Sustainable North Florida
Discussions with the people building a sustainable future in North Florida
Sustainable North Florida
The Bountiful Backyard with Tim Armstrong
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The conversation we have on tap for you today was a fun one to record. It features Tim Armstrong. Tim is the founder of Eat Your Yard Jax, and as the name suggests he’s on a mission to introduce the world to edible landscapes and the importance of local food. But don’t let the friendly nature of the conversation fool you! The topic is a critical one when it comes to sustainability. Agriculture accounts for 11% of carbon emissions in the US. But the importance of eating local when it comes to emissions reduction is not as straightforward as you might think. True, transportation is a big part of the carbon footprint when food travels by air. Berries and other foods that spoil quickly are often shipped this way. However, most of our food travels by boat or rail, and then transport is a relatively small portion of its total emissions. The big driver? Agricultural practices. So what does that even mean? Simply put, pesticides and fertilizers are a really big source of emissions. That is where the real benefits of eating local kick in. If you’re growing food in your yard, you can use more sustainable practices. You’ll likely reduce food waste, and if you transform part of your yard into an edible landscape, you are watering your lawn less. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Tim!
RESOURCES
IFAS North Florida Gardening Guide
Article on Impact of Local Food on Carbon Emissions
US Carbon Emissions by Sector
https://squarefootgardening.org/
CONNECT
https://eatyouryardjax.org/
email: info@eatyouryardjax.org
Facebook
YouTube
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Edible Landscapes & Sustainable Agriculture
Speaker 1Welcome to Sustainable North Florida . I'm your host , Lorianne Santamaria .
Speaker 2Imagine a neighborhood where fruit trees and berry bushes are common , where pollinator plants bring in and provide food for butterflies and honeybees , where good food can be as close as right outside your kitchen door At EER Jacks . I feel like that's really what we're trying to achieve and what we bring to the community .
Speaker 1Welcome . The conversation we've got on tap for you today was a really fun one to record . It features Tim Armstrong . Tim is the founder of Eat your Yard Jacks and , as the name suggests , he's on a mission to introduce the world to edible landscapes and the importance of local food . But don't let the friendly nature of this conversation fool you . The topic is a critical one when it comes to sustainability .
Speaker 1Food accounts for 11% of carbon emissions in the US , but the importance of eating local when it comes to emissions reduction is actually not as straightforward as you might think . It's true , transportation is a big part of the carbon footprint when food travels by air . Berries and other foods that spoil quickly are often shipped this way . However , most of our food travels by boat or by rail , and then transport is really a relatively small portion of its total emissions . The big driver . What does that even mean ? Simply put , pesticides and fertilizer are a really big source of emissions .
Speaker 1That is where the real benefit of eating local kicks in . If you're growing food in your own yard , you can use more sustainable practices . You'll also be less likely to reduce food waste , and if you transform part of your yard into an edible landscape , you're watering your lawn less . We actually have quite a few entrepreneurs here in Jacksonville that are focused on urban agriculture , so we'll be hitting this topic again in future episodes . For now , I hope you enjoy the conversation that I had with Tim Hi . Tim , welcome to Sustainable North Florida .
Speaker 2Thanks , lori . So glad that you invited me and I'm super happy to be here .
Speaker 1Well , not to put too much pressure on you , but you really are one of the stars in the community when it comes to sustainability , particularly with respect to sustainable agriculture , and I'm really glad that we get this chance to share your story with our listeners . I do want to get into your background and about how Eat your Yard Jax came to be , but let's start with just a brief overview of your nonprofit . What is the mission of your organization ?
Speaker 2Our vision is to operate an edible plant nursery and education facilities , using veterans and other special needs individuals as employees and work with students in the general population , teaching them about good food and how they can empower themselves . So we do that by having our business here , our nursery , that people can come in and buy plants . We're open to the public every Friday and Saturday and then we educate people by having classes here at the farm , also having our YouTube channel and our website and bringing in school groups , garden club groups and other social groups here to the farm to do tours of the farm and to learn different ways that you can use these plants that you can grow in your backyard .
Speaker 1Tim , did you start your career in agriculture ? I ?
Speaker 2didn't . I grew up in a residential neighborhood but there were a lot of little backyard gardens . I spent a lot of time mucking around in my neighbor's backyard gardens . I took vocational agriculture in high school and worked in several nurseries . I've always had a passion for plants , but when it came down to making my living , I ended up in the steel business and worked 20 years with the steel workers . Most of that time was spent in management work , and so I love to solve problems , I love to help manage things and make things happen , and that kind of process engineering thought waves has kind of followed me through most of my life .
