Who We Are

A Word from our Founder

Quite simply, The Garden Project gives people a means to provide food for themselves. We provide the tools: the soil frames, the soil, seeds and plants and instruction. The gardeners take over and they have great success (95 percent of the gardens are productive the first year). But there are many hidden treasures that are revealed when you seethis effort in action.

There is pure joy in harvesting food you've grown yourself. There is a great sense of self-satisfaction that comes from having productive work to do and being able to share the fruit of one's labor with another. These are feelings we all can appreciate.In fact, we seek them out. Unfortunately when one is bound tothe rigors of just surviving or just getting by, there is little time for anything else.

It's so easy to stay in our own "everything is going okay with my life" niche. When one steps out of it for just a minute to really look at how most people live, you realize that there is great hunger in this world. Hunger for food? Yes, undoubtedly. And hunger for friendship and caring and acceptance. Most importantly, you see this is true right here where you live. When I realized this, it made perfect sense to act.

I do this work because it's needed. That's the easy part to see. What's harder is saying I can do it. I will do it.

Then you start.

Carol is a Tallahassee transplant. Having spent her early years in southwest Florida, she came to FSU for college and like so many others, just couldn’t leave. Carol’s first job in Tallahassee was with the Senior Society Planning Council (now Eldercare) working as a case manager. Later she spent about a decade teaching as a graduate assistant and then adjunct faculty for FSU Colleges of Education and Communication. Before coming to Damayan, Carol spent a 12 year tenure with the FL Department of Health through faculty contracts with USF and FSU as well as several years developing and managing a communication consulting firm.

In 1991, Carol was given the opportunity to served on Damayan’s very first board of directors, which makes her role as executive director feel like “coming home.” Carol is married to her longtime best friend Michael, and they have 5 daughters and 3 grandchildren between them. You might find her mucking a horse stall, cheering at an FSU baseball game, working in our gardens, or just spending time with her “adopted” family of young adults many of whom (to her delight) know her simply as “Momma Carol.”

Mary Rault is the Garden Manager for Lichgate and enjoys the outdoors and loves to connect with nature via gardening. She received her Bachelors of Science at FSU studying recreational therapy. She is a mother of two girls, Skylah and Naomi who lives in Gadsden county and has been creating an organic orchard with her husband Daniel and two hives of honey bees. Although she would prefer to stay on the property everyday of the week, she knows that it is her responsibility to teach and inspire people to grow their own food.

Laura ...

Christine is a UF/IFAS Master Gardener and has been gardening for the last 12 years. With a Masters in FL ecology and biology, and as the owner/manager of a historic Missouri farm, Christine is glad to offer her expertise to Damayan. Christine is married to Parks Small with a daughter named Mackenzie. Christine enjoys yoga, reading, walking the dog, and sailing whenever there's an opportunity.

Bill graduated from Florida State University in 1975 and has an avid interest in, and a long history as an organic gardener. He worked for several years as a grower for a large wholesale nursery in Apopka, Florida.

During the week, Bill is the operations director at the Tallahassee Democrat but on the weekends he splits his time between working in the gardens, making raku pottery and technical SCUBA diving.

Understanding the need to give back, Bill asks; what better way to help others than teaching the fundamental skills of growing your own food. Nothing compares... except maybe the joy of eating it?

Jody ...

Kathy ...

David Rountree became an advocate of gardening and local food production when he realized it is a practical, personal way to reduce fossil fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and fertilizer run-off pollution, while simultaneously eating healthier, better-tasting food and enjoying an outdoor lifestyle. He stumbled upon the Damayan Garden Project through a friend and immediately decided to volunteer at the Lichgate demonstration garden. He was elected to the Damayan Garden Project board in January 2010 and serves on the Grants Committee. Mr. Rountree has two children who enjoy gardening and especially enjoy helping him eat the proceeds.

I am Mark Tancig. I am married with two children. I've lived in Tallahassee for about eight years.

I am a board member of the Damayan Garden Project and have been the manager/coordinator for the Frenchtown Community Garden since it's beginning two and a half years ago. The Frenchtown Community Garden is open to entire community but mostly focuses on the children attending after school at the 4th Avenue Recreation Center, where the garden is located.

The Damayan Garden Project is important to me because it's mission to help people learn how to grow their own food is something that I think is crucial to the health of our community and planet. Connecting people to their food, in a way, connects them to nature. If more people are connected to nature, the better it is for our planet and all of us on it.

Season George is a professional Horticulturist and Landscape Contractor who has volunteered her time and knowledge, for the past 6 years, to the Tallahassee community and the Damayan Garden Project. She teaches adults and children to grow food with community gardens and hands-on gardening activities. For several years Season maintained the grounds at Lichgate Cottage, a historical residence that offers both perennial and vegetable gardens. Season uses her resources to secure donations of plant material and her good standing with local nurseries to request seeds and compost. She gives back to the community her time, skills, and knowledge and is responsible for many of the community gardens in Housing Projects, Schools, Parks and After School programs. Season tirelessly attends meetings to promote programs for childhood obesity and provides stimulation and activities for home schooled and disabled children. She has donated food to shelters and raised money for supplies at the Farmers Markets.

Phoenix Minklei is the Garden Manager for Damayan and works primarily at the gardens of Lichgate in Tallahassee, FL. She is a native Floridian born in South Florida, who has lived in Orlando, Tampa, and now a resident of Tallahassee since 2008. Since 1998, she has worked closely with landscapers, at a residential plant nursery, and with friends and family designing and implementing sustainable gardens and butterfly gardens. Phoenix loves to demonstrate sustainable food production, as well as learning opportunities through volunteer coordination and hands-on experience. She is a certified Yoga Instructor with experience in early childhood education including teaching children yoga through the Art of Storytelling and teaching gardening skills. She has worked on college campuses (Cornell University and Full Sail University) and even has experience as a safari driver! Phoenix loves exploring the great outdoors and taking the family on adventures in the majestic woods, waters, and trails. With a love of life and a passion for art, she believes, "We are all creative and artists in life. Everything is an art and gardening is no exception. The only difference is, gardening gives us life. It provides the energy and food we need to live."