ABOUT
Rebel Farms
Who We Are
What Is Food Sovereignty?
Food sovereignty is a food system in which the people who produce, distribute, and consume food also control the mechanisms and policies of food production and distribution. This stands in contrast to the present corporate food regime, in which corporations and market institutions control the global food system.
The Love, The Mission, and The Goal?
We are your local farmers with a big vision. Rebel Farms is an experiment in permaculture on 1/3 acre with goals to expand to a larger farm in the Volusia County area. We farm in Zone 9, specifically in New Smyrna, Florida. Our love is cultivating intentional living, community & food forestry. Our mission is to install as many edible food forests in backyards around the state as possible, and to teach others to do the same. Our goal is to retire having planted over 100,000 edible trees and perennials in Florida backyards and public spaces.
Meet Your Farmers
Tyson
Tyson is simultaneously the muscle and the brain of Rebel Farms. A native of Central Florida, Tyson spent a decade living and working in Central America where he learned permaculture and tropiculture techniques that he has brought home with him. Tyson has volunteered in communities near and far; as a paramedic in Haiti, as patient volunteer with Hospice in Volusia County and as a land reform advocate in Guatemala. Though not born a rebel like Maggie, Tyson has embraced a rebellious ideology that food production can be decentralized, localized and free of pesticides and other harmful chemicals.
Tyson’s passion for agriculture, art and community activism are integral parts of his life past and present and are at the heart of Rebel Farms’ ideology, mission and practice. Tyson often talks of a “triple cocktail” approach to large goals that many (if not most) NGO’s, Government Agencies and activist organizations need to change large, existential problems. Coined by one of his teacher’s in Guatemala, this ‘triple cocktail’ can be a good “Where” and a good “Why” but where most fall short is a good “How”. Tyson sees Rebel Farms as a “How”, and it’s his life’s mission to build Rebel Farms into both a physical location to shine as a beacon to teach and inspire future generations of urban farmers as well as methodically transforming our communities into food producing, biodiverse sanctuaries for flora and fauna alike.
Maggie
Maggie is the heart and soul of Rebel Farms. After graduating from and then teaching film at the University of Miami, she went on to launch several successful business ventures. Growing up on a small farm in Rhode Island, gardening and land stewardship are, and always have been, an integral part of Maggie’s being. From birth, she’s been a rebel. She gave birth and delivered our child at home with her own two hands. She broke glass ceilings by starting businesses dominated by men like Moving and Film Production. Today she coaches and consults women on how to grow wealth and cultivate more intentional living practices.
Maggie’s entrepreneurial expertise brings financial stability and growth that is as sustainable as the method of farming and garden design that we employ at Rebel Farms. Her love for nature and endless curiosity drives innovation and problem solving, through strictly holistic means, on the farm and in the wider world around her. And her heart, grace and genuine love for the people in her community provide the moral compass that points Rebel Farms ever onward to better and greater projects that will impact our neighborhoods, communities and environments for generations to come.
Frequently Asked Questions
We are currently open for tours by appointment only on Tuesdays and Saturdays. We are available for consultation most days of the week, just email or call to set it up.
Consultations and assessment of your land is free.
We hate to be ambiguous, but the cost of design and installation varies with each project, and we also work with different budgets.
We also offer payment plans and can do quarterly pay as you go.
We require a 20% deposit to begin and project.
No property is too small or too big. We love a challenge.
On smaller properties we specialize on maximizing the space for maximum productivity.
We love if our clients want to help in the installation, however this is not a requirement. We do ask the the clients put aside at least a few hours for training on the best practices of maintaining your own food forest.
Our mission is to set you up for success. This means we create maintainance plans that involve the most efficient maintenance possible. With that said you will have living garden that will need to be watered, trimmed, fertilized, and weeded, etc. The time you spend on your maintenance depends on the size and complexity of the project.
