Gulf Coast,

Florida, USA

Raleigh Barnes - Board Member

Raleigh Barnes is a lifelong gardener who’s been planting since a child with his father, mother and sister. He’s had the privilege of growing in Texas, Hawaii, Costa Rica and mostly subtropical Florida. Raleigh is a dynamic gardener whose organic principles stretch far beyond that of industry standards. He incorporates permaculture, organic gardening, native gardening, and agroforestry, and has a knack for epiphytic plants. He is the past Vice President of the Tampa Orchid club, active member of the Sarasota Bromeliad Society and the Riverview Garden Club. In 2017 Raleigh created the Apollo Beach Garden Club non-profit located in the South Shore area of Tampa Bay to create a space for residents to experience the joy of gardening. Raleigh created a community forest garden at the Apollo Beach Recreation Center where the club hosts their monthly meeting. Many volunteers helped create this one-of-a-kind garden, and the club and garden have grown into a local staple.

Raleigh also created his highly successful business, Third Insight Design and Nursery, focusing on growing and propagating subtropical edible or otherwise useful plants as well as saving heritage fruit tree genetics. Raleigh completed his Permaculture Design Course in 2018 in Costa Rica, where he met his wife. They plan to return to Costa Rica to start their own off-grid farm and education center, continuing to practice their love of tropical plants and sharing them with the world.

other team members

  • Delvin Solkinson

    Delvin Solkinson is a community gardener, native plant enthusiast, life-long learner, and teacher from British Columbia, Canada. Collaborating with his wife Grace, a homesteader, herbalist and creative cook, he creates free learning and teaching tools, writes articles and makes videos. He has taught permaculture to thousands of people of different ages and built numerous community…
    about Delvin
  • Ros McCann

    Ros is a Sustainable Communities Professor at Utah State University (USU) where she conducts and publishes research on the permaculture movement, leads the USU permaculture initiative, and teaches permaculture design.
    about Ros
  • Natalia Vega

    Natalia studied Agriculture Sciences at EARTH University in her native Costa Rica, as well as Holistic Sciences at Schumacher College in the UK. From 2011 to 2017 she co-taught Permaculture Design Courses with Scott Pittman in Costa Rica—a very rich experience that allowed her to have an amazing mentor while meeting hundreds of students from…
    about Natalia