As harvest season looms, I find myself hobbling around with a sprained knee. Not from some daring feat on a tractor rescuing a bunny, but rec sports. This is day 2.5 (5.5 as of revising) of no farming for me.

The crew carries on with the workload. They cleaned crops including our winter storage carrots, beets, and new round of salad mix. All before an epic down pour yesterday which is great, so I don’t have to hobble around running sprinklers.

I’ll be honest, I have been fighting the “wake-up-call” thoughts. Holding back the “this is a sign that I can’t rely on my body forever and something has to change”. Because I don’t want this to be different then injuries of the past.

Deep down, it feels different.

I can’t play at the same pace, throwing my body at problems as the solution. And so, as I rest here, I realize life is constantly changing, something like this was bound to happen, and I will figure out the steps forward.

The farm is in a beautiful moment where summer crops are hitting their final stages and bright colors are coming off the plants. Peppers are showing off as sweets ripen to bright reds, yellows, and oranges foreshadowing the coming fall.

Onions could have come in this week, but we are pushing to next marking our second bulk harvest after garlic. The crop has ripened well and while they are not massive 6” globes they are perfect right for winter CSA boxes. Reds, whites, and golds will soon fill the curing shed before being trimmed and packed into long term storage.

The map for the remainder of the season is being made. It is becoming clear which crops will make before freezes set in, and which are still a gamble. Our field plantings have concluded, and we won’t be seeding more until our greenhouse crops are removed.

It has been another season of learning, and I have been busy sketching up plans for 2027. Our farm is hitting a crux with intense weed and pest pressure, fertility issues, and real choices in what we grow. This year was also especially challenging due to extreme drought and heat throughout the growing season. Water still might be cut early which will add another layer of complexity to a busy season.

Adding a twisted knee on top of this makes looking ahead to the future require extra consideration.

There are hurdles to overcome, and the season is far from over. I am grateful to have a crew able to meet the farm’s demands while I heal. Peak season is approaching before things slow down once again.

If ever there was a time to visit our Farm Stand or the Larimer County Farmers Market it is now. The produce is beautiful and crops that have taken months to grow are now ready.

Our rolling CSA program is also available for folks unable to make to these other locations!

Farmer's Choice CSA

Farm News

Canyons and Chefs Farm Dinner, August 27th- Coming up quick! This is an intimate gathering and tickets will go fast. Reserve your spot and join us for a tasty evening of artisanal enjoyment.

Reserve Tickets

Wellness Day, August 30th, 9am- Featuring yoga followed by sauna and cold plunge these mornings are such a treat on the farm.

Tickets Here

Instead of the usual July slog I played hooky to witness Union Pacific 4014 affectionately called “Big Boy”. This beast of a locomotive was restored after 60 years of sitting and is now the world’s largest operating steam engine.

It was designed to haul cargo, and lots of produce, over the Wasatch Mountains of Utah to Cheyenne, WY. An absolute beast.

I find it easy to forget how much the Industrial Revolution has shaped our world.

Under the bright green packaging and idyllic pastoral marketing of salad greens we forget the places these salads are produced look nothing like the containers in our fridge.

Machines capable of harvesting over 2,000 pounds per hour. Lettuce dumped into huge totes run through a cleaning process that uses 100 times to amount of chlorine and bleach than is allowed in drinking water. Supply chains and trucks to deliver the produce across the entire country from farms spanning thousands of acres.

In a day one of these farms will harvest more salad than I produce in a year.

Their goal is to produce as much salad as there is demand for, as cheaply, and safely as possible. These quantities require industrial scale processing and cleaning.

I am not saying one way is right or wrong. One system simply requires the use of industrial processes to produce a product while the other is based on raw-nature based and living nutrition.

Big Boy stands as a relic for how we have arrived here. It represents human creativity, problem solving, and the praise of machines over nature. I can only imagine a world where the same energy was used to create companionship with nature rather than the domination of nature.

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Throughout my day I notice, think about, and realize things that make it nowhere. Not on a blog, a tablet, recording, nothing.

As a personal challenge, I am introducing a mini-series where these blurbs will get jotted down here on Substack. One per day for 30 days.

Now, you might be saying to yourself “How is that possible when it is basically the busiest time of year?” or “Aren’t you supposed to be farming?”. You’re right. It is the busy season, and I need to be farming.

I feel compelled to figure out what keeps me engaged, what keeps me showing up day after day on the farm especially during the most challenging times.

My hope is to find a thru line and gain information for the next chapter while also sharing with you the information that never leaves the field.

Wish me luck Folks.

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Farm News

Canyons and Chefs Farm Dinner- POSTPONED TILL AUGUST 27TH!

Sorry Folks but we had some technical difficulties taking payments through the event portal and have collectively decided to move the farm dinner back. Look forward here to an updated ticket system.

Pollinators and Perennials- Curious about what pollinators are in our farm? Want to improve the habitat at your home for pollinators? Saturday August 8th we will be hosting bug specialists in a walking tour on the farm to identify local pollinators. The farm has also been working to expand our selection of native perennial wildflowers that will be available for purchase at the Farm Stand.

Reserve Your Spot

Farm to Table Bike Tour- This event will feature a guided, City-supported bike ride and cooking class open to the public. Participants will ride from The Gardens on Spring Creek to Folks Farm where they will harvest fresh produce and gather ingredients for the class.

Tickets Here

What is being harvested this week:

Greens: Hearts and Souls Salad Mix, gem lettuce, kale, chard

Fruits: Heirloom, beefsteak, cherry tomatoes, summer squash, squash flowers, CUCUMBERS!

