Man in Overalls

A month ago, I told stories from Florida Theater's stage : stories of family, stories of our backyard farm , stories of where we've been and where we're growing. In the month since then, even as we continue to support others to grow their groceries at home, team Overalls received 95 neighbors & community supports for our Farm (2) Raising , and, together, we built our 2nd "​ unlimited urban uPick ​" neighborhood farm. Farm Three is already in the works. It's an exciting moment to be wearing Overalls, so I want to share the backstory with you.  Just below, you'll find the video , or if you'd prefer to read, look just scroll down. - - - - - - My name is Nathan Ballentine. Folks know me simply as Man In Overalls .  Last Sunday, I spot Charlotte, our 3-year-old neighbor, outside our kitchen window. She’s headed through the gate to our backyard farm. She stops at the mint, looks back over her shoulder to make sure no one is watching, and snags a piece. ...

Here in the Deep South, September through the end of October is the time to plant your fall food garden. When most folks think garden, they think spring: tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, green beans, peppers, etc. While I do love tomatoes, the fall-- here in Jacksonville-- is the most pleasant and bountiful season to grow! In the fall you can grow salad greens like lettuce, arugula, spinach; cooking greens like collards, kale, mustards; root crops (other than potatoes) like turnips, carrots, radishes, beets; the garlic/onion family of crops; and many  herbs (other than basil) such as parsley and cilantro, which actually do better in the fall than spring. (If you want a fall planting guide, sign up for my semi-monthly updates at the bottom of this post. Also, if you want to learn more from me directly, check out my facebook events for upcoming workshops and speaking engagements.) But let me back up. Beyond the greater range of fall options, why do I love growing food in t...

Good folks, I've got a quick bunch of stories for you, a couple food garden pointers, and a (workshop) announcement.  1.) Stories: When I've got a book to write and only got a page The challenge every time I try to write a newsletter or blog is whittling down the list of possible stories to share. Living amidst the Tallahassee Food Network  (TFN), there is so much good work going on and so many dynamic stories to report. We need a documentary and journalism crew on the team just to capture all the stories: from the 75+ community gardens in town to the hundreds of youth that Qasimah Boston has trained in leadership and nutrition, from the Red Hills Tomato "Feastival" this past weekend to the wheat threshing/grinding demonstration today at the iGrow Youth Farm. And that's not to mention the many home gardeners who tell me their stories of family recipes, of their parents who planted by the moon, and their children who, "Just today!" harve...

Check it out! I've been working with the FL Dept of Ag to create a bunch of "How To" Food Gardening Videos.  For example: "How to build raised beds," "How to plant," "How to water," and all kind of other basics.  Below are a few to get your started.  For the rest (and for the ones still to be released), stay tuned to the Fresh for Florida Kids Youtube Channel . While I'm at it, I'll go ahead and show you a few other things as well. I'm super excited about this: The City of Tallahassee TV station, WCOT did an "Eco-Smart" program on the new City Community Gardening Program .  It's half an hour and contains loads of info including the new process by which neighborhood groups can apply for and get access to city land on which to start community gardens -- a program that emerged from a partnership between the Tallahassee Food Network and the City of Tallahassee. Lastly, I've got two more quick pre...

"A Peace of Bread" a new documentary by Diva Communications, is about young folks around the country who are working on food system change as a method of addressing hunger in their communities.  Debra, Diva's director/producer got wind of my work here in Tallahassee because I am a Food Justice Fellow with the Presbyterian Hunger Program .  She came through Tallahassee this past August to interview me and others amidst the Tallahassee Food Network . Take a look at their opening sequence: A Peace of Bread - opening sequence from Diva Communications on Vimeo .

Melissa Angel got in touch with me a few weeks back about a project for her photo journalism class. Would it be alright, she wondered, to do her class project on my work around food gardening here in Tallahassee? Indeed. I was honored to be profiled. Upon viewing the final product, I am super-impressed with her work. Thanks Melissa. Anytime you need a reference, just let me know. Take a look:

" The Man in Overalls Wants you to Have a Garden " By Kathleen Laufenberg For Nathan Ballentine, gardening began as an elementary school pastime. Now, however, the 24-year-old Tallahasseean is on a mission to grow his own food, convince you to grow your own food — and get everybody to share some of what they've grown. "I love how food is able to bring so many different and disparate communities together," said Ballentine, who also is known as "The Man in Overalls" and is a regular blogger about his gardening adventures at http://maninoveralls.blogspot.com . His gardening career — he makes a modest living mostly by building raised-bed gardens, teaching gardening workshops for kids and adults and, occasionally, substitute teaching — allows the 2004 SAIL graduate to unite his all-consuming interests of community organizing and edible landscaping. "I really like what he's doing — he's got it right," Brandy Cowley-Gilbe...

A couple weeks back, Randy and Irene, got in touch with me about helping them start a garden. Only...they wanted "their" garden to go in their neighbor's yard. Come to find out, they were actually partnering with said neighbors-- in addition to another family across the street to start and maintain a raised vegetable ("community" or "friends") garden. The family with the most sun offered their backyard; Randy and Irene oversaw and joined me in the work of planting, and the other family will help as needed. When harvest time comes, they'll share the bounty.

Took a neglected corner of a Betton Hills backyard and spruced it up with a double, raised-bed Food Garden complete with mulched paths and an arbor. There are kale, brussel sprouts, two kinds of lettuce, spinach, red chard, and snap pea plants; cilantro, parsley, basil; shallot bulbs; and carrot and cucumber seeds. Tomatoes, peppers and squash will go in as it warms up a little.

Over the next few weeks, I plan to make roadside appearances. So, for those of you that have yet to see this video, I thought I'd share. It's been a busy week. Monday, I caught up with the books, emails, and phone calls, etc. It was, after all, pouring rain. Tuesday and Wednesday we worked on "A Backyard Transformation" (watch for the upcoming video) at a Betton Hills home. Tuesday evening: a community garden meeting in Havana planning for their New Gardener Orientation on Saturday. (At which I'll be doing a little talk about "Cheap and Lazy" gardening maintenance.) This afternoon, just after finishing up the Betton Hills garden-- just before the rain-- we dropped off lumber for a garden renovation in Indianhead Acres. I headed then to a meeting with Jennifer Taylor, Coordinator of the FAMU Small Farms Program at Barb's Ice cream at Lake Ella. We met about bringing the many disparate community gardening groups, resource people and organiz...

It was a busy day today. First, I built, filled and planted a raised-bed vegetable garden at Jackie's house. Collard and cabbage plants, carrot, mustard, radish and lettuce sees. You can see the finished bed to the right. And then, I moved on to spruce up Faith Presbyterian's -my home church- children's garden before the young folks arrived for Wednesday night program: Planting the fall garden. We planted brussels sprout, collard, lettuce, rosemary, and a few late winter squash and basil plants; carrot, radish, and snap pea seeds. Last spring, the kids named it "God's Giving Garden." Any surplus food will be distributed through a food-pantry being developed in partnership with St. Stevens Lutheran, a church across the street. Take a look at the kids at work. Around the edges of work, I made a little stop-action video. It makes me laugh. If I can figure out how to upload it... A h, well, here's the link to the video on   YouTube . - - - ...