Hi Y'all, John here. I hope this message finds you well.
I'm constantly inspired by open source ideas and possible futures we can create together. Though we're bombarded by news outlets with endless stories of what’s wrong in the world, it's time we write our own stories of what’s right! With the power of the interwebs, we have the ability to be broadcasters of news and action instead of just receivers.
As I look back on the journey that brought me to the garden and turned me on to farming, it traces back to a friend who gifted me seeds. I was working a sales job to get my head above water from college debt. I didn’t think much of the seeds at the time but decided to sprout them with a friend and give it a shot.
I made lots of mistakes but fell in love with the process. I ended up growing micro carrots and baby beets but found peace with my hands in the soil. Around this time, I offered my backyard to an urban farming cooperative and one Saturday, fifty people showed up at my house. We transformed the overgrown lot and planted, fertilized, and mulched 500 potatoes.
We had started a mini-farm in under 6 hours and still had time to share a potluck meal together. This got my gears turning and really blew my mind. I was wondering why we don’t do this every weekend. What it would be like if each street had their own crops to trade with others around them?
The next garden I planted was in the front yard! This small 4x4 garden sparked so many conversations and interactions with neighbors. I began to realize the garden's power to connect with others. One day when walking home, I was struck by a vivid vision to line our block in front yard gardens. With the help of many friends and neighbors, we got to work.
Over the next 3 months, we created a new normal where 19 of the 30 houses on our block in Austin, TX hosted a front yard community garden. We began blogging about our mistakes and successes and open-sourced the vision. Now, over 350 #foodisfree projects around the world are growing and sharing as we learn from each other.
This journey has changed my life and inspires me to share seeds with others and bring them down the best black hole I've ever known. Consider this an invitation to plant your first seeds, maybe in the front yard where neighbors will pass by and be inspired by your rippling actions? I'd love to offer any advice I can along the way.
After all, we're all in this together.
Learn more: http://foodisfreeproject.org
cooooo
you just made a new follower
nothing to add
hahaha
awesome mate
Thank you, sir! Onward and upward.
amen man!
Thank you sir! Followed ya.
Welcome to Steemit @foodisfree :)
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Big Welcome to steemit! Love the vibes, keep it up.
Thank you so much. It feels awesome to be in the company of such great vibes here! Onward and upward.
Awesome work. Well done inspiring whole communities to garden. This reminds me a bit of Ron Finley, a guerilla gardener, who got into trouble for planting a beautiful veg garden on a piece of public land outside his property and won against the local government to carry on doing it. It also inspired others : )
Thanks for sharing the vision! I'm a big fan of Ron and his project. He's inspiring so many folks and it's exciting to see a global movement behind growing food and uniting our communities. Once we realize we're more alike than different, we can start conversations about how else we can collaborate and make things happen. Following ya!
Thank you for the reply. Absolutely. Gardening is probably one of the most undervalued hobbies as the benefits are immense. As the Gervais family says: "Gardening is dangerous, because you're in danger of becoming free." : D
I converted my tiny lawn a couple of years ago and turned it into a tiny raised bed veg garden. I have posted about it before. I wish my neighbours were into gardening too but everyone seems either uninterested or just interested in lawn and flowers. Boo.
Also followed you btw.
Awesome to hear about your lawn turned garden! Do you still have it going. You never know who you may inspire from them just walking by. You may well have already inspired someone to plant their first garden but it may be on another street or in a backyard. Know that your actions are rippling out even if it's hard to see the effects. :) If you end up with any extra harvest, knocking on a neighbors door and sharing it could be a huge catalyst of community on your block. All the best!
I really hope you're right. : )
Yes, my garden is still going. I posted a short video just a few days ago:
https://steemit.com/photography/@veganic/a-short-video-with-the-highlights-of-my-small-garden-in-spring-2017-garden-transformation
Awesome! Love your project!
Much appreciated! Just followed you.
Hiya, this is my kinda thinking :) Followed and resteemed.
Thank you. Looking forward to your future posts!
Welcome to Steem @foodisfree I have sent you a tip
Thank you!
Great! I have had a little food is free stall here in the past to try to motivate others to grow food too. Thanks and welcome!
upvoted & followed.
Awesome to hear! Just followed you. It's a pleasure to be connected and I look forward to learning more about what you're up to. Onward and upward!
great, thanks! i actually created a 'grow 4 all' website before i heard of foodisfree but never had time to promote it - so once i heard of yours i just let that go and you did a fine job. :)
That's an awesome vision! I definitely am a fan of our global consciousness and we're all planting the seeds of our shared future in the garden of life. :)
Welcome to the platform, John. Your project sounds so inspiring. This is my first year doing a garden based on the method laid out in the video, Back To Eden. It can be viewed for free on backtoedenfilm.com
Awesome to connect, Timothy! I just followed ya. Back To Eden was a very inspiring documentary. On my little urban farm in Austin we got 10 dumptruck loads of wood chips from the tree trimmers and that started building such great soil within just a season or two. Be well and stay in touch! Happy to offer any advice I can.