Tree Fruits: Organic and conventional peaches

Roots: Carrots, beets, turnips, spring onions, garlic

Herbs: Parsley, basil

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Another week in the 90s. The highest nighttime lows I have ever seen as temps stay above 60 and even 70. Rain in the forecast yet the constant heat and sunshine irrigation will remain a never-ending task. Given these conditions we have seen record attendance at our local farmers markets.

I believe this is due to the cyclospora outbreak in Taylor Farms lettuce. This “family farm” of 20,000 employees grows and sells 57% of lettuce sold in the US and Canada. From Taco Bell to Whole Foods, Taylor Farms supplies them all with prepared salads and vegetables. Same lettuce, different brands.

Food pathogen break-outs like this happen annually on these massive farms and spread rapidly given their size. Yet, farms and the food industry continue to consolidate towards domination.

This outbreak coincides with the EPA approving 3 new PFAS pesticides for use on corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, oranges, apples, and almonds. These are “forever chemicals” because they never break down in your body or the environment.

Furthermore, this approval follows the Supreme Court 7-2 ruling that you can no longer sue pesticide companies for cancer. So, while our “MAHA” government approves more chemicals in your food they reduce your rights to sue companies liable for the poison.

This all goes to say, there has never been a better time to know your farmer.

I have never heard of an e. coli outbreak at a farmers’ market. I do not know any farmers advocating for the use of forever chemicals on their crops. Yet, I talk with farmers daily. The people I know growing food strive to produce the best food possible. Somehow these people are the minority when we live in a climate that actually rewards worse food production.

These farmers are in your community. They gather every Saturday morning in parking lots, town squares, and parks to sell their goods often harvested with 24 hours of display. They will answer your questions and tell you, likely happily, about their growing practices.

The support of these farmers outside of the explosive diarrhea days ensures their continuity and builds a food system of true health, not big business held unaccountable for selling poison.

We will take the tailwind while we have it, but maybe it is time for people to ask themselves who would they rather support. Governments and business that claim health but pass laws removing liability for poison producers, or farmers whose livelihoods depend on honesty, transparency, and integrity producing real food?

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Farm News

Upcoming Events!

Wellness Day- 7/26 starting at 9am we will have a free yoga class followed sauna and cold plunge on the farm. The last one was great, we hope you can make it. Reservations required. Click below for your spot!

Reserve Your Spot

Canyons and Chefs Farm Dinner- Saturday evening August 1st will be a special evening bring together food, fire, and the farm. Chef Billy specializes in outdoor, open fire, cuisine. Combined with the harvest season ambiance of a working farm this is sure to be an event not to miss. More details to come.

Tickets Available Here

Pollinators and Perennials- Curious about what pollinators are in our farm? Want to improve the habitat at your home for pollinators? Saturday August 8th we will be hosting bug specialists in a walking tour on the farm to identify local pollinators. The farm has also been working to expand our selection of native perennial wildflowers that will be available for purchase at the Farm Stand.

Reserve Your Spot

Farm to Table Bike Tour- This event will feature a guided, City-supported bike ride and cooking class open to the public. Participants will ride from The Gardens on Spring Creek to Folks Farm where they will harvest fresh produce and gather ingredients for the class.

Tickets Here

What is being harvested this week:

Greens: Hearts and Souls Salad Mix, gem lettuce, kale, chard

Fruits: Heirloom, beefsteak, cherry tomatoes, summer squash, squash flowers, Charentais melons from Rancho Durazno

Tree Fruits: Organic and conventional peaches

Roots: Carrots, beets, turnips, spring onions

Herbs: Parsley, thyme, oregano, basil, edible flowers

It is nothing new. I imagine our ancestors thousands of years ago foraging through fields and forests, babies hanging from their chests because it was probably women, searching among a diversity of plants. Intermingled with poisonous or foul tasting species were the delectable ancestors to our garden variety vegetables. A mustard flower that would eventually be bred to a broccoli or cabbage, the floral flavored apiaceae that would become celery.

Monoculture crops were nonexistent and diveristy proliferated. As we know, agriculture went the other way by removing the “weeds” It isn’t “efficient” to weed through many types of food crop when a huge harvest is on the line. For goodness sakes it is much more “efficient” to remain in one place all year rather than chase game across the prairie. Much “easier” to grow fewer or even a single crop together.

Same goes today for my farm, sort of. When I plant, it is mostly done by the bed. It is a little frustrating when I grow a chunk of turnips behind beets because the turnips are harvested sooner while the beets continue to grow. Instead of weaving equipment over the beets I leave the turnip ground fallow until the whole bed can be flipped. Doesn’t have to be that way, but come on we can’t be juggling everything over here.

Often times cover crops come after a cash crop has been grown in the broad sweep of several beds. But what if there was another way?

Over the past few seasons, and this is nothing new or unique to my farm, we have been experimenting with planting the walkways of some crops. Onions in particular have proven my favorite for these “living pathways”. After planting the onions I let one flush of weeds come before cultivating in cover crop seeds. The rye grass in this case germinates and we keep it mowed to a reasonable height throughout the season.

By intentionally growing in our walkways we are building soil carbon without taking anything out of production. It actually makes life more pleasant walking on a lawn compared to bare dirt or mud. The rye also helps displace weed pressure that would need to be cultivated or hoed to control.

This simple extra step stores fertility in our soil for next year’s crops without impacting this season’s yields.

