REBEL FARMS

05/10/2026

It’s no secret that we’re not the biggest fans of Hallmark holidays. But it’s hard to be cynical about universally celebrating the mothers who literally brought us all into this world. But these kinds of holidays also carry many clichés and undue pressure to buy, buy, buy—to buy the flowers (probably imported from Colombia), the jewelry and the breakfast in bed - you know the rest. The pressure to post the most adorable and polished photos and videos of our children portraying the angelic little creatures that we want the world to think they are...

That’s how I tried to film this video for Maggie... what better Mother’s Day gift than a glossy, ultra-cute video of Quincy being an angel telling the camera and her how much he loves her and is grateful for her - all whilst picking flowers from our garden for her. Welp Quincy is anything but cliche. And this is what parenthood looks like when you have a three-year-old who is also the son of a non-conforming, anti-establishment anarchist... Sorry, Mags.

But in all seriousness, to all the mothers out there. Thank you. Two months ago I watched Maggie give birth to our second child and I’m still coming down from the high and the wonder of it all. You’ll never hear it as much as you need to, you’ll never get thanked as much as you deserve and you’ll never, ever get back all that you put into it. But it is worth it. And we, the living, are all in your debt. Happy Mother’s Day from our homestead to yours.

04/29/2026

It all started in December 2019 when we met. A month later Maggie bought a house. And then February 2020 everything began to change.

The pandemic hit and had us asking the real questions: What kind of life do we actually want to live? And would that life survive if the rest of the world changed drastically?

We moved in together and got to work.

Maggie grew up on a homestead in Rhode Island - growing veggies, raising a few wily animals, learning the land early. Tyson spent years across Central America working on farms and communities, growing his own food (and of course, flowers). Together we dreamed of building a bigger farm with a large community. But life had other plans.

So we did what you do when the big dream isn’t available yet... we built it right here on our ⅓ acre in New Smyrna Beach. In the woods, no less. Every single inch turned into food production.

We thought selling produce and eggs was part of the plan. Turns out we have WAY more fun giving it away… on tours, to neighbors, to anyone curious. We’d rather teach you to grow your own food.
That little plot has now grown into 20+ gardens across our community - what we call the “s” in Rebel Farms - and we’re just beginning.

The community, now called our Agrihood, started as a vision. Now it’s moving faster than we imagined. Every time a house hit the market on our street, the right family found us (or we found them). We now have a tribe of 5 families, 10 kids under 5, and their friends here every single day. Bringing back the American neighborhood we feel was lost a long time ago.
We’ve survived three natural disasters in 4 years and rebuilt every time. That resilience is exactly why we have so much success with our gardens. We know what survives the worst. We know how to grow trees that last.

People come to us for a beautiful productive design - or because they’ve tried, failed, and need someone to show up with LOVE, mission, and zero judgment.
Let’s get growing. 🌱 📸 photos by

07/07/2025

Meet the Clarks - our new neighbors and co-founding members of our growing agrihood. Recent transplants to New Smyrna Beach from Orlando - Cameron, Courtney, and their 3-year-old son are planting roots (literally) on their ¾-acre property, where they’re building an agroforest homestead centered on community, sustainability, solidarity, joy and play.

Cameron is a web developer with a background as a philosophy professor and English educator abroad. He’s passionate about local food systems, community resilience, and martial arts. When he’s not coding or in the garden, you can find him rolling in the grass with his son or sketching out ideas to support agrihood efforts.

Courtney brings her own rich story to the mix. She spent years teaching overseas, ran a flower truck business for three years, and now works as a grant editor at UCF. She’s a lover of finding adventures, hiking, yoga, gardening, and traveling, and finds joy in sharing seasonal meals and slow mornings in the garden.

Their son is a kind and curious little guy with a big imagination, an even bigger heart, and a serious sweet tooth. He’s happiest outside, where he can explore barefoot, play pretend, and dive deep into his current Bluey obsession. Whether he’s helping plant seeds, climbing dirt piles, or hosting imaginary restaurant dinners under the trees, he’s growing up in a space full of wonder and connection.

The Clarks were drawn to Rebel Farms for its spirit. They believe in the power of neighbors helping neighbors, in turning backyards into ecosystems, and in raising kids who feel capable, rooted, and free.

They’re excited to co-create a resilient, joyful, and interdependent future alongside the Rebel Farms community - one tree, one meal, and one good story at a time.