Speaker 1That's really interesting . So how did you make the shift from working in the steel industry to eat your yard jacks ? How did that come to be ?
Speaker 2Well , after I had stepped out of the corporate world , I was doing different things , mostly flipping properties , and I found a little fire cell nursery . The price was right and I knew I had loved the nursery business when I was young . I thought it was something that my kids and I could do together and so I bought a little small route sales nursery business and I started raising plants and selling them to independent garden centers here in the area . But my kids and I , you know , ate your yard . Jacks kind of evolved out of that .
Speaker 1Your focus is on sustainable agriculture , but I think , in order to understand why the topic is so critical , it's important to know the impact that the modern agricultural system has on the environment . Can you lighten us a little bit ?
Speaker 2Yeah , so let's talk a little bit about sustainability and agriculture , lorian . So in the United States there are 40 million acres of turf grass , and this is according to Science Line . There may be more lawn acres than the eight largest crops combined . So you can see how climate change is related to our use of lawns . So I think it's important . If we're looking at sustainability and reducing our waste , then I think we have to look no further than out the front door .
Speaker 2It's estimated that 800 million gallons of gas is used to mow and weed eat our lawns . We know that lawns can be served as a carbon sink , but the heavy cost associated with maintaining those lawns has offset that balance . To get those green lawns , the water input , the fertilizer input and the chemical input is very high . You can go into any box store anywhere and go down the highway where all those chemicals are and you can see and you can smell for yourself just what we're introducing to the land and we can make a difference . We can make a difference by improving our soil , by adapting better methods to reduce the disturbance of the soil and by adding the leaves and material back to the soil so that the microbes can feed off of that material .
Speaker 1So minimizing the amount of all this green grass that we have growing in our lawns would make a difference , but I think what you're advocating for is not just getting rid of that and replacing it with native plants , but actually making that space more productive .
Speaker 2More productive and better for the environment . Better for you You're reducing food miles and you're also taking more control of your food security by being able to grow more food yourself .
Speaker 1So eat your yard jacks . I think that's a wonderful name and basically that means we should be growing our own food in our own backyards .
Speaker 2And that's what we're shooting for . You had mentioned in one of our previous conversations about the little funny signs that I have coming in the driveway to the farm . Those little signs are cute and funny , but they're meant to be thought provoking . One of the signs that's coming down the drive talks about bananas . The average banana travels 4,674 miles to get to your table . The banana bread that I shared with you this past week was bananas that we picked in our backyards . There's a myriad of things that you can grow in the North Florida area , and that's kind of what we're trying to encourage . It's easy in this world of technology to become removed from mother nature , and it is rewarding and beneficial to get that connection back .
Speaker 1You mentioned banana bread . That was great , by the way . Thank you .
Speaker 1And I think one thing people should know about you is that you never go hungry when you're around Tim . Every get together he's got oranges or banana bread or persimmons . I love that sign that you have on that road coming into your farm that talks about the banana , and one of the reasons is because I think a lot of people don't realize that you can grow bananas here in Jacksonville . There's so many other things that are at your farm that are maybe surprising to some people . What are some of the fruits and foods that are grown there ?
Speaker 2So around a lot of the old Florida homesteads you would almost always find pear trees and you know , depending on where in the United States they were . But fig trees and pear trees and plum trees these were super common , especially down here in the Southeast where we are . We grow all these and we try to stretch the imagination a little bit too with low chill hour peaches and apples and bananas and avocados . There's just a tremendous amount of food that can be grown in the North Florida area that people just haven't thought of or don't think that maybe they would fit in their yard . But a lot of these plants are wonderful plants . I was talking with one of our volunteers here at the farm this morning and he was looking at this beautiful bloom on this tree and says , oh , are these cherry blossoms ? And I says no , this is a peach blooming already .
Speaker 2I often tell people that peaches are like dogwood , with benefits . So they're just as beautiful as a dogwood tree . They bloom at the same time of year . They're just a prolific , gorgeous bloom . But then I get the benefits of wonderful peaches to eat afterwards . The University of Florida has worked really hard to develop strains of fruit trees that are more appropriate for our Southeast region , and so those are the ones that we work with . We also work with some natives like the Chickasaw Plum and mulberries are another great one for North Florida . They're like a blackberry on a tree . You were talking earlier , lurian , about sharing the banana bread , so it's funny . I can hardly talk or teach about growing food without sharing food . It's a big part of my passion and my way of conveying things . If you go to my YouTube channel , you'll often see us cooking on the channel .
