It’s been a while since we’ve provided an update, so this one is longer than normal. However, it is packed with important news and information, so we encourage you to read it in its entirety.  If you do, you will be rewarded with information on plans for our 2026 CSA season, including when you can sign up.

I don’t know about you, but these short, dark, wet days make it hard to get motivated and work outdoors. I have been able to duck out periodically to trim dormant trees, take our annual soil tests, pull a few weeds, take a few walks with Loki and harvest the beets, kale, Swiss chard and collared greens still growing in the fields.

Fortunately, there is plenty of work to do indoors to prepare for next season and beyond.

We have started discussions with the Community Farm Land Trust about selling them an agricultural easement on our property.  The easement would essentially require the land to continue to be used for agriculture, and prohibit future development.  This would not only ensure the farm remains a farm, it might also reduce the taxes we pay on the property, and it would end the barrage of mail and phone call offers we get to buy the property to develop housing (it is currently zoned for dense residential development).  This process will be lengthy and complicated, with no guarantee of success, but we are excited to be taking the first steps with an organization that we value and have supported for many years.

We’ve also been working hard to finalize a lineup for the 6^th annual FarmFest, our solar-powered celebration of music and community (also a fundraiser for Community Farm Land Trust).  Next year’s dates are July 31 – Aug. 1.  We will be announcing our amazing lineup in January, and tickets will go on sale in early February. The event sells out early every year, so make plans now to join the fun.

Last month I finalized the crop plan for next year.  This involves complex spreadsheets to determine the proper rotations between beds, how many successions of each crop, plant spacing, and indoor start dates.  The plan will include a mix of reliable varieties we know and love (about 80%) and promising new options.  

I finished the crop plan just before the glossy seed catalogs began arriving from our main suppliers – Johnny’s and Osborne. One thing I noticed immediately was prices were up again this year.  Since the pandemic, the cost of seeds has increased dramatically, due to many factors including increasing global demand for food (more mouths to feed), industry consolidation, and climate change (its getting harder to grow seed crops). Another factor are the ridiculous tariffs that the administration has placed on many imports.  It’s a dirty little secret, but most of the bigger seed companies source their seed from all over the world.  So do many of the smaller companies people tend to think of as local, such as Territorial Seed in Oregon. The shortage of farmworkers, due to the immoral and brutal immigration policies being pursued by the administration, only make things worse.

Beyond increasing seed prices, the costs of all other inputs continue to rise – organic fertilizers and soil amendments, plastic trays and pots for starting seed, etc.

The increasing cost of the inputs farmers depend on has created a crisis in farm country.  By July of this year, farm bankruptcies and foreclosures had already surpassed the 2024 levels.

Rather than addressing the problem directly by removing tariffs and creating more coherent economic and farm policies, the administration just this week announced a $12 billion bailout for farmers.  

The plan is to take the money already paid by US consumers to cover the tariffs (yes, consumers pay the cost of tariffs!) and give some of it back to farmers, who also paid tariffs on the imported inputs they purchased in 2025.  There are many things wrong with this plan, so I’ll just point to two. First, the $12 bailout pales in comparison to the massive problem created by bad farm policy and the tariffs in the first place.  The true need is estimated to be closer to $100 billion.  Second, the bailout money is primarily targeted for commodity crops – corn, soy, wheat, rice and cotton. These crops are mostly produced by large-scale agribusiness operations.  So once again we will be sending public money to the largest, wealthiest, most capitalized farmers, while leaving small and mid-size farmers continuing to struggle. Meanwhile, US consumers continue to pay more at the grocery store and work to make ends meet in our casino economy, where the house always wins the bet.

With all of this as a backdrop, I’ve been struggling to determine pricing for our CSA shares.  On the one hand we have a strong commitment to keeping our prices as low as possible in order to make fresh local food, grown without chemicals, accessible to more people.  On the other hand, we need to be able to pay our bills and keep the lights on.

The result is that we will be increasing our prices slightly for 2026 CSA shares, but we will still wind up in the lower tier of CSA prices for our region.  Still a bargain when considering the many benefits of eating fresh, chemical-free, locally grown food.

CSA signups will begin the first week of January for returning customers, and we will open up unclaimed shares to new members a few weeks later.  To get on the wait list, send a message to me at urbanagrarian@comcast.net.

In the meantime, we hope your holiday season is filled with family, friends, music and great food.

Farmer TJ