From food stamps to food security – Florida Man Builds Garden using Covid Stimulus Check

The current pandemic has prompted people to do things that they do not normally do, or have taken for granted. Some, made things spreading message of food independence.

One of them is Florida man who goes by the name Spirit Mike. The East Tampa man, Michael Chaney has recently used his Covid-19 stimulus check to do a worthwhile project – a backyard garden. Chaney is now trying to teach people how to be more independent and self reliant when it comes to food security, well even on a micro scale.

We all saw what happened last spring when people were scrambling and fighting for the last few remaining products on the grocery store shelves. A lot of Americans believe that a prolonged food shortage is not possible, and panic buying at the start of the pandemic drew our attention, in fact it was a wake-up call to everyone.

Spirit Mike realized this and even if you could even afford to buy, food shortage can be inevitable.

After the government has started to dole out $1,200 stimulus check, Spirit Mike did the unthinkable. He bought materials for his very vegetable garden right at his East Tampa home. He was successful with this personal endeavor that he even started to share with this neighbors the produce of his garden. He also taught them about food security and food independence. He even called his garden – the New World Growers!

One of his produce is moringa. He used to buy moringa powder in the grocery. Now he grows his own, calling the superfood a Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan combo.

Moringa is high in vitamins and protein and is ideal for weight loss. It can help people with high blood pressure, beneficial to the heart and eye, and can even help fight anxiety and depression. And growing it in Florida’s subtropical climate – moringa will surely flourish.

“If you were stranded somewhere and all you have his this and water you would not only survive, you would thrive,” Chaney said. “I don’t work out. All I did was add this to my diet and add flax seed fiber and I lost 65 lbs.”

Why buy when you can grow your own food source?

Before the pandemic have put the world to a halt, Chaney’s house has a vacant lot that is barren, unused. And due to the series of lockdowns and down times, not to mention that most of the shelves at the groceries and supermarket were almost empty, he thought about survival. Going to the stores, Chaney would often see lots of almost empty shelves, especially at the produce section. Spirit Mike would also see people arguing and fighting over basic household items like utilities.

Chaney was thinking of doing something after witnessing these things. He would ponder of what to do if foods are not available at the stores. He has no idea what to do should things like this will happen longer. He even said that he did not know how to fish, no idea on how to grow anything and does not know people who plants and grow food source.

So, he started to think of doing things that he did not do in the past. He bought a tomato plant from Home Depot, and although his first try was not successful, it was enough to motivate him further. Moreover, due to the covid-19 pandemic and with lots of health restrictions, Chaney has more time and the drive to do what he initially started. And with the stimulus check, he even has a little starting capital to help him in his small project.

With the $1,200 check, his first stimulus check, Spirit Mike bought some more pots and a new tomato plant. He surfed and scoured the net for advice on gardening and planting, and went to Plant City for more supplies. Here he found A Land of Delight Natural Farm. At this place, he was able to get not only the materials that he needs, he also gained valuable knowledge, got some advice and learned that food stamps can get him some plants.

Chaney never thought that he could do that and hopes that if more Americans use their food stamps to buy food source, government assistance will most significantly lessen.

“If I can use my food stamps to get an orchard, then I could use that orchard money to get off food stamps and survive,” he said.

Spirit Mike and his Green Revolution

Coming from a poor neighborhood, Chaney is no stranger to poverty and hunger, and with his advocacy, he sees planting sustainable gardens can be one way to address this issue. And instead of relying on hands out, charities and donations, Chaney wants to empower people and to take control of their circumstances through this worthy endeavor.

“Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. You give him power, independence and security.” This is what Chaney wants, this what he dreamed of.

If the harvest time comes, Chaney’s New World Grower’s could yield all the vital nutrients and sustenance that he needs in order to survive. He has mustard greens, collard greens, ghost peppers, moringas, strawberry guava cashew apples, lemon, yuccam lettuce, sugar cane and a whole lot more waiting to be harvested. Moreover, Chaney has also added some proteins with nine hens in a chicken coop producing dozens of fresh eggs every week.

To make this movement even greener and more efficient, all of his food wastes are buried as compost, making it as organic fertilizers for his plant.

“I am doing a food independence movement,” Chaney said. “When we do have to get stuff from the market I take the bottoms of them off and they always come back.”   

But Chaney is a renter, and to avoid all the hassles and inconveniences, all of his plants are not permanent. He make sure that all are mobile, ready to move in one go and all are removable –nothing permanent. Furthermore, his space is quite limited, thus, he was to maximize everything, and because of this, he turned to biointensive gardening and dwarf plants. 

“That’s putting a lot of fruits and vegetables in a small space,” he said. “What I have here is condensed, the amount of food you need for a home. And a community. because it is going to expand.”

The Cornell University reported that the country loses about 1.7 billion tons of farmland annually. And with the increasing population, researchers fear that world will eventually suffer food shortages as more and more people needs food, food that is quickly declining.

One solution for this could probably be biointensive agriculture. It is the idea of planning a small farm or garden where deep soil prep coupled with close spacing, composting directly into the soil of the farm or garden, and preparing what you have to support what you need. Add in dwarf plants, which although produce smaller yields, can provide it faster, quicker than bigger plants. And with this biointensive agriculture, a person can theoretically grow and cultivate plants that they need in order to survive and thrive in a relatively small space. Even in an urban setting. And this is exactly what Chaney is doing right now.

He believes that the power of nature can compound exponentially.

