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...

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...

Hey there good folks, I've got a quick little story for you and a couple of pointers as you begin your summer garden. 1.) Story: A Hidden Garden Last week, Sundiata Ameh-El, co-coordinator of  iGrow  and I were installing raised beds around town together. Because we were in the area and because my father had told me about it, we swung by for a look at an unlikely farm. It's hidden behind a Tallahassee shopping center, behind a hedge on a steep hillside above a storm drain. It's absolutely gorgeous, everything a mini farm should be, and it's maintained by a gentleman from China who doesn't speak any English. (To protect his privacy, I'm being intentionally vague about his farm's location.) Aside from the beautiful produce, the most impressive aspect in my opinion was the terracing itself. I've always wondered how indigenous peoples the world over have farmed on hillsides without loosing their beds to the first rain. Take a look. No...

Sometimes I feel like a broken record.  Nonetheless, I'm going to say it again: there is SO much good work being done locally as it relates to the food movement, as it relates to building a resilient community-based food system*.  When I consider highlighting great work and to whom to offer thanks, I am often at a loss because I don't know where to start. Allow me to chronicle the list by memory and dates as I've encountered the food movement recently. April 13th , I met with Betsy Henderson at her Dunn Street property (currently a vacant lot); she dreams of a thriving French Town Community Garden that involves both young and old, hosts community food workshops, provides space to local churches to raise food for the hungry, and hosts periodic cook outs where neighbors can meet neighbors. April 14th , via the coordination of Ms Miaisha Mitchell of the Frenchtown Revitilization Council and Harriette Hudson with Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, I conducted a workshop at TM...