Speaker 1Thanks for listening . If you're enjoying the episode so far , please share the podcast with your friends and colleagues or , better yet , subscribe on your favorite podcast platform . Those are the best ways to support our efforts to highlight local sustainability stories . And now back to the show .
Urban Farming and Community Engagement
Speaker 1Tim , one of the things that I noticed when I go to your farm is that the plants that you have really are specific to our area and it seems to be different than what I find when I go to the big box stores or even other local nurseries . So this spring I decided that I wanted to try to grow strawberries . I've never done that before and I did look on the IFAS website and I think Maybe you could correct me if I'm wrong but I think that they said sweet Charlie was one of the varieties that's good for northeast Florida . Is that correct ?
Speaker 2That is , and University of Florida has good resources on their website for different things that can be grown at different times . The Agriculture Extension Office and Duval County and Baker County both have good planting calendars , and so you can sign up for the New Leaf newsletter , which is a free newsletter through the Extension Service , and I recommend that for a lot of beginning gardeners . Matthew Bartholomew's book Square Foot Gardening helps a lot of people when they're first getting into gardening , and you are correct . Sweet Charlie and Chandler are two of the varieties that we always carry here at the farm . That are good varieties of strawberries for backyard growers in the northeast Florida Area . They're fast and fun and one of our first spring crops .
Speaker 1Once I read that on the IFAS site , I actually went to a few local nurseries trying to find that and they were selling anything , but I couldn't find anything that was listed on the IFAS website . You've always got stuff that actually is designed for this area or is suitable for this area .
Speaker 2But certainly one of the things that we really strive for here .
Speaker 1Another observation that I've had when I come out to visit you is that there are often people from a lot of different cultures that are there looking for plants from their homeland that might be suitable for growing in Jacksonville , but they can't find it in any other place , like , for example , my family . You know , I'm Cuban American , my husband is from Nicaragua , and there are some plants that I could find with you that really make us feel at home . When I cook with the cilantro or we've got , you know , guava that we can pick in the backyard , I feel like I'm not the only one , because I do see people from different cultures going there to get plants that make them feel like they're at home .
Speaker 2You're correct with that observation , lorraine . I see that too , and I think a lot of that falls back on . You know my love for travel and seeing what other people are eating , going to local markets , local stores and seeing what is in there , and then trial and error . So the farm is over three acres where the nursery operation is , and there's 43 acres total , and so we're able to experiment a lot . So that's one of the things that I feel like separates us from a lot of nurseries is that we get to plant . Most everything that you see that we sell is planted somewhere on the compound here , and so you get to actually see what the full grown plant looks like , and if it's in fruit I'm happy to share one with you and let you taste it , and so that's a . That's a unique thing and it gives me a lot of enjoyment , especially when you see a little one pick his first mulberry and taste mulberry for the first time , or peach . It's just a wonderful feeling .
Speaker 1So you have eat your yard jacks now , but there have been other initiatives that you've been involved with in the community . Can you tell us a little bit about Berry Good Farms ?
Speaker 2Yes , berry Good Farms is an urban farm at North Florida School of Special Education . I was volunteering at the school . The oldest of my three sons has Down syndrome and he mainstreamed for the first few years of school . But then we were looking for a place that had a better teacher to student ratio and we found North Florida School and it was such a wonderful fit . As a parent I was volunteering at the school . They had a little garden behind the school and I spent most of my time volunteering in there . I helped them a little bit plant some things in their garden and it was just wonderful seeing how much the kids enjoyed and thrived and got a lot out of working in that garden .
Speaker 2As happenstance as it was , I heard Will Allen speak at one of the commercial agricultural conferences around that time and what he was doing with the kids in Milwaukee and Chicago teaching them about good food and work ethics . It just hit home with me . I made a presentation to the board of directors at the school about creating an agribusiness project on the site and with that we created Berry Good Farms and it was just such a wonderful experience for me and a transforming experience for the school and just became a gem of the Arlington area . We planted 200 blueberries and 100 blackberries , and peaches and pomegranates and avocados and built a 30 by 60 greenhouse with aquaponics in it and so wheatgrass and veggie starts . We started Tower Gardens up and they have a little market there on Wednesdays during school times and it's just been a great and amazing project . There's lots of wonderful things in the food world in North Florida . Just have to kind of glean them out .