It doesn’t work everywhere. The rye pathways receive overhead irrigation water being next to sprinklers which isn’t the case for every part of the farm. Also the upright nature of onions makes the pathways easy to maintain versus something like a winter squash which likes to spread.

Moving forward I want to try these pathways in our greenhouse tomato crops where fertility is a constant battle. I am also curious, and have attempted, edible pathways but turnips can be real ankle breakers as they grow.

Farm News

Hey Folks I don’t know if you feel like getting your hands dirty but we could sure use some help this Wednesday and Thursday from 7am-11am. Our fall carrots have come up great but are getting crowded by a farm favorite, pig weed. In exchange for vegetables and spending time with real life farmers we could sure use the extra hands to help clean this crop. Hope to see you there.

Upcoming Events!

Wellness Day- 7/26 starting at 9am we will have a free yoga class followed sauna and cold plunge on the farm. Reservations required.

Sign-Up Here

Canyons and Chefs Farm Dinner- Save the Date! Saturday evening August 1st will be a special evening bring together food, fire, and the farm. Chef Billy specializes in outdoor, open fire, cuisine. Combined with the harvest season ambiance of a working farm this is sure to be an event not to miss. More details to come.

What is being harvested this week:

Greens: Hearts and Souls Salad Mix, gem lettuce, kale, chard

Fruits: Heirloom, beefsteak, cherry tomatoes, summer squash, squash flowers, Charentais melons from Rancho Durazno

Tree Fruits: Organic and conventional peaches

Roots: Carrots, beets, turnips, spring onions

Herbs: Parsley, thyme, oregano, basil, edible flowers

As the sun reaches its northern zenith I am called to reflect on the 2026 season. The solstice is a seasonal plateau and with its light extending far to the horizon it is a great time to take stock and reinvigorate for the challenges ahead.

Our plans shifted earlier this spring. Colorado is in an extended drought, has little snowpack, and a received a quick snowpack melt. Many farmers are having to adapt to limited water. For our farm, the ditch has been running as normal but if the river falls below a certain level, our ditch will run dry.

In light of these circumstances, we moved to plant more summer crops that would produce before limited water. Zucchinis and field cucumbers made their way back into the crop plan.

The Bad

I had dialed back and nearly quit growing these crops for several reasons, one of which is pests. The cucurbit family is native to North America meaning so are its pests, the cucumber beetle and squash bug. Even after insect netting these rounds until flower the bugs have found their way to the crop and are annihilating our yields. When we could be harvesting hundreds of pounds a week, we are getting twenty.

Luckily, these two crops seem to be distracting the insects away from our winter squash and melons. The plan is currently to try and cover crop around this “catch crop” and cut our losses.

Weed pressure feels extra intense this season. Thistle in particular is spreading throughout the farm creating intense demand for weeding. July tends to be a big month for maintenance, but we are spending extra to keep the weeds under control this year.

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The Good

There is a special moment when you undercut a bed of roots. While we pull samples to see if carrots are ready, you still don’t know until you commit to lifting the bed. Today we harvested the first of 2026’s carrots and even under the weeds we have a great first crop! Bunches galore and this is hopefully just the beginning.

We planned to dive deeper into plant starts this year, producing more than ever before. It was a big push that almost caused us to forget planting vegetables. We sold a record amount of starts, figured out hanging baskets, and even picked up some wholesale accounts! Overall, this was a big win. Many of the flowers we didn’t sell were potted up into planters which are stunning. I especially love the “Red, White, and Blue” pots we put together available at our Farm Stand.

Last year was tough for tomatoes. Our main season crop failed due to disease. This season we poured extra energy into early tomatoes, with the goal of harvesting before Father’s Day, and we did it! Both crops are looking great, and we are starting to have prolific weekly harvests. Still some fine tuning to do but overall, this is a huge win compared to last season.

Perhaps the biggest, for me personally, win is our Farmer’s Choice CSA. This weekly assortment of peak produce delivered to pick-up points throughout town has been my favorite pivot in years.

Since orders are billed weekly the farm gets a nice hit of cash every week and customers aren’t stuck with the front-loaded CSA bill. The adaptability of the CSA makes our harvests smooth, and we know that every item boxed will reach a customer. Compared to the market or Farm Stand where we expect a certain amount of waste, nothing goes to waste in the Farmer’s Share.

The feature of having other products available in the shares also helps our customers get full access of the farm without the inconvenience of stopping by the farmers market or Farm Stand. Overall, I think it is huge win both for the customer and farm. Shares are available on a rolling basis and with summer harvests ahead now would be a great time to hop on the wagon.

We have our work cut out for us. The team will have to overcome significant weed pressure, smokey skies, high temperatures, and long days. The whole crew now has at least one season under their belts. Now we can put our heads back down, do the work, and hope for the best approaching harvest season.

Order Your Farmer's Choice CSA Here

Upcoming Events!

Wellness Day- 7/26 starting at 9am we will have a free yoga class followed sauna and cold plunge on the farm. Reservations required.

Sign-Up Here

Canyons and Chefs Farm Dinner- Save the Date! Saturday evening August 1st will be a special evening bring together food, fire, and the farm. Chef Billy specializes in outdoor, open fire, cuisine. Combined with the harvest season ambiance of a working farm this is sure to be an event not to miss. More details to come.

What is being harvested this week:

Greens: Hearts and Souls Salad Mix, gem lettuce, kale, chard

Fruits: Heirloom, beefsteak, cherry tomatoes, summer squash

Tree Fruits: Organic and conventional peaches, cherries, apricots

Roots: Carrots, beets, turnips

Herbs: Parsley, thyme, oregano, basil, edible flowers

Yoga starts at 9am with sauna to follow!

