Man in Overalls

I grow my groceries in my front yard. I've been growing gardens in front yards since I was eight years old. It started that way simply because that's where the best  sunlight was, right out front. Let me ask, if you're honest, where's your best sunlight? For, I'd say, 90% of Americans with yards, their best sunlight is in the front yard. "Yeah, but ..." I hear a lot of people say, "...if I planted it out there , people would take my tomatoes!" Like their neighborhood is especially prone to vegetable thieves. Like, maybe there is a vegetable-eating gang of young people that roams their streets, who they're afraid to talk about. (Which, if you do have a vegetable-eating gang in your neighborhood, please tell me about it because I definitely want to meet these kids!) Anyway, as I was going to say: if you're afraid to grow in your front yard where you've got good sun, and you instead choose a protected (albeit shady) sp...

 You want to teach kids where their food comes from because if kids grow it, they'll be more likely to eat it , and since you hope to improve kids diets, offer a little exposure to the natural world and provide outdoor, hands-on, STEM learning experiences , or simply, you want child to have an opportunity to care for something and learn responsibility. So you want to start a school garden. I understand. School gardens can be beautiful opportunities for schools to engage kids, parents, and community partners in a collective effort that spills over into all manner of benefit for kids, the school, and the community as a whole. Regrettably, I've seen lots of school gardens grow into weedy plots that are ultimately reclaimed by turf grass. This is often the case in spite of inspiring community build days where 10, 20, 30 even 50 people come out to get a school garden started. I hear similar stories from Kristi Hatakka , Farm to School Garden Specialist with the Fl...

TFN board, staff, and advisors joined for a retreat 11/22/14. Happy Thanksgiving. I am grateful.  Not only have I had a chance to travel the US the pasted six months -- not to mention I will be traveling internationally with Mary Elizabeth come January-- I've been wildly lucky to spend the last two weeks in Tallahassee.  I had a chance to visit family, share meals, and catch up.  There was also time to check in with loads of good folks doing great work around good food. I wish I could tell you all the stories. But, I tell you what: instead of my stories, go collect your own at Leon County's Food Summit January 24th. All our key food stakeholders/players will be there, and we need all our area's peoples and networks present because the conversation and the survey they collect is going to help set regional food strategy. Be there. - - - One of the highlights of my time in Tallahassee was the Tallahassee Food Network (TFN)  board retreat. We reflected at...

Pecan trees gracing the D-Block skyline A couple mornings before Christmas, my neighbor, Ms. Evelyn came walking by. She had her "grandbabies" in tow, two young girls probably 8 or 9. Ms. Evelyn, is-- my best guess-- probably 70, 75. Bending over every couple steps, she was picking up pecans as she was doing every morning for the past several months. Word on the street is that the "Pecan Man" is paying 40 cents a pound this year. Where other folks pick them up at peak season or when a storm blows through, Ms Everlyn's at it every day, 9am. (Though her skin color is a darker hue, she reminds me a lot of my own grandmother who rummaged for aluminum cans. When I was a child the recyling plant offered $0.26/lb.) Some might call it a "side job," or "supplemental income," but here on Dunn Street, picking up pecans is just another "hustle." I live in Greater Frenchtown. If you asked an old timer, they'd tell you the house I ...

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...

What follows is a paraphrase of the presentation about emergent movements and asset-based community development that I gave at the COPE (Childhood Obesity Prevention Education) Coalition meeting on Tuesday evening, 4/30/2013. COPE is a comprehensive coalition of public and private sector agencies, organizations, institutions, and individuals in our capital city working to address childhood obesity. The focus is on holistic prevention strategies rather than weight loss. Many Tallahassee Food Network partners received $10,000 COPE mini-grants to scale-up their efforts.  Learn more on the COPE webpage. Tallahassee Food Network hosts monthly Collard and Cornbread Gatherings to connect folks and spokes of the food movement to one another around good food. Good Evening! My name is Nathan Ballentine. I'm here tonight as a co-founder of the Tallahassee Food Network . Folks around town know me as the Man in Overalls. Before I get started, I'd like to take just a momen...

Southwood Community Garden looking great (12/2012) So lets say you're starting a community garden. You've done your homework, so you realize that when you're starting a community garden, the community  aspect is just as important as the garden  aspect. In that light, before breaking ground or applying for land from the City of Tallahassee  or Leon County , you'll likely organize a community garden interest meeting. A year ago, I mentioned  asset-based community development ( ABCD ) in a post about my friend and mentor, Amanda Edmonds at Growing Hope in Michigan.  At the core of ABCD is the premise that everyone-- and by extension, every community-- has assets: skills, knowledge, resources, people they know, and organizational affiliations that teams can fit together like pieces of a puzzle to better their community. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to put ABCD into practice when I aided Cristin Burns (marketing manager at New Leaf) in facilitating...