Fleet Farming

What Fleet Farming does

Fleet Farming is a nonprofit urban agriculture program of the 501c3 IDEAS For Us, founded in 2013-2014 in Orlando, Florida. Its core operation converts residential lawns into productive micro-farms called farmlettes, tended by volunteers who travel between plots via bicycle-powered 'Swarm Rides.' The organization's reach includes 15 farmlettes in Orlando (expanding to 20), 5 farmlettes in Sebastian, Florida (a 2024 USDA-grant-funded branch), 48 cumulative school gardens, and 477+ gardens built through its fee-for-service Edible Landscapes arm. Support programs include Fleet Fruits (fruit-tree gleaning), Fleet Education (curriculum across seven gardening topics), Harvesting Hope (school produce distribution), and the Audubon Park Community Garden.

The organization's revenue is diversified across donations, foundation grants, sponsored installations (school gardens priced $3,000-$8,000), monthly plant sales, branded merchandise through TeeSpring, and Edible Landscapes service fees. Material funders include Healthy Central Florida Foundation, 1% For the Planet, Clif Bar Foundation, Florida Blue Foundation, Sprouts Foundation, and USDA. Marketing is community-led and earned-media heavy, with coverage from National Geographic, NBC Nightly News, NPR, Disney, and UN Foundation recognition producing 500+ million impressions.

The organization runs a lean operation with 1-10 employees, two Florida sites, and an outward-looking replication demand of 800+ requests from more than 20 countries. Its founder is John Rife, owner of East End Market. Fleet Farming sits inside the IDEAS For Us nonprofit umbrella rather than as a stand-alone legal entity, which constrains its commercialization but enables access to institutional infrastructure.

Name

Fleet Farming

Legal name

Fleet Farming

Website

https://fleetfarming.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Fleet Farming is a nonprofit urban agriculture program of IDEAS For Us that converts residential lawns into volunteer-farmed micro-farms (farmlettes) in Orlando and Sebastian, Florida, serving homeowners, K-12 schools, senior centers, and sponsors through donations, grants, and landscaping fees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Urban Agriculture Services

NAICS

Soil Preparation, Planting, and Cultivating (115112), Food Crops Grown Under Cover (11141), Vegetable and Melon Farming (1112)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Tillage & Field Preparation Services (Plowing, Cultivating, Bed Prep) (AFACAAAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Greenhouse Herb & Microgreens Production (Culinary Herbs, Microgreens) (AFAGAHAC)

Keywords

• Urban agriculture programs
• Community gardening services
• Edible landscaping
• Micro farm installations
• Agricultural education

Headquarters

HQ city

Orlando

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations & Charitable Contributions: As a 501c3 nonprofit program of IDEAS For Us, Fleet Farming relies on donations from individuals and organizations. The organization has received grants from Healthy Central Florida Foundation, 1% For the Planet, Clif Bar Foundation, and others.
2. Sponsorship Programs: Fleet Farming offers sponsorship opportunities for various projects including pollinator gardens ($various amounts), school gardens (Glenridge Middle School $5,000, Oakridge High School $5,000, Robinswood Elementary $3,000-$8,000), fruit tree orchards, and rain barrel installations. Sponsors fund specific projects in exchange for recognition.
3. Lawn Donation Program: Homeowners donate their lawns to become farmlettes; this community farming initiative creates the primary agricultural output that cycles into local food systems
4. Plant Nursery Sales: Monthly plant sales from the organization's nursery generate revenue while supporting the nonprofit mission
5. Merchandise Sales: Online merchandise store via Teespring selling branded items
6. Donation Page: Dedicated donation page for direct financial support from the public

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Fleet Farming is a nonprofit urban agriculture program that converts residential lawns into productive micro-farms called 'farmlettes,' tended by volunteers who travel between plots via bicycle-powered Swarm Rides. The program supplements this volunteer model with a paid Edible Landscapes service that designs and installs edible gardens for clients outside the volunteer biking range, and runs Fleet Fruits gleaning, Fleet Education classes, Harvesting Hope school produce distribution, and sponsorship-funded school garden programs.