Let us know if you can make it!

I missed three calls this weekend. Two of the calls were “Do you have an extra case of salad mix?” and the other was “I brought some of your lettuce mix back for our chefs and they are obsessed”.

At least once a week, for the past couple years, I think about quitting. I think about wrapping up the farm. I think about if I could sell it as a whole package or just liquidate equipment. I think about doing something, anything else, that doesn’t require so much effort, focus, and time. Dump truck driving or junk hauling.

And then, every week, someone says something like this.

“I tried all the arugula at the farmers market, and yours is the best”.

I know our stuff is good. I know I have worked hard, learned lessons, improved, streamlined, and gotten really good at growing vegetables. I know our salad is the best. Sorry other farms.

It isn’t.

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But in truth we all hear it. Whether you are a baker, rancher, beekeeper we all hear how much better our products are compared to grocery stores. The pride and care taken to produce high-quality food then sold directly to a customer cannot be simulated. Combined with the emotional attatchment of customers, we cannot lose on quality.

I hear the same thing with our plant starts. I will hear it again with tomatoes, and eventually with carrots.

The truth is I am really good at this shit. And yet, getting ahead feels almost impossible. So often, money ends up in the bank only to leave. Whether in pay checks, fixing equipment, or my personal favorite; taxes. The government is basically a full-time employee who rarely shows up to work and never misses an opportunity to collect their check.

That is the curse. Being good enough at something that established restaurants in other towns can praise your goods, and yet we are barely getting by.

I am incredibly lucky to do what I do, but it takes a wife with off-farm income, a supportive family providing childcare, and the straight up the charity of strangers.

The choice to quit would be so much easier if we weren’t so good.

Then the question comes, do we lean in or continue? The answer is in the numbers. If the salad mix is great, but hemorrhaging money and unprofitable, then we need to either grow it better or let it go.

I can tell you now, carrots are tough to do profitabley. Even at $5/bunch they sell like crazy. We clean up with carrots, but this past week our crew has spent over 24 hours weeding them and are only halfway through. This is back-breaking, manual labor, under the hot solstice sun. It isn’t fun, it isn’t glamorous, it is the backside of agriculture. The side you don’t see on social media. It is the grind and it is all because I went out of town and missed a crucial cultivation step.

The farm has lots of benefits outside of money. The community is real and uplifting, but at a certain point pats on the back simply don’t cut it. My family likes burgers; they put up with the salads. My mechanic takes cash, not carrots.

It has been 7 seasons with Folks Farm. Before that, 3 seasons on other farms. Farming specialty crops has been the focus of my life for over 10 years, the latter being an immersive deep dive fully committed in production. It is what I know. And, yet I continue to ask the question, is it enough?

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Greetings lovely supporters of local agriculture!

Folks Farm participated in 16 farmers markets across the Front Range offering plants. It was a whirlwind, super fun, and we are happy to have our team back on the farm. We are very appreciative of Lafayette Farmers Market and Boulder County Farmers Markets for letting us jump in.

June brings the dash of finalizing the planting of long season and tender crops. Melons, squash, and basil hit the soil yesterday ready to grow to their full potential. We only have one small block of field space left to plant before we begin turning spring crops over to fall.

Our annual flowers are going strong and looking bright. If you have space in your garden, I recommend planting some organically grown annuals for a pop of color.

Hearts and Souls salad mix is at its peak flavor right now. The sweetness of spring combines with the crunch of summer to form a perfect salad. I have been enjoying arugula which I have found best eaten by the handful, usually with cheese on a sandwich. These springs crops are going quick so don’t miss them.

Volunteer Opportunity!

After a very dry spring, followed by consolidated precipitation events, weeds have flourished across our two acres.

We have decided to have a volunteer morning next Saturday June 13th from 8-12 to help us clear weeds from beds and get a head start into the growing season. If you are interested feel free to comment below as a “RSVP”, we would love to have you!

If this goes well we would love to offer more consistent Saturday morning volunteer times to help the farm through the season.

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Farmer’s Choice CSA Shares

We transitioned our website to a more focused CSA software, redesigned and integrated our CSA, collaborated with local businesses, and a finally are proud to offer our first CSA ”box” since 2021!

It is a real pleasure to walk the fields and plan the upcoming week’s bounty! These shares will have the opportunity to receive fruit and other locally sourced veggies moving forward in the season.

Farm Shares

What Veggies and Where?

We will be at the Larimer County Farmers Market every Saturday from 9am-1pm.

Tonight, however we will be in downtown Timnath from 3pm-7pm for a little pop-up market at The Hidden Stem!

The Farm Stand is open Tuesday-Sunday 9am-6pm.

Greens- Hearts and Souls salad mix, spicy mix, arugula, nettles, microgreens, kale, chard

Herbs- Parsley, oregano, mint, chives

Roots- Hakurei turnips, red radishes

Local Products- Asparagus coming in for the weekend along with cherries!

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So grateful because Folks, we needed it.

Next week highs are back in the 80s so there will be plenty of weeds to deal with and we will likely run right into summer, but for now the vibe is high. Hopefully this will elongate our snowpack and keep those ditches running.

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Mother’s Day Plant Sale

As the weather breaks by the end of the week, I can tentatively say it is time to plant those gardens!

Folks Farm is hosting its annual Mother’s Day Plant Sale Saturday and Sunday from 9am-6pm this weekend. We have put together an epic lineup of veggies, flowers, herbs, and hanging baskets this spring and are excited to share them with you.

