A NOTE FROM OUR FOUNDER

It all started when…

Growing up in North Florida I’ve witnessed a lot of growth. My family has lived in North Florida ever since Florida was a state. They operated a trading post/ post office and steamboat stop on the Apalachicola River for almost 100 years. To them growing your food was just what you had to do. My dad moved to Jacksonville and he and his brothers built the house we lived in.  I grew up on the west side of Jacksonville and as a young man worked in several nurseries in the area. 

I always had a passion for plants and the outdoors. When I first got back in the nursery business in 2007 it was intended to have a small side business and maybe a little income stream. Then I met folks at the Beaches Green Market and the edible component of my business expanded. I enjoyed sharing the market experience with my kids and hearing stories about people’s gardens and their successes (as well as failures!) in urban agriculture. Volunteering at the North Florida School of Special Education’s gardens led me to study at Growing Power in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with Will Allen. The training I received there helped Berry Good Farms to grow out of NFSSE’s small garden into the microbusiness training model it is today.

-Tim Armstrong