Product overview

Fleet Farming is a nonprofit urban agriculture program of IDEAS For Us that operates a portfolio of interconnected food production and education offerings. The core product is the Fleet Farmlettes program, which transforms residential lawns into micro farms through a volunteer-based sharecropping model. Supporting services include Edible Landscapes (custom garden installations for clients outside the Farmlette range), Fleet Education (classes and workshops), and Fleet Fruits (fruit tree gleaning). Community engagement is facilitated through Swarm Rides events, School & Community Gardens programs, and the Audubon Park Community Garden. The organization operates two main locations in Orlando and Sebastian, Florida.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Fleet Education: A service of Fleet Farming offering classes, online information, tips & tricks, and educational programs to empower all generations to grow food.
• Fleet Fruits
• Edible Landscapes
• Swarm Rides
• Harvesting Hope

Products and services

• Fleet Farmlettes Urban micro-farms created by transforming residential lawns into productive growing spaces, managed by volunteers who bike between plots to farm and harvest produce for hyper-local markets and food distribution programs.
• Edible Landscapes A paid landscaping service that builds and maintains raised garden beds, food forests, pollinator gardens, and edible landscapes for Central Florida residents who live outside the Fleet Farmlette program's volunteer biking range.
• Fleet Education Educational classes, workshops, and online resources offering instruction on gardening, native landscaping, edible landscaping, fruit tree orchards, composting, companion planting, and butterfly gardening for all generations.
• Fleet Fruits A nonprofit fruit tree gleaning, planting, and care program that prevents food waste by harvesting ripe fruit from local trees and distributing it to schools in West Orlando through food donation programs.
• Harvesting Hope A program that distributes locally grown fruits and vegetables directly to schools in West Orlando, supported by Florida Blue Foundation, bringing fresh produce from Fleet Farmlettes to local school communities.
• School & Community Gardens School and community garden installation, curriculum development, and ongoing support programs across Orlando, with sponsorship-funded installations at Glenridge Middle School, Oakridge High School, and Robinswood Elementary School.
• Plant Nursery Sales Monthly plant sales from Fleet Farming's nursery offering a wide variety of affordable plants, with proceeds supporting the nonprofit's mission.

Quantifiable outcome

• 300+ lawns converted to productive gardens in first two years
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ChoZen Retreat CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Location host for Sebastian branch operations alongside Village of Kashi
• Village of KashicoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partner location for Sebastian branch supporting senior food access programs
• Audubon Park ChurchminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Site of largest urban micro-farm where rain barrel installation project is located
• IFAS (University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Provides seasonal planting guides and agricultural resources referenced on Fleet Farming website

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Big Green: Larger national nonprofit that builds learning gardens in schools across the U.S. Comparable mission around school gardens and food education, but operates at much greater scale (200+ schools) without the lawn-conversion farmlette model.
• The Edible Schoolyard Project: Alice Waters-founded nonprofit integrating organic gardening into K-12 education. Shares Fleet Farming's school garden and curriculum focus, but does not operate the volunteer-sharecropping urban farmlette model.

Direct peers

• Project EATS: Urban farming nonprofit operating community farms and food access programs in NYC and New Jersey. Closely comparable model pairing urban food production with schools and senior centers.
• The Food Project: Nonprofit running urban farms in Massachusetts that grow food for low-income communities while training youth. Operates a directly comparable urban-ag + youth-education + food-access stack as Fleet Farming.
• Urban Adamah: Berkeley-based nonprofit urban farm and educational center offering fellowships and food access programs. Comparable urban farm + education + volunteer model.
• Soul Fire Farm: New York-based farm focused on food justice, urban agriculture education, and BIPOC farmer training. Peer in nonprofit urban-agriculture education with similar volunteer and training mission.

Others

• IDEAS For Us: Fleet Farming's parent 501c3 nonprofit organization focused on sustainability, climate action, and community programs. Operates as the parent entity and broader program platform rather than a competing urban farm.
• Audubon Park K-8 / Audubon Park Community Garden Club: Site host and operational partner for Fleet Farming's Orlando headquarters, providing the physical community garden, school garden, and greenhouse infrastructure that anchors Fleet Farming's Orlando branch.

Emerging players

• DC Urban Greens: Washington, D.C. nonprofit that builds urban gardens and supports food sovereignty, serving as a regional peer with overlapping volunteer-driven urban farming mission.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fleetfarming
• Facebookfacebook.com/fleetfarming
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fleet-farming

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Fleet Farming