I am especially proud of the flower baskets which have never looked better! It has taken 4 years of learning to get to here. One reason I love growing this crop is because it opens up a new area in the already full nursery. By utilizing vertical space, we can increase production without increasing our heat costs. This dramatically offsets costs on plant starts and plugs for the farm.

I used to think of hanging baskets as superfluous extravagances. That was until I was loading some for last weekend’s markets and I noticed several native pollinators enjoying the flowers. Turns out, even if you don’t have space for a garden, putting a hanging basket outside helps beneficial insects while providing extra beauty. Win-win I say.

Hope to see you this weekend!

Folks Farm CSA Shares

Our Farm Card model CSA will be closing this Friday. Now is the last chance to purchase yours for the season. The shares begin on May 12th!

The subscription Farmer’s Box will remain available. I love the convenience of the box. By making the billing cycle weekly there is low upfront cost and easily cancellation or pausing. They roll over automatically so you can streamline your veggie shopping and guarantee healthy food in your diet. Also, being positioned throughout town the pick-up locations can easily condense your weekly errands! Check out our website for more information and pick-up locations. The shares begin June 3rd.

Folks Farm CSA Shares

Farmers Markets

This weekend we will be attending:

Boulder County Farmers Market- Saturday, 8am-2pm

Longmont Farmers Market- Saturday, 8am-1pm

Lafayette Farmers Market- Sunday, 9am-1pm

Full selections of plants will be available along with some fresh veg.

It is simply the most exciting time of year. After such a strange warm winter, surprisingly cold spring, and now snow we are so glad to be getting back on the map. Our plants have never looked better and now with this moisture our field crops our going to be getting a huge boost.

Join the fun! See you soon.

“No garden for me this year. Since we are in a drought, I am going to let you farmers grow food for me this year.”

Several customers have voiced not wanting to grow a garden this year given drought. True, water will be limited and rationing might happen. All that hard work of planting a garden could wither under the oppressing heat of summer.

Why grow a garden?

Growing your own food, even a single pot, will (not might) brighten your day. Few experiences are better than watching something grow under your care and if it something you eat, nothing tastes better either. It is a simple joy in an oversaturated world.

Food prices will be rising, everywhere. Diesel prices have nearly doubled thanks to constraints on fossil fuel production and an ongoing war. Nearly every farm depends on diesel to grow and distribute their products, these increased costs will get passed onto the end users.

Coupled with constraints in fertilizer production, labor, and other inputs farms, big and small, will be stretched causing grocery bills to rise.

Farms are also dealing with the same drought. From Texas to Florida the southern areas of the country are seeing unprecedented dry conditions. Winter wheat crops are failing, even in irrigated fields. Supply will be constrained causing further price inflation.

On our farm we are looking at loosing irrigation water 2-3 months early. To get our crops irrigated will take immeasurable extra work and likely lead to less production.

Having some food, even a single cherry tomato plant, is manageable to care for and will provide pounds of fruit with an arm’s reach of your kitchen. A summer squash plant reliably produces for months. Crops these fresh are packed with nutrients and satisfy.

I have my biases. I grow plants and starter plants for a living. Have been doing so for years.

Some other tips for drought growing:

1. Water deeply and less frequently, make those roots chase the water

2. Use mulches to cover soil and keep moisture in the ground

3. Grow regional varieties or crops bred for tough conditions (Folks Farm starter plants)

4. Give plants more space so they don’t compete for water

5. Add organic material to soil for extra water retention

6. Use drip irrigation to focus water on the crop

Times are uncertain. That is why we keep planting. Seeds unsown have no chance of growing, but a planted garden has a chance. Now is not the time to throw in the towel. Now is the time to prepare.

Farm News

The Farm Stand is officially open for the season! We have a ton of plant starts ready to grow and a few early spring greens coming in for the weekend. We are looking forward to a great season over here and have been making strides to clean the place up making the Farm Stand inviting for all.

Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 9am-6pm

Farmers Markets

Folks Farm is participating in several extra markets this Spring selling our top-notch starter plants. Our tested and proven varieties will be available this weekend at:

Boulder County Farmers Market, Saturday 8am-2pm

Longmont Farmers Market, Saturday 8am-1pm

Lafayette Farmers Market, Sunday 9am-1pm

We will be bringing full line-ups of organically grown vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs, and hanging baskets.

See you there,

Folks.

Drought is here.

As I write this it is breezy outside and we are banking on spring snow coming tomorrow. The soil is dry and dusty. Seeds are struggling to take hold as moisture is fleeting, and a flock of hungry geese eagerly strike anything green.

Now is a potent time to practice gratitude. As a personal challenge I will be posting something every day for 30 days about something special on the farm. With a consistent barrage of “problems” this practice will illuminate what is working and push our attention towards abundance.

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Fort Collins Winter Market’s Last Weekend!

We will be bringing an abundance of perennial herbs and ornamentals to the last Fort Collins Winter Farmers Market this Saturday (see list below). Many of these crops thrive in drought conditions and provide valuable nectar for native pollinators.

The Winter Market has been awesome, and we are grateful that Fort Collins has a consistent market during the “off season”. It is truly unique to have a year-round market especially in a state with 4 distinct seasons. The market helped us move thousands of pounds of storage crops, winter greens, and connect with other local businesses.

Thank you market organizers!

Farm Stand and Mother’s Day Plant Sale

Our team has been working hard during the closing of the Farm Stand to get everything ready for shoppers! Wind destroyed our retail nursery, and we are building it back better than before. Fresh signs are being painted for clear flow, and the front of house is getting cleaned up.

