatoes… And Tickets

          

Anybody who knows me well knows that I LOVE tomato season. You’ll find me outside happily nurturing multiple tomato varieties in my garden, eating tomato sandwiches for days on end (only white bread will do) and of course, making plans to attend Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival at JCT. Kitchen & Bar! This annual tomato celebration and fundraiser for GeorgiaOrganics lands on Sunday, July 22 this year and I can hardly wait to see what Atlanta’s best chefs and mixologists will whip up with my favorite summer crop. Add a fun afternoon of live music, celebrity judges & mingling with friends and it’s a no-brainer.  Tickets go on sale today and always go quickly, so head over and pick yours while they’re ripe for the picking. 

We've Got the Beet

Two more days til the Georgia Organics celebration "This Is Market," a local brew, chew, music party and fundraiser at SweetWater Brewing Company. Mark the calendar for Thursday, April 12 from 7 - 10 p.m. "Local" is the prefix for everything included in the ticket price: food prepared by chefs, SweetWater brews, "Two Friends Imports" wine, Smokey's Farmland Band, and farmers markets in Decatur, East Atlanta Village, East Lake, Grant Park, Morningside, Peachtree Road as well as Farm Mobile and Truly Living Well. Tickets are $45 each for Georgia Organics members and $55 for non-members (includes one-year membership to Georgia Organics). No tickets will be sold at the door. See you there!

Saturday Fun with Urban Picnic in East Point

Wait until you see the spread Alisa Barry, creator of Bella Cucina, and social entrepreneur Donna Toepfer have for you this Saturday at their new farm-to-kitchen food center the two are opening in East Point. Down the street from Bella Cucina, the center will serve a wide variety of opportunities for community engagement -- kitchen space for local food businesses, classes for consumers and businesses, an edible learning garden and an abundance of events. The opening celebration is Saturday, October 29 from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. See the garden handiwork of Crop Mob Atlanta, tour the kitchen facility, enjoy savory discounts on Bella Cucina products (made in East Point) during a sample sale and find out what's on the menu for this new community food center. While there, take an enlightening gardening class taught by Sustenance Design, sample mead from local meadery Obec Medovina and view the award-winning documentary "GROW!." Purchase tickets for $45 per person ($5 discount for Georgia Organics members) and enjoy the kitchen tour, lunch, garden class and movie (sample sale purchases are separate). All proceeds go toward opening the community food center. Bring your curiosity, enthusiasm and a picnic blanket! The Farm-to-Kitchen Urban Picnic will take place at Bella Cucina's kitchen located at 1870 Murphy Avenue, SW. Take I-85 to Langford Parkway. Take Langford Parkway west to the Fort McPherson exit and follow the Urban Picnic signs.

Today is the Last Day to Buy Tickets to GROW!

“GROW!”, a new documentary film by Anthony-Masterson, makes its Atlanta-area debut on Saturday, April 9, at a special screening hosted by Parsley’s Catering and The Gardens at Kennesaw Mountain, in Marietta sponsored in part by Whole Foods Market. Enjoy a farm-fresh, family-style dinner, musical entertainment by Little Country Giants (also featured on the film’s soundtrack), and of course a showing of “GROW!”

The cost is $50 per person. Seating is limited to 100. Tickets are available through Georgia Organics by clicking here and must be purchased no later than Tuesday, April 5th (that is TODAY!).

Details: Saturday April 9th from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. The Gardens at Kennesaw Mountain, 1127 White Circle NW Marietta, GA

Grow Already!

This weekend marks the 14th annual Georgia Organics' conference in Savannah. Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12, attendees can plant themselves at "Go Grow" in the Savannah International Trade & Convention Center for 32 educational sessions, 10 in-depth workshops and then head out for food and farm tours, sustainable meals and the Farmers Feast.

Renowned food scientist, food activist and author Vandana Shiva takes the mic as keynote speaker on Saturday. Conference goers can gain an insightful look at sustainable farming in Georgia when they view the movie premiere of "Grow!" Other conference activities include book signings, a seed swap, silent auction, farm-to-school conference, children's conference and music jam sessions. Walk-in registration is still available so visit Georgia Organics' website for various ticket prices, event schedules and specific information.