Today we’d like to introduce you to Atlanta Planting Cooperative.
Hi Atlanta Planting Cooperative, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
We started as a group of volunteers who were assisting with small planting projects. We were doing everything to get more plants in the ground and work for our community. Fall 2024, M. Soto (Co-op President, Director of Planting & Community Programming) and Oya Money-Worthy (Co-op Treasurer & Accounting) met with Joe Sissoko (Nursery Operations) about a partnership where we would set up a grow operation on a site he was operating his business out of. Once those details were finalized, it was time to build the rest of the team. There were two follow up interest meetings. Among the few folks who joined, there was Janelle Wright (Co-op Secretary), and Jamilla Stephen (Marketing & Community Programming).
The initial site was a container in an industrial courtyard off of Donald Lee Hollowell. We had a shipping container that was partially overgrown and full of all types of trash and debris. It was being used as an unofficial dumping site for the rest of the compound. Naturally we had to clean it out by hand, which took a few rounds of volunteer days. We did it though! We transformed that site with what little resources we had into the first iteration of a functional nursery.
Around early Spring we started selling at local markets and festivals around the city. Through that and some word of mouth connections we incorporated appointments to have folks visit the site to shop in person and meet more intimately. This was at the Donald Lee Hollowell site. It wasn’t too long after that we realized we needed a different space. We looked into a couple options, even did a few site visits, before landing at Truly Living Well. We’ve been operating at their location on Lawton Ave since late Summer 2025.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The process of becoming a legally incorporated Cooperative is new to all of us. As soon as we figured out one step, there was another hurdle right there waiting. We work really well together and have been learning from one another and exchanging skills along the way. We are extremely grateful to the people in our community that offered guidance, resources, labor, and education that allowed us to get where we are.
Some things we found challenging early on was balancing the fundamental trial and error of having a new business, learning exactly how Cooperatives work, finding markets to sell; all while prioritizing the search for a new site where we could bring customers. We are continuously working on developing our internal systems to find that balance of integrating modern business practices with the future Cooperative ecosystem we hope to achieve. That process requires us to fully own our individual roles and take accountability each step of the way; which is crucial in keeping that upward momentum in the beginnings of a business like ours.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
The Atlanta Planting Cooperative (APC) is primarily a native tree, shrub, and ground cover nursery. We are much more beyond that. At our core, we are an eco-project interweaving many aspects of progressive ideals: cooperative economics, hyper local nature-based education, environmental justice, social progress, and community driven impact. Our goal seems simple enough; helping reforest our communities one native plant at a time; but anyone who works in this field realizes the intricacies of attempting to impact the environment. We don’t let these factors deter us. We focus on people through the plants.
We educate, provide access to, and help people interact with their environment in authentic ways. In Spanish there is a word used to describe this: convivir. It means the act of living with, amongst, and for each other. It’s about sharing time, space, and ideas with each other in harmony, in peace, and with respect.
What matters most to you? Why?
What matters most to us is continuing our efforts to close the gap between people, plants, and places. We decided to focus on native plant reforestation efforts in order to maximize the impact and benefit we could offer to our community. We use our combined lived experiences of the present as a guide to undo the harm of the past. We believe this is our way towards a more fruitful future for us all. Our Coop is made up of five locally based nature lovers ranging from community organizers, scientists, engineers, and environmental justice specialists. Combining our skills, we have created a space where historically marginalized people can interact with nature and each other in authentic ways. Our way of continuing that work and pushing that agenda forward is by teaching about the importance of native plants and reforestation, leading workshops where people of all backgrounds are invited to enjoy the outdoors and learn about the plants that surround them, and provide high quality native plants to suit a variety of the Atlanta landscapes found today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.atlantaplantingcoop.com/
- Instagram: atlantaplantingcoop
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/atlanta-planting-cooperative
Image Credits
Jamilla Stephen