Welcome to steemit, happy to have you here
I am @alienposts , my real name is achraf :)
Checkout my blog posts, Enjoy your time here and let's get this party started :)
Awesome, followed ya!
great post!
I'm all about the more simplified sustainable life.
upvoted and followed :) look forward to more posts!
Welcome to steemit. I am new here as well. This is not your average social media space. A number of visionaries here like yourself.
I'm excited to be a part of this community. When our powers combine!
Welcome to Steemit! I hope you like it here as much as I do. I'm always learning from others, so feel free to connect with me @lulita 😀
Thank you! I'm excited to learn from many great minds and hearts. I'm already very inspired by this community.
Amazing story man, a lot of questions come to me, and day by day i find the answers, what if we can stop working for people and make our own food ?
Now I know it's possible because Yes, food is free !! :D
Love it! Great to connect with you. I do believe that growing our own food, even just a single tomato can start to connect us with a sense of empowerment that opens our world to possibility. In nature, abundance is normal. Here's to us realizing that potential as a species!
cheers mate
Cheers!
Excellent!
Hello there @foodisfree and welcome to Steemit! I just upvoted you!! I hope you enjoy your time here and make lots of $$$. If you're interested in lotteries, please check my profile out @steemitlotteries. I run FULLY TRANSPARENT LOTTERIES with promotional posts where I issue FREE TICKETS for those who help me curate my promotions. All the best! :)
I love your project - you're the first person I've followed on here!!! I'm doing a PhD project on the wild food plant movement in Brazil - and it's been really interesting to get to know the urban agriculture scene in Rio de Janeiro - subversive and joyful stuff. I guess I'll have to introduce myself on Steemit too - must take time! Well done!
Awesome to hear! Stay in touch. I'd love to see photos of the subversive gardening. I'm a huge fan of planting food everywhere with or without permission for the good of all. Be well!
Seed bombs, just saying... :-)
Yes, let's seedbomb the world with flowers and food!! I love seedbombs. Been playing with some ideas to make large quantities much easier. It used to take me forever.
Great project. upvote and followed.
Thanks so much. Following you back! Be well and make it an awesome day.
Wow ..That is an awesome initiative ... You are doing good for the community ... Hope I can be a part of something like this some day ..Welcome to our community .. would love to read more posts by you .. keep posting
Upvoted the post!
You Can follow me @utfull if you like
Will follow you back! See you around.
Thanks for the awesome message. Go for it. You never know who you may inspire. Let me know of I can offer any advice in the gardening world. Be well!
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Welcome to the steemit platform. Looking forward to interesting contents from you for the betterment of the steemit community.
@GLOBALFOODBOOK for appetizing dishes.
Please feel free to check out and follow
Welcome to family :) Follow me back and I will surprised you on August 1 ;)
Lovely project! I hope blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies could power It a lot and help to expand faster. Congratulations, thanks and good luck again!
Thanks so much. I still have a lot to learn about blockchain technology but I look forward to learning and exploring ways it can help us connect with those around us. I'd love to explore ways it could be used to trade/share/gift food, tools, and who knows what else! All the best.
There are some interesting farmers users like @anwenbaumeister and @gardenofeden, marketplaces like Peerhub and projects like @hitheryon's #steemitpark Welcome and good luck again!
Welcome @foodisfree to Steemit community and Upvote🙂
You're awesome! Welcome to this fabulous community! I post about cryptos, economy, silver,etc. Please checkout my posts to see if they interest you and my policy is if you follow me I will follow you. Welcome again and Steem on!
Thank you! I'm excited to learn from this amazing community hub. Just followed you. I'm fascinated by decentralized systems and love ideas like crypto. As Bucky Fuller would say, "let's create new systems that render the old ones obsolete!"
Hi, and welcome!
Here's a short and simple reference guide I put together for new Steemit users especially. It's covers the most basic elements of Steemit that everyone here needs to know about, which are steem, steem dollars, steem power, voting power, followers, vests and witnesses. It also includes links to some very helpful external sites. This is part of it:
And on steem, steem power and steem dollars:
Also:
I hope Steemit works out very well for you!
Awesome. Thanks for sharing. I love the idea of a block chain social network.
You're welcome :)
Well done mate!
That is a great project and 350 projects, impressive!
Thanks so much! It happened very organically as it took 6 months for the 2nd one to start in Tasmania but then we hit a tipping point where things really took off. Be well and thanks again.
Love what you're doing man! Can't wait to see where this journey takes you!
Thank you for sharing the vision! We're all on this journey together. Here we go! Just followed ya to stay in touch.
Cool project. Thank you for sharing. I think organic gardening and wild growing food is the best :) I follow you ;)
Thank you! Following you back. When inspiration calls, it's up to us to listen! Be well and looking forward to your future posts.
Cheers mate ;)
It's SOOOOO great to see you here! Thanks for all you do @foodisfree!!