04/28/2025

What are people for? Windell Berry once posed this question but his essay & every philosopher before or since has fallen far short of a clear answer to this ancient inquiry. Now this question burns deeper in my conscience as the AI revolution, still in its infancy, begins its inexorable rise leading us at best to utopia & at worst to economic ruin & irrelevant, sidelined existence...maybe even extinction.

So, what are people for? It seems like a simple, even stupid question. But zoom out from you 9-5, from your position in the rat race, from your political ideology, from your mortgage, from your bills, your obligations - and ask the question again...what are people for? More likely than not the answer you conjure is not to consume, to clock in & out, to commute, to invest, to mow the yard, to compete, to scroll...it’s easier to say what people are NOT for than what they are.

So far so cliche. You’ve heard all this before & you’re probably asking with some annoyance, “So Tyson, what are people for?” Frustratingly, I still don’t know. But I think the answer, if there is one, is to be closer to what our 4 million years of evolution designed. We hunted. We gathered. We worked little, compared to today. We formed small, strong bands of mostly egalitarian communities. We wore little, if any clothing. We had no religion as we know it today. Private property & ownership were understood but not valued.

Don’t get me wrong. Our ancient ancestors struggled too. Life was short, sometimes violent & always precarious. But perhaps we can blend the best of the prehistoric ways with its egalitarian communities, reliance on nature & the simplicity of hunting/gathering with the best of the modern ways with its laws, scientific advancements & abundance. We CAN have both & on our homestead, we do. It requires work, sacrifice, & active rebellion to not be overtaken by the stresses of both the old & modern ways & keeps us forever asking “what are people for”? -Photos by

03/10/2025

Meet Savannah. “Savs” works and lives at Rebel Farms full time and has become a crucial part of both our business and growing agrihood community. She brings tremendous amounts of energy, work ethic and new ideas as well as expertise, s***k and style. She challenges us to test new strategies, build new systems and live healthier lives and we’re all better for it. 

Savannah is a passionate, strong-willed force of nature for Nature. With her sight set on a wholistic and sustainable global system, she is dedicated to contributing one seed or sapling at a time to the ever-expanding and adapting subsistence-based ecosystems that she believes are the foundation to the future of abundance and peace we all deserve.

Savannah has worked in the world of agriculture most of her adult life - primarily organic veggie farming spanning several states in the US. While working as a hike guide in Alaska she had her first experience working with a high-density food forest, which inspired her to shift her agricultural focus. She decided that stewarding land and helping others to do the same is a more sustainable and wholistic way to establish food security within communities. This decision led her to Rebel Farms, where she started out as a volunteer putting thought into action and has quickly become indispensable to the business, the farm and the community of fellow Rebel Farmers in our neighborhood, town and county beyond.

A multi-passionate person, Savannah has a number of creative projects that reflect the theatre and craftiness in her bones, the reflective and determined inner-workings of her mind, and the deeply connected and curious energy of her spirit. You can find out more by following her at  &

01/13/2025

Meet Philomena. Over the next few weeks we want to showcase the people that make up the core of the Rebel Farms team and we’re starting with owner/operator of now the official photographer for Rebel Farms. You’re going to be seeing a lot more of her work in the coming months and we wanted to shed some light on the incredible woman behind the lens.

Philomena, along with her intrepid husband, have lived an adventurous life living and working on sailboats around the world and have now planted roots in NSB buying and restoring a charming seaside house. An accomplished water(wo)man, artist, entrepreneur, chef, creator and photographer - Philly brings such a wide array of talents, passions and vision to our farm and our beloved seaside town and we’re all genuinely lucky to have her.

Philly intrinsically understands the power community and her life and work are deeply rooted in mutual aid, body positivity and being part of the changes we all wish to see in the world, especially on how we grow what we eat and how to best live in harmony with nature.

From a professional perspective, Philomena’s work is truly extraordinary. Her keen sense of lighting, timing and the ability to capture candid - almost surreal moments from out of the ordinary set her apart in her field. Check out her work and stay tuned for future couples, family and group photoshoots at the farm.

11/20/2024

We need recommendations. We are looking to hire a contractor to build a 30’ x 40’ garden fence with 2 gates. Someone that feels capable of doing farm style fences similar to the picture below. The client is looking to keep the cost around $2,000 - $2,500. Please send us a message, if you think this is something you could accomplish. Thank you!