Speaker 1One of the things that any organization has to deal with from a sustainability perspective is financial sustainability . So how is it that your organization keeps the door open and , as a nonprofit , how do you fund your operations ?
Speaker 2We are a small nonprofit and I have attempted to be as self-sustaining as I can . So our plant sales and our classes is the major source of funding for the operations . We're open to the public every Friday and Saturday . We do school tours during the week . But as a nonprofit we also depend on support from the community as well and we've been blessed with folks that have recognized what we're trying to do and we depend on that community support to continue our mission .
Speaker 2Recently , in the last three years , the first Sunday in November we do a persimmon festival . It helps educate people about a native fruit , a kind of an unknown fruit , because most people don't think , oh , I'm going to run down a buy bag of persimmons . So this is a kind of a fruit off of most people's radars . But it's a way that it brings a lot of the community gathered out here to the farm to enjoy . We invite chef friends , breweries , we do tastings all day long , we have activities for the kids all day long and we have regional experts come in and do talks on different like we had beekeeping this past year , we had solar , one year we had overalls come talk about getting your garden started in your backyard , and so that's one way that we help support the community as well .
Speaker 1So , tim , what are some more specific ways that people can get involved ?
Speaker 2So we're doing volunteer days . On Thursdays we let people come out and help at the nursery and work with some of the workers at the farm . You can ask your school to set up a school group . We love to do homeschool groups out here at the farm . High school students and college students are doing student projects out at the farm .
Speaker 1What are some of the workshops that you guys have at the farm ?
Speaker 2So workshops are one of the ways that we share our experiences out here at the farm with the community . One of our favorite workshops is the tea workshop , where we go into all sorts of different teas that you can make with the different plants that you can grow in the North Florida area and we try to go off of the regular like mint tea and things like that . We go into the deep dive on all sorts of unusual teas that you can brew and make yourself , like the Yupon Holley tea , which is akin to the Yurba Mate . We've been super excited about being able to get quite a few instructors coming in and teaching at the farm . I'm super excited about a pottery class we have coming up with one of the teachers from Fletcher High School .
Speaker 2We've had cob workshops . Cob is an ancient building technique with sand , clay and straw and many people that come to the farm enjoy seeing our cob oven burning . We make pizzas and frittatas and cobblers on that cob oven . We almost every week cook on that oven and so that's a fun workshop . We do mushroom workshops . People enjoy learning how to grow gourmet mushrooms in their backyard .
Speaker 1Tim , thank you so much for chatting with us today , but before we go , let's just make sure everyone knows how to connect with you . How can they find you so ?
Speaker 2you can reach us online at our website , eachyouryardjaxorg . We would love to have you take a look at some of the plants we have to offer . You can order plants online . You can make donations online . We do have other social media . We've got Facebook page and we're pretty active on there . We're very active on Instagram . We have a TikTok channel and we have a YouTube channel , so we'd love for you to see some of our videos on our YouTube channel
Community Events and Sustainable Living
Speaker 2. Our business hours are every Friday and Saturday , 10 to four , and we would love for you to come by the farm and see what we've got going on out there , and those are some great ways to become involved with the business .
Speaker 1Thank you so much , Tim . It's really been a lot of fun speaking with you today .
Speaker 2And speaking with you as well , Lorianne , I'm so glad that you've decided to do these podcasts for the North Florida community and you're much appreciated .
Speaker 1A big thanks to Tim for spending the time with us to record this episode . Encourage you to check out his farm . It's a great place to take the kids as well . They've got plenty of upcoming workshops , including a few this weekend that's February 24th and 25th focused on herbs and one focused on sustainable food production . You can also check them out at the Jacksonville Home and Patios show March 1st and 2nd . Stay up to date with activities on the farm by checking out their website or following them on social media , and , of course , we'll include links to all of that in the show notes .
Speaker 1And now our one good thing the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is hosting an energy efficiency webinar on March 1st . Volunteers there will be sharing insights on the energy efficiency measures that they've taken in their own homes , and they'll also tell you how to tap into available funding that can make your home energy improvements an affordable option . You don't have to be an expert to help reduce carbon emissions in your community . Just learning more is a great way to start on your journey towards making meaningful change . For more information , head to cleanenergyorg .