Thank YOU for first introducing me to this space! I'm glad I finally sunk my feet in, lots of magic here. :)
Congratulations @foodisfree - This post was one of the most shared posts on the web from the Steemit website during the past week. You were featured in my report, here.
Absolutely love the new normal that you've created in your area.
Welcome to Steemit. I am looking forward to reading your posts about urban farming and the connections you're forging.
Thanks so much. It's great to be connected with other like minded folks in this rad community! Onward and upward.
Welcome to steemit. Great introduction
Thanks so much! Just followed ya.
That's really a great idea you've got going there!Inspiring and helping others to start their own urban gardens is something I would consider to be important work at this point in time. Most cities in the U.S. are food deserts, but there are some really great community garden projects in places like St Louis, Detroit, and Milwaukee. I hope it keeps on spreading.
Grow food, share food!
Thanks for sharing the vision! We all have the ability to make positive ripples in our community. When our ripples combine, they create waves of change!
Indeed they do!
All of our positive actions ripple farther than we can imagine! :)
Wow, I just love this! What an awesome program you started. And just the fact that you did this in the heat of Austin, TX is even more amazing. We need more humans like you in the World...thank you!
Thanks so much! It's been quite a fun journey and I'm inspired by all I've been meeting. Indeed the Texas summers were quite intense. 100 days straight over 100 degrees. It's definitely hard on the garden plants too. Squash, okra, and peppers do well for sure. :) Great to connect. Just followed ya.
LOL, I tried to plant a garden when I first moved to Texas, but between the rabbits and bugs...it didn't last very long. I may give it another try after hearing about your success. Thanks for the tip about squash, okra and peppers..I love all 3 of those. And, thanks so much for the follow.
Go for it! Let me know if I can offer any advice along the way. Check out hugelkulture, which is basically burying old wood under your garden that breaks down over time to soak up water like a sponge, encourage fungi which can boost plant growth and offer nutrients as it breaks down. Lots of great youtube videos on it. Take care!
Great job done!!!.You have inspired me a lot with what you just shared @foodisfree. In my country (Ghana) a lot of people look down upon you when you are into farming business.But a lot people excel in it. But the youth here are not ready to explore. But you have really done well.keep it up
Thank you for sharing. I think it's a part of human nature to be connected with growing food. You can be a part of raising the awareness in your community of how empowering and beautiful it can be. Glad to have connected, following ya!
This is an amazing example of what community can do! Thank you for sharing your story! Even to someone who lives in the middle of the woods, it's great to know that people are out there turning whole neighborhoods into something peaceful and full of good intentions. Growing food, and learning to cooperate with your peers are two life skills that I think no human should go without.
I think those are crucial skills but what's crazy is that most people aren't taught such fundamental concepts. Whether rural or urban, growing food and sharing it with neighbors builds connections in the most amazing ways. Followed ya!
Thank you! I couldn't agree more.
And it leaves an organic way to friendships that isn't just over the internet.
I have met very amazing people, by sharing food and work.
And I've learned important skills along the way!
Thank you for the follow! I got you back!! I look forward to seeing your input on my posts! (:
Food unites us! Glad to be in touch. :)
Likewise! (:
Sounds like the life I want to live! New to gardening (again) and I am loving having my own fresh, organic produce just outside the door.
Awesome! How exciting. Just followed ya. It's so exciting and empowering to start growing your own food. A homegrown tomato can make your head spin if your used to tomatoes from the grocery. :)
This is a great idea. Hope it catches on all over Africa.
Thank you for being so inspirational with planting food.
Thank you so much! A couple of the projects have sprouted in Africa so I look forward to those spreading like wildflowers. Is that where you are? Just followed ya!
No, I am not in Africa, but I hear a lot about great famine and starvation there. It would be wonderful if the people could help themselves by everyone getting into growing food.
Your ideas will really help people to alleviate some of their own suffering.
Thank you very much.
We are all in this together! Here's to an abundant future for all.
such a great idea man..im an avid gardener and grower of all things, so much fun being able to feed family and friends fresh healthy seasonal vege and fruit.
keep at it brother you just gained a follower :)
Awesome. Happy growing. Glad to be in touch!
Yes, it's time we write our own stories and be creators vs. only consumers. We are all capable of creation and it's a beautiful thing to see what that looks like person to person. I respect and admire what you are doing with the Food is Free Project . As communities, we can actually become the masters of our own food supply and share freely! That's so incredible. Thanks for doing all the things to encourage us to at least re-think the current norms and take action as we are able to move toward creating community gardens.
Love it! We are all creators in this together. As we realize our power to create, it's like watering the seed that has been waiting for the perfect conditions to sprout. We are all unique varieties of seeds with amazing gifts to share with the world. I love dreaming and envisioning what the new normal will look like for future generations. It's exciting to recognize how more and more people are waking up to these ideas and as we approach the tipping point, our global consciousness will raise to new vibrations. Thank you for shining your light!
Absolutely!! Grateful to see people raising the vibrations! The world is ready for it more each day. Let's do this! : )
Big Welcome to steemit! Love the vibes, keep it up.
Thanks so much! Onward and upward!