Man in Overalls

  September 8th marks six years since we launched our first Overalls Farm. You may have missed it in the beginning because we didn’t post publicly about it for years. Growing up-an-alley in Jacksonville’s Springfield neighborhood- tucked in a residential backyard (mine, as it were)- it was intentionally kept on the down-low, except as far as the neighborhood was concerned.  But then, in June 2023, I shared the origin story on the stage of Florida Theater ending with the dream to replicate our neighborhood farm model.  Now, with Overalls Farms One and Two thriving, we’re growing Farm Three to fruition, and we need a little help making it happen. When we started, to ensure we were growing in service of our immediate community, we asked ourselves: 1)How can we grow food IN our neighborhood FOR the neighborhood, 2)What business model will allow us to keep growing for the long haul? And, 3) How can we cultivate neighborly community atop the farm? In other words, “How do we g...

I just read a little book about a big deal: No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference  by Greta Thunberg. It's helping me make some sense out of my entire  adventure in Overalls. [For context, Greta  is a 16-year-old Swede who has been on a school strike to draw attention to the climate crises because we've got until 2030 to cut our emissions by 50% or suffer a positive feedback loop where warming leads to more emissions which leads to more warming leading to unprecedented climate disruption. (Even in my short life, I've seen the agricultural zones noticeable shift north - even moreso from the stories of my grandmother, so this worries me). Greta calls on us to assess all endeavors not just by financial ability but by asking, "Have we got enough of the carbon budget to spare to go through with this?" She speaks "on behalf of future generations" in simple, challenging words inciting us to confront what needs changing in order to address the cris...

(Apologies in advance for the length of this note. It is a resource of who's who info in light of my departure, so save it for another day if you don't have a few moments right now). Update: As of 2015, I've rooted in Jacksonville, FL where I am now growing and connecting with an awesome bunch of people and efforts related to good food. To stay up to date on my work and dreams, check me out on facebook , instagram  or send me an email with subject line "Count Me In" to receive my "semi-monthly" updates which include a story and food gardening tip. A  few years back , I drafted a dream for a Tallahassee Center for Urban Agriculture: The Tallahassee Center for Urban Agriculture will serve as a hub of Tallahassee’s food movement, an incubator, a food “movement halfway house.” Akin to Milwaukee’s  Growing Power , Birmingham’s  Jones Valley Urban Farm , and Detroit area’s  Growing Hope .  On a surface level, the Center will simply be a functi...

How does a team of dedicated youth and adults create a major food-producing, educational, and inviting urban agriculture demonstration project on a 1/3rd acre vacant lot? How much food can we raise? How many people -- especially young people-- can we engage in urban agriculture? Can we make money raising and selling healthy, green, fair, and affordable food ? These are the questions we've been wrestling with at the Dunn St. Youth Farm , the main initiative of iGrow-"Whatever You Like," the urban ag youth program of the  Tallahassee Food Network . My job as the program coordinator is connecting the team with area experts and arranging hands-on experiences, so we can discover our own answers to those questions. Youth began work on the farm in July. The picture below shows Tierra, Khadijah, and Martin smoothing out the compost-mix in a 4'x4' raised bed, which they planted with sweet potatoes. Throughout the summer and early fall, the iGrow team visited o...