NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — As people look for more ways to be self-sufficient, resources are available to help them get started. A program by Tennessee State University is helping folks dig into this growing lifestyle whether their plans are big or small.

" I'm just old farm boy from Arkansas," explained Tennessee New Farmer Academy Director, Finis Stribling, III. "I grew up with a two acre garden."

He doesn't just know a lot about farming, he lives and breathes the farm life every day.

"When I'm sitting in the office, man, I want to be out here," said Stribling. "Just to be out here planting and driving equipment and then just helping poeple I really just think this is my calling."

Stribling brings that passion to other people through the Tennessee New Farmer Academy serving multiple regions in the state.

"From backyard, from a raised bed, to hundreds of acres."

It's seven-month certificate program on teaching the concepts of growing food and raising livestock in Tennessee along with hands-on experience.

"For the newbies, I think it's just a lot of times seasonality, understanding the cool season, warm season. And I think a lot of times it's even soil, understanding your soil health."

They help people wanting to make agriculture their business, continuing TSU's legacy of research on hundreds of acres in the state. But Stribling says they also help newcomers as there's growing interest in homesteading.

"With the egg prices and what we went through with the pandemic and all that, we saw an influx of people growing in the backyard, edible landscapes, and things of that nature so I think that really catapulted that too," he recalled. "During that time we went virtual with new farmer academy."

He explained that even with limited marketing word spread about their program with people signing up every year.

"With the local food movement, you get a chance to go and grow in the backyard, in a raised bed, where you can go out and pick your tomato, and you can taste — really understand what a tomato shouldn't taste like."

The school also allows people to rent plots of land on campus to grow their own food if they don't have the space.

"I think it's an opportunity, you know, for people to get reconnected, to the land as well as you know, where their food comes from," said Stribling. "I think we've lost generation of understanding that."

He now helps new generations find whats been lost embracing techonology to support one of the oldest skills known to man.

"I grew up where you had a tractor with no cab and no air and today I have satellite radio, air conditioning, I mean, luxury," he said. "You used to have to call your county agent to identify weeds you can almost do that with a smart phone now."

He says learning to grow your own food and be self suffient also bridges connections.

"One of the things that comes out of the survey is the network - people you meet in the class, the network of people from all different walks of life. I mean, that's priceless."

Registration for the 2025 Tennessee New Farmer Academy series is closed for all locations. But their website has details about signing up for the next set of classes.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/special-reports/tsu-program-helps-homesteaders-big-and-small/