His project emulates Booker T. Washington, a famous post-Civil War Orator and author who advocated for free slaves to have equality by farming a piece of land and building wealth by working hard. And through farming and gardening, it can be an option to address poverty or can be an addition to your future options.

What you can do about this:

When it comes to farming or gardening, a lot of people will immediately think of toiling under the heat of the sun. Most people think about plowing, planting, harvesting and doing the exact cycle all over again.

They do not know that there are other ways and methods which lets you put a lot of planning and effort into planting initially, so that later you can reap the fruits of your labor with little to minimal upkeep.

Food forests are type of permaculture designed to copy a natural forest environment. However, unlike the real forests, food forests are loaded with specifically selected food plants.

For the layers, you can design it, from shade trees which will be your canopy and cut out the harshest rays of the sun, all the way to the ground-cover plants which will act as your living mulch.

Here are your basic layers for your own food forest.

• Canopy: large trees like walnut or pecan. This will however depend on the climate where you live.
• Small trees: Apple, peach, citrus especially if you are from the south.
• Shrubs: blueberry, huckleberry, raspberry and the likes.
• Herbaceous layers: this includes herbs and perennial vegetables like basil, mint, chives, kale, peppers and more. These plants can come back on their own or simply reseed them so you could plant more, you simply let them rot and fall to the ground.
• Ground-cover: Squash, pumpkin, strawberries and purslane are some of the plants that can creep and cover the ground.
• Underground: Root crops like carrots, beets, radishes, turnip, ginger, and garlic are some the popular root crops that you can have. You can also plant, sweet potatoes which can be underground and ground-cover/vine layer.
• Vine Layer: tomatoes, beans, melons ad cucumbers are some of the vines which you can grow. These, for as long as you leave some fruits to fall to the ground, will come back year after year. Grapes are also a good choice for your vines.

You can further add two more layers if you like or depending on your location. These are:

• Wetland or Aquatic layer: Incorporating a pond into a food forest can be a great idea. You can also plant your food forest at the edge of a wetland, as this can provide you protein like tilapia or craw-fish, and at the same time provide you with edible aquatic plants like watercress or cranberry. Water-loving plants like elderberries or red maple can be kept hydrated especially when planted near the pond or streams or in any body of water.
• Fungal layer: It can be part of ground-cover or underground layer, but it can also be on its own. You can raise edible mushroom spores like oyster mushroom or hen of the woods by inoculating their spores on dead trees. But you can also just let nature do its work and provide the best condition to find chanterelles, boletes or puffballs.

For the design and maintenance, you will basically need larger trees in the northern part of your garden, smaller to the south if you are living in the northern hemisphere. This would allow your plants to have lots of sunlight. You can also intersperse the smaller plants amongst the trees to make a natural forest setting.

This lets nature do the work for you. The leaves that fall to the ground, drying and eventually rotting are turned organic and natural fertilizers and mulch. This helps your garden retain the moisture, to perfectly receive water from precipitation. Please note however, that initially you need to water and maintain your food forest to get it started.

A perfect food forest will be self sustaining, meaning it can live on its own without or with very little human interventions. It may require no watering, mulching, ploughing or new planting, you just harvest anything that you need.

A good design of your food forest can also thwart off pest. Spreading the trees or plants will make it harder for the bugs to leap from one plant to the other. And if want “helpful” bugs to eat aphids and mites, have some marigolds and other flowers as these attracts ladybugs which eat those insects. For each layer, you can just let nature do its work by including wild edible plants.

Example, your canopy some oaks produce acorns that are not bitter, and when tannins are taken out, acorns can be eaten.

Elder trees that produces elderberries are edible and medicinal. These are found in the wild and can be a perfect choice for your shrub or small tree. For your vine and underground layer, wild blackberries, huckleberries and brier are perfect. Your ground cover layer may include edible dandelion, sorrels and wild purslane. They can either take over, which they normally do, or you can plant them.

How do you start everything?

Well good thing about this is, you do not have to do this all at once. Spirit Mike, because he rents, started his work on small pots. It will take some time for trees to grow, something that Chaney will not probably have, but he did anyway by starting them on pots, making them mobile.

But if the lot is your own, just plant a tree, and even if you decide to sell your home, it can add more value, market value and aesthetic value to your property. Like they say, the best time to plant a tree was ten years ago. And today is the second best day! Start small, start realistically, and eventually you will start to reap the fruits of your labor. All you need is a little patience.

Spirit Mike For the Kids

Chaney has also started to share his knowledge that he have learned. He spread his knowledge throughout the community. He gives some of his produce to his neighbor so they too can learn the potential and value of being a producer rather than just a consumer. Chaney also taught other people how to grow their own gardens, and now he is trying to come up with $2000 through GoFundMe in order to grow and expand his garden while continuing his advocacy.

Spirit Mike said that he is hoping that he could have a big impact to the kids in his neighborhood. Being a felon since 16, the now 42 year old Chaney wants to impart to his neighbors what he have learned and more importantly, positivity and hope! Being inside the prison for 12 years and have been out for almost a decade for good behavior, he hope that he can make an impact onto those children. He hope to keep the kids healthier and off the streets!

“If all of your successful people move out of a community and all you have is the dredges, what do the kids have to look up to?” Chaney said. “So I’m staying. I am going get that land but I am still going to stay because the kids need a positive role model to look at. They need a place.”

And if ever he achieves his first target which is getting a few acres in East Hillsborough, Chaney said that he is not done, and will even keep an eye to his first garden on 23^rd Avenue, right by the train tracks.