Our Passion Project

In July 2023, Sharon and Walter Liebrich (Fiddlehead Farms) bought approximately 5-acres of raw land together because they both share a passion for farming, gardening and renewable energy advancement. Since they met in 2009, they both pursued their passion by cultivating an edible landscape in their own yard with the goal of having their child go into the yard and pick the vegetables for that night’s dinner.  The 0.3-acre primary residence in midtown Tallahassee is home to many varieties of citrus, blueberries, blackberries, fig, pears, mangos, kiwi, avocado, pineapple, peaches and more. They also have a year-round seasonal garden comprised of anything from broccoli, kale, arugula to tomatoes, peppers and squash.  In 2019, they began their apiary work successfully cultivating bees to help support the worldwide food shortage.  In 2021, Walter and Sharon put their money where their mouth was and took the plunge to 100% solar on their house.  Over the years, they have shared this passion of gardening and solar with the community by opening their yard to community members as a display of how intensive gardening can be successful inside city limits on a small plot of land. 

 Walter’s interest in the pursuit of renewable energy began when he won the State Champion of High School Policy Debate in 1997.  The yearly topic was on ways to increase the use of renewable energy, which also included a deep dive in the science behind global warming (at the time, the CO2 was only about 370 ppm).  Walter graduated with a master’s degree in 2004 from the FSU School of Public Administration and wrote his Master’s Thesis advocating for solar net metering policies in Florida to allow individuals to connect solar to the grid (interconnectivity like we know it did not happen until 2007).  Walter continued his public service to the state of Florida in this nonpartisan arm of the Governor Office as a Senior Policy and Budget Analyst until the summer of 2021. After serving 15 years and three different Governors, he felt he had completed his service to the state and wanted to pursue his passion of going into the private sector solar industry.  With increased time and community engagement opportunities, Walter volunteered with ReThink Energy and now actively participates on its Board of Directors.  Through ReThink Energy, he has spent a lot of time volunteering for the Tally 100% organization on a technical review renewable energy committee.  The goals for the committee ranged from solar equity to environmental justice impacts on the placement of certain projects.  It also crafted a road map for the City of Tallahassee’s Clean Energy Plan that was unanimously adopted in late 2023 by the City of Tallahassee City Commission.  We are elated that the City of Tallahassee has obligated itself to 100% renewable energy by 2050.

 Since the property was purchased in July 2023, Fiddle Head Farms has been spearheading this public/private partnership pilot project with the City of Tallahassee.  The goal is to identify and overcome key regulatory barriers to small scale community solar projects coupled with contributing to the community’s clean energy goals of 100% renewable energy by 2050. In Florida, under 100kWh of solar is regulated by the utility you have in Florida; however, anything above 100kW- 75 MW (Megawatts) falls into the same burdensome regulatory bucket.  We are looking for a middle ground to adopt projects in the 100kW-5MW.