We re-open April 28th and would love to see you!

The annual Mother’s Day Plant Sale is set to happen on Saturday May 9th and 10th. We will have a full selection of plants, veggies, and local products available for purchase. More details to come.

Plants Available this Weekend

Herbs- thyme, oregano, lemon balm, chives, basil, parsley, cilantro, dill, marjoram

Perennials- Artichoke, rhubarb, horseradish, coreopsis, lupine, catmint, Greek mountain tea, valerian, veronica, skullcap, gaillardia, Agastache, and more

Veggies- Lettuce, kale, chard

Flowers- Violas, petunias

Strawberry Baskets!

2026 CSA Shares

PS: Plants are included in the CSA!

Crops are Here, and Growing

Back in January we created a plan. A simple spreadsheet has taken form into thousands of lives growing throughout our nursery and farm.

The goal was to lean into something we have grown to love; plant starts. What began as numbers on a spreadsheet, turned to seed orders, and became living beings.

We are thrilled to be bringing an early abundance of these crops to the Fort Collins Winter Farmers Market this Saturday. Plants available:

• Flower and Strawberry hanging baskets

• Annual herbs (basil, dill, cilantro, parsley)

• Annual vegetables (lettuce, kale, chard)

• Perennial herbs (thyme, oregano, lemon balm, garlic chives)

• Rhubarb gallons

This is just the beginning of our offerings. There is so much more to look forward to!

CSA Shares Available

While plant starts have occupied a significant amount of our labor this spring vegetables for CSA shares and summer markets are growing.

Tomatoes, lettuce, herbs, and bunch greens are in the ground. It has been a challenge getting water to these crops with how dry the Spring has been. We are having to get creative with our field plantings to insure direct seeded crops will germinate. But we wouldn’t be farmers if we didn’t find enjoyment in overcoming tough conditions.

CSA shares are available and I encourage you to peruse our options.

The gift card model is great for people wanting customization with their weekly veggies to fit into meal planning. The flexibility offered to shop either at our Farm Stand or Larimer County Farmers Market is an incredible bonus. Plus, a super gains access to eggs, bread, fruit, kimchi, and all the other farm stand products.

Our new subscription box program is great for people unable to get to the farm, enjoy adventurous seasonal eating, and do not want to pay upfront. With 5 pick-up locations near other stops save yourself a trip and grab a box subscription today!

CSA Shares Here

Farm Stand

The Farm Stand will re-open April 28th! We have appreciated the time to focus on setting up our season and are excited to welcome everyone back.

Mother’s Day Plant Sale!

Show your mother love with plants! On Saturday May 9th and Sunday the 10th we will be hosting out annual Mother’s Day Plant Sale. Tons of starts will be in their prime plus several Folks Farmers will be present to help with any gardening questions. Look forward to organically grown plants including:

• Tomatoes

• Peppers

• Cucumbers and Squash

• Annual Flowers

• Native Perennials

• Hanging Baskets and more!

Happy Spring,

The Folks Farmers at Folks Farm

SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! A 42x72 foot piece of greenhouse plastic is lifted by wind and smacks onto a greenhouse frame. Ideally, we would be waiting for a calm morning to skin a greenhouse, but help has arrived now and we are committed. A larger breeze comes, people brace, but it is too strong. The plastic takes flight, a crewmember goes with it off a ladder, the sheet finds rest back on the ground. Luckily everyone is okay. Luckily the greenhouse gets covered later that day.

It only takes one gust to catch the right corner and rip the plastic off a greenhouse frame. A little over a week ago, with gusts reaching 90 mph, that was the story. A whole roof gone. Another almost taken away.

To coincide with heavy wind pressure the Front Range has also been facing extreme temperature swings. In under a week, we have seen lows in the teens with windchill in single digits and highs near 90.

Everything is dry, brittle, and ready to snap. Yet here we are, growing food.

Farming often feels like rolling the dice. We farm a small space, so we have invested in houses to elongate our seasons, thus increase food production. These structures are great but with more intense storms they often suffer.

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Risk is inherent even after the crop is harvested. A gas leak on a market day led to the cancelling of the Fort Collins Winter Farmers Market 15 minutes before it was set to open. We received the email and pulled the plug on participating. Without other avenues to sell microgreens we were stuck eating precious cash flow and not earning for a week. (The market ended up happening but a second email inviting vendors to return was not sent meaning only a handful of people could set up to sell.)

Then, the body breaks down. Between the stress of repairs, problem solving, and the high temperatures I slip into heat exhaustion. I am forced to stop working and take a sick day.

Farmers across the country are facing similar challenges. Conventional growers will now contend with rising fertilizer costs as a war with Iran continues on without an end in sight (currently priced 25% higher than before the start of the war). At every turn it feels like something is out to get us. Many have been got. Farm foreclosures doubled between 2024 and 2025. Farmers are getting squeezed from all ends as systems change.

The combination of increased weather severity and rising input costs has made growing profitable crops that much harder.

What are we doing about this?

Climate- Soil health is key. Healthy, living soil full of organic matter holds precious moisture and helps us produce great crops consistently. By increasing organic matter by 1% we can increase an acre’s water capacity by 20,000 gallons of water!

Infrastructure- We are creating standards of practice around windy days. Checking tunnels before storms, moving equipment to act as wind breaks, and other measures will help us better prepare and not be scrambling before weather arrives. Also fixing issues as soon as possible while building back better is priority.