11/19/2024

Turns out, I’m a genius. Apologies for the cliffhanger we left you with weeks ago. We wanted to be sure we had all the facts before we reported back. But its true - the stakes were high. We stared into the void for days on end as the floodwaters crept back unsure if we could rally from another total loss of our crops. We’re not going to sugarcoat it, and all jokes aside - we took a hell of a hit. We’ve lost fruit trees, 25% of our soil (equal to 13 dump truck loads) and taken $12k in damages to our buildings, guest house and farm infrastructure, not to mention lost crops.

But with nearly identical rain, flooding and wind we fared far, far better than we did just two years ago. In Hurricane Ian we lost 90% of our fruit trees. In Milton, we lost 10%. Though we’re still collecting the data, we want to share with you the top three ways we’ve innovated how we farm to survive another flood event with only two years to start from scratch. We think this data is valuable for our global society - to learn and apply both very new and very old agricultural techniques to ensure a secure food supply and biodiversity in a changing climate.

1) Most fruit trees cannot survive long periods of standing water, so we planted our trees 5-7 feet above ground in mounds made from brush, compost and top soil.

2) Fruit trees are vulnerable to wind damage so we planted an elaborate and diverse system of “windbrakes” consisting of bamboo, sea grapes and native palms to slow the wind down. We also planted our newer orchards within a native forest, the canopy of which shielded the fruit trees from the worst of the wind.

3) We selected the best possible trees after meticulous research, testing & collaboration with other growers.

Now that we have proof of concept, we’re going to comeback stronger than ever. And we have applicable data that can help other growers. There’s lots of different ways to help & get involved clink the link in bio to see how. Thank you for all the words of encouragement and solidarity. It truly means the world to us.

11/12/2024

⚠️ 5 ways to HELP in Hurricane recovery
All included in the link in our instagram profile
Please share to all your family and friends💚🌱

1. 2025 Gift Certificate Fundraiser - All proceeds go to current rebuild and will be honored in ALL Rebel Farms products and services in 2025

2. Our Hurricane fundraiser merch store - featuring new designs from local artist .coleman.illustrator .

3. Our Rebel Farms shop - featuring locally printed Rebel Farms merchandise and eclectic/vintage farm finds.

4. Sign up for our volunteer days (TBA in Nov. and Dec.)

5. Get involved in local politics - send us your email and zip and we will send you who to call & what to say!

https://rebelfarmsshop.bigcartel.com/product/hurricane-relief-gift-certificate-fundraiser

https://rebel-farms-shop.printify.me/products

As always, Support your Local Farmer, Stay Rebellious and be kind to your neighbor.

Love, Maggie, Tyson, Quincy and the Rebel Farms Family

11/12/2024

We are excited and looking forward to hosting our Forever Explorers this morning!
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GzuS9fFcF/

This Tuesday our Forever Explorers program is heading down on the farm!

Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at Rebel Farms, a private organization focused on sustainable agriculture and permaculture. Forever Explorers will gain knowledge on fruit bearing trees and plants that thrive in Central Florida and simple steps homeowners can take to kickstart their own food forest.

This program begins at 11am, and we'll meet at MDC and caravan to Rebel Farms! Learn more & book this outing as well as all of our other upcoming Forever Explorers programs at https://marinediscoverycenter.org/forever-explorers/

06/05/2024

“The farmer has patience and trusts the process. He just has the faith and deep understanding that through his daily efforts, the harvest will come. And then one day, almost out of nowhere, it does.“
-Robin Sharma

Spring has come and gone, but it's not forgotten. The vernal equinox crops of blueberries, peaches, loquats, mulberries and citrus mixed with our dependable perennial-everbearing crops of bananas, papayas and plantains to create our most bountiful, and well-balanced harvest yet. With each season we've learned, painfully so at times, what does and does NOT work. When to fertilize, when to trim, when to pick the fruit before the critters get to them.

We say all this not to boast or brag - but to encourage those trying to grow their own food (especially in Florida's harsh climate) to continue the never ending process of trial and error. To continue experimenting, researching and implementing.

Now we look towards an equally bountiful summer harvest for our avocados, mangoes, figs, guavas, zapotes, cherries, starfruits, gingers and passionfruit among many other experimental plants and trees.

Are you a grower in Florida? If so what are your favorite perennial crops to grow? And why?