![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/TanglewoodAcres1_JeffTerris-e1763668303323.jpg\")
Jeff \u201cJJ\u201d Terris once managed a bicycle store in St. Pete. Now, he is a farmer and food entrepreneur at his countryside oasis, Tanglewood Acres. Photo by Jeff Terris<\/p>\n
\t\tJeff \u201cJJ\u201d Terris once managed a bicycle store in St. Pete. Now, he is a farmer and food entrepreneur at his countryside oasis, Tanglewood Acres.
Photo by Jeff Terris<\/p>\n
Most people dream of escaping the city and the cacophony of noise \u2014 fewer actually do it. But for one former St. Petersburg local, that dream took root in the green fields of Brooksville. Trading traffic lights for sunrise chores, he\u2019s building a life that\u2019s as hands-on as it is homegrown. Today, instead of parallel parking and Publix runs, he spends his days coaxing life from the soil and dreaming of a farm that supplies everything he eats. His goal? To create a fully self-sustaining farm, where every fruit, vegetable, and livestock, plays a part in a closed, regenerative system.<\/p>\n
Meet JJ<\/p>\n
Jeff \u201cJJ\u201d Terris once managed a busy bicycle store in St. Pete. He\u2019s laid back, down to earth, and a guy who has a profound love for all things food and nature. He has since swapped his bustling urban life for that of a farmer and food entrepreneur at his countryside oasis, Tanglewood Acres, in Brooksville.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before Tanglewood Acres, he tended his small-scale, urban garden. In 2016, JJ and his partner Tracy, made the jump from urban living to 5 acres of undeveloped land with the goal of building a fully sustainable farm.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a journey of wanting to be more connected to the land and more in control of my own food,\u201d JJ said. \u201cAnd it felt just right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tanglewood Acres<\/p>\n
Tanglewood Acres is tucked back on a dead-end road, adjacent to the Withalacoochee State Forest. It\u2019s prime real estate for growing vegetables, raising crops, and tending to animals. It began as a hobby farm, a place where JJ could experiment with his garden varieties and dive headfirst into what it means to be self-sustainable. It was everything from DIY setups to learning what grows in the soil \u2014 the epitome of hands-on learning, fueled by a desire to live more intentionally.<\/p>\n
Florida soil can be sandy, stubborn, and suspicious of newcomers. But JJ approached his new land with patience and purpose. His biggest surprise (and at times, challenge) was that \u201cMother Nature sets the pace. You can\u2019t rush a pumpkin or negotiate with the weather. City life is all about schedules, but farm life teaches you to work with the land and Mother Nature\u2019s timing,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/TanglewoodAcres6_JeffTerris-scaled-e1763667429901.jpg\")
This year\u2019s harvest yielded 75 pounds of peaches.
Photo by Jeff Terris<\/p>\n
Day in the Life\u00a0<\/p>\n
A typical day begins in the early hours of the morning when his rooster first crows. The air is filled with fresh pine and whiffs of papaya blossoms, as his chickens, ducks, donkeys, and horses all start to rise. JJ tends to his plants, processes harvests, and plans his next project as he does endless amounts of maintenance. While the allure of the countryside is enchanting, and the rhythm of rural life is immersed in nature, cultivating self-sufficiency is loads of work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
JJ\u2019s long term vision is to create a fully integrated homestead \u2014 a food forest, formal garden, small orchard, and aquaponic systems all working together.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want everything to feed into everything else: rainwater catching, composting, solar pumping, animals contributing to the ecosystem, and a kitchen that turns harvests into shelves of preserved food,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Love To Eat? So Do We!<\/p>\n
Check out our restaurant reviews, recipes, and other food-related coverage<\/a>!<\/p>\n From Field to Table<\/p>\n As a chef, I was eager to know what JJ grows and what he does with his bounty. Not only does he tend heritage crops like Seminole \u201changing\u201d pumpkins and Everglades tomatoes, but he grows ginger, papaya, avocado, cassava, elderberry, olives, and a whole slew of other fruits, vegetables, and herbs. His proudest harvest to date? San Marzano tomatoes. JJ pur\u00e9es and cans his tomatoes every year for a whole host of tomato-based products including sauces and soups.<\/p>\n His sweet potato harvest cashed in at 88 pounds from one 6-by-12-foot raised bed.<\/p>\n \u201cThey always feel like striking gold,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In addition, JJ had a bumper crop of jalape\u00f1os two years in a row. He was able to put his skills to use to make pickled, frozen, candied, diced, and smoked jalape\u00f1o. That\u2019s enough to last the next year. His chipotle peppers this season were for homemade chipotle in adobo sauce for his pork carnitas. (JJ is also a fantastic, imaginative cook.) And he harvested 75 pounds of fresh, Florida peaches \u2014 perfect for his scratch-made chipotle barbecue sauce and Tracy\u2019s signature peach cobbler.\u00a0<\/p>\n While JJ currently does not sell his bounty he says, \u201cI do plan to eventually have a small farm stand \u2014 maybe a solar-powered wagon setup selling jams, eggs, produce and even live plants. Then eventually farmers markets as we grow larger.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, his crops are mostly for household use, recipe development, and preservation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Farm Goals\u00a0<\/p>\n JJ\u2019s intention is to create a space that is intimate and meaningful.<\/p>\n \u201cMy long-term dream is a place that can feed us year-round, be a refuge for wildlife, and maybe someday be a learning space for others,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n For now, Tanglewood Acres is a place for peace, creativity, and self-reliance. Someday, JJ may offer small tours or workshops where he teaches people about Florida-friendly gardening and food forests, as well as preservation clinics.<\/p>\n Tanglewood Acres has completely changed JJ\u2019s relationship with and approach to food.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you grow something from seed to plate, you respect food on a different level,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t waste it. You preserve it. You enjoy it seasonally. You experiment more. And the flavor difference is unreal \u2014 once you taste your own produce, store-bought can\u2019t compare.\u201d<\/p>\n JJ\u2019s farm is about proving that a more grounded, sustainable way of living is still possible, even in modern Florida.<\/p>\n \u201cSmall farms like mine are the bridge between old Florida and the future. We\u2019re not trying to outproduce industrial agriculture \u2014 we\u2019re trying to produce smarter,\u201d he said. \u201cLocal, sustainable, heat-resilient, storm-resilient food systems are the future here. Florida is changing fast, but small farms keep us rooted in what this state is \u2014 wild, abundant, and capable of feeding its people if we work with the land instead of against it.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019re the calm during the storm. No hype, only help!<\/p>\n Bookmark The Gabber Newspaper\u2018s storm coverage<\/a> page for quick access to relevant tropical storm updates. No hype, no guessing, just updates on shelters, sandbags, and closures. Sign up for text alerts<\/a> to get real-time guidance and prep advice when there\u2019s a named storm heading our way. Also, check out our downtown Gulfport and beach web cams<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jeff \u201cJJ\u201d Terris once managed a bicycle store in St. Pete. 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Homegrown chipotle peppers are perfect for canning.
Photo by Jeff Terris<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/TanglewoodAcres_JeffTerris-scaled-e1763668517737.jpg\")
He tends heritage crops like Seminole \u201changing\u201d pumpkins.
Photo by Jeff Terris<\/p>\n