Markets- Community Supported Agriculture. By growing our CSA program, we can have more dependable outlets for product. Instead of chancing weather on a market morning, we now have committing customers and guaranteed demand. These customers provide the foundation to keep our Farm Stand open 6 days a week during the main season, providing further hours to sell our products.

The new box subscription program takes this a step forward by breaking free of the traditional “pay upfront” CSA model. By giving customers, the ability to add a box, pause, and have greater pick-up availability we can hopefully build a more robust system of getting food to folks. Check out our pickup locations below! We have tried to place them near other outlets for grocery runs and open with later hours, so folks have time after work to grab their veggies.

Folks Farm CSA

Agriculture is facing systemic change. The way food has been grown since the “Green Revolution” is no longer working. Supply chains are fragile and geopolitics are unpredictable.

It is time to create something better. A system that feeds people, takes care of farmers, stewards land, and regenerates civilization to the next era. Our farm strives to be a leading example in what will be a better tomorrow.

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Each week during our “slow” season I try and tackle one cleaning project between the planting, harvesting, infrastructure, admin, and marketing it takes to run a farm. This week was the farm office. Piles of receipts, invoices, seed catalogs from years ago were occupying the desk.

In the process of organizing, I kept finding bits of ideas come and gone. Custom stickers for value added “Aji Vinegar” we made once after a pepper bumper crop, stickers for a packaged salad scheme that never took off. My journey in farm entrepreneurship has been a series of trial and error.

We have constantly tried to address making local food accessible. I see so many cars drive by our Farm Stand each day and often have conversations with people who “drove by 1,000 times”. It seems that for every 100 cars to roll past, we might get one customer.

I get it, our Farm Stand can only provide so many products, and we compete with same day delivery from huge grocery chains running on paper thin margins. The inconvenience factor is real making our farm shop more of a novelty than frequent stop.

In the same vein, a CSA puts a heavy upfront cost on the customer. Not everybody who wants a share has the several hundred dollars to invest upfront. Not everybody can make it to a weekly farmers market.

So, we set our minds to addressing these problems. How can we get local food more accessible both through location and price?

Enter the Farmer’s Choice Box

We are super excited to announce a new offering: the Farmer’s Choice Box. It will function much like a traditional CSA. Each week customers will receive an assortment of the freshest peak season produce from the farm with 2 new levels of convenience.

Small Box Example (approx. June): Large Salad Bag, Rainbow Chard Bunch, Bunch Carrots, Bunch Spring Onion, Cherry Tomato Pint, Bunch Italian Basil

1. Unlike a traditional, pay upfront, CSA these boxes have to ability to be charged weekly! No more upfront cost! Like a subscription to your favorite streaming platform, or farmer’s Substack blog, you will be billed weekly for your purchase. (You can also pay ahead 22 weeks for the season and receive a discount). Going out of town? Pause your subscription. Easy.

2. Produce delivered closer to your home! We have partnered with several local businesses to provide pick up points throughout town and we are continuing to add more pick-up spots. If you would like to become a spot, please reach out to info@folksfarmandseed.com. Pick-ups are set to happen every Wednesday 1pm-close once the program begins June 3rd.

Pick-Up Locations

Purchasing your first week as a deposit helps us gather information for how many shares we can expect and to which locations.

This is just the beginning. We are very hopeful this venture will increase local food in people’s bellies, support more year-round production, and encourage collaboration in the agricultural community.

Sign-Up Today

Now, back to everything it takes to bring a small farm to life. Thanks Folks.

A steady beat is growing on the land. The hum of seeds sprouting, the churning of heaters, the spray of water, all working in symphony to coax sprouts from their dormant shells.

The past two weeks are a blur as we sowed record amounts of flats. Alliums, greens, flowers, and more dropped into moist soil and placed onto heat. This alchemy sets the stage for life as thousands of cotyledons start photosynthesizing under the growing daylight.

The rising moon provides an invisible rope for these miracles to occur. Just as she pulls the tides of oceans, so does she pull seeds from slumber. We plant large rounds of crops in synch with the moon to take advantage of this cosmic power. For quicker succession crops it is less a concern.

I feel the experience of myself and crew as we begin the season. There is a certain sense of familiarity and trust, we have been here before.

That doesn’t mean this time of year doesn’t come without intense focus. Making sure equipment is functioning properly is crucial as each night drops below freezing. Temperature probes require constant vigilance as trays get moved and watered. A probe not placed back into soil will constantly call for heat and cook plant trays. After all, we are raising babies. Known to be resilient but have their limits.

The full moon arrives Tuesday marking the end of this planting push. As we decline downwards the work of soil prep and potting up lies ahead. We dive back into the Earth and set the stage for these plants to shine.

Tunnels will be turned over from winter crops and compost will be applied to fields. Hardy spring crops will be planted whether to grace our first CSA shares of the year or wholesale outlets. All of the unseen work before the fruits of harvest graces the market stands.

I was asked recently by a Farm Stand shopper if I feel “excited” for spring and the new growing season. My answer wasn’t a resounding yes. Instead, I feel more confident and prepared.

I know problems will come up. I know there will be moments of “how are we going to do this?”. I know we will overcome what life throws our way. I know there is abundance.

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Farm News

As the farm rounds the corner towards spring, we are closing the Farm Stand through March and into April. Stay posted for us to reopen!

If you want to purchase our produce, we have decided to continue attending the Fort Collins Winter Farmers market through the month of March! We have been growing lots of microgreens and still have storage crops like carrots and squash. Come on down every Saturday from 10-2 to enjoy all the tasty offerings.

We are also proud to be a vendor in the Fort Collins Food Coop! Their new location in Beaver’s Market is open, and they have tons of local produce and products. This store is a huge upgrade, and I am so excited for this new chapter for Fort Collins food access.

CSA sign-ups are live as you know. They make everything I have talked about above possible. Thank you to everyone already signed up and I look forward to you joining soon.

CSA Sign-Up Here

Greetings Folks,

Daylength and sunshine are increasing and we are excited to begin our growing season. January has been relatively restful but as you know the work never stops.

Our biggest input order is arriving today marking the start of climbing veggie mountain. All our soil, pots, irrigation supplies, and more plus seeds have been ordered in accordance with the crop plan.

My main focus this week has been clearing our greenhouse from vegetable production to a nursery space. The cleaning process is such an important step, and I will be honest I almost didn’t do it. This is a mistake I have made before. Cutting corners in this cleaning created pest issues in the nursery, leading to inoculating an entire field with aphids, and ultimately a bust on a brassica crop. Not repeating that.

After getting the larger material out I was left with a second finer layer of leaves, stems, irrigation, and debris that I considered just covering with groundcover. However, these remaining bits can harbor dormant pests that given the warmer days will climb from hiding and invade trays of baby plants. Getting your crops, and this is tens of thousands of plants for us, off to the right start means taking the time now to clean this space. The investment will have a multiplying effect as a thousand square feet turns to 2 acres.

After finely racking to material away I leave the greenhouse open through the nights. The low temps and removed material leave less room for problems to hide and help “frost sanitize” the space. This is a nice moment to take the process slow, a final bid to the depths of winter, before the hustle begins.

As several nights of below freezing temps pass (the colder the better) I will then apply the ground cover, build plant decks, and create infrastructure that will last through May. It can be a cumbersome process but sets us up for success down the line.

We have four more weeks of Fort Collins Winter Markets and Farm Stand before focusing entirely on production. I have been impressed with our storage crops and winter greens, and it looks like we will have just enough to finish out our season. To make up for a lack of diversity we will be buying in fresh mushrooms to the Farm Stand available on Friday!

It is an exciting time of year before a more stressful couple of months. The regular monitoring of greenhouses can make for middle of the night heater checks, plant growth issues, and more. Spring is our most intensive time where any mistake can lead to exponential devastation. Laser focus is required for success.

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The Folks Farm CSA

The CSA is a huge piece in alleviating that stress. Knowing our customers are with us combined with the early season cash flow eases tensions on the farm and lets us focus on what we do best, growing food.

If you want to eat healthier fresh vegetables this season our CSA is an excellent choice. The market card model allows you 6 days per week and a Farmers Market to access veggies, live account tracking, and no missed weeks!

To further incentive, we are offering a bonus 5% in addition to the standard 10% of your purchase if ordered between Feb 5th-12th. For example, your $330 purchase of a Single CSA Share would yield $379.50 worth of farm credits! The deal only gets better as you move up the food chain to our higher dollar shares. Get yours today!

Folks Farm CSA Shares!

I have forgotten more about farming then most anybody would ever come close to knowing. So much so that after getting absorbed by a catchy short form video about risk on the farm I began to ask myself, are we hedging risk?

A huge concern for a CSA member is the inherent risk in committing yourself to one farm for a growing season. Given catastrophe the farm cannot pay back the loan through produce, and we ask CSA members to help us carrying this burden. Nature barks, and as weather is increasingly unpredictable, we have to ask ourselves how we mitigate the climate and environmental disasters.

Seeds

Seed sourcing is our first line of defense here at Folks Farm. By using regionally specific and organically produced seeds we are integrating generations of genetic resilience designed to combat heat waves, dry spells, and cold snaps. The seeds are also bred to thrive in our organic conditions which are inherently very different to conventional farming practices. Much of the lettuce we grow has come from generations of seed produced on our farm and on farms in the region. This adaptability provides real time responses to weather patterns and allows our crops the initial boost to produce.

The increased diversity in crop offerings also keeps our customers engaged with the produce and experience flavors grocery stores could never provide.

Successions

Our focus on succession planting hedges against risk. Each time we plant, we plant lettuce over 10 times per season, we put another round ahead of weather. If a hailstorm comes through during in the season, we will have another round of lettuce ready in a few weeks.

In adapting to unpredictability, we have started succession planting longer season crops like tomatoes. Last year one round completely failed, yet two crops of tomatoes hit. By spacing out our planting across time and farm ecosystems (greenhouse, high tunnel, and field) we grew an abundance of our CSA customer’s favorite crop.

Climate Control and Protected Space

I cannot say enough about the benefits of growing in hoop houses or greenhouses. The ability to control inputs into the growing system reduces the need of climate cooperation and allows us to nimbly produce crops. After building a new tunnel I often say this is the last one, yet I keep constructing them.

Not only do they protect us from random storms but allow the farm to produce more vegetables in the shoulder seasons when weather is especially fraught with challenge.

They require constant maintenance to avoid disaster, as well as monitoring, but the costs are well worth the peace of mind.

These covered spaces allow us to be more flexible in our nursery production. By producing more plants than we need, or increased diversity of crops, we can see how the season is unfolding and modify our crop plan in real time. Dancing with nature requires flexibility and the willingness to adapt. The nursery allows us to invest into crops while not taking up field space.

Infrastructure

Along with high tunnels, increasing our storage space has been an ongoing investment. Cold storage, harvest containers, and clean wash/pack areas give us flexibility to harvest and safely store crops ahead of incoming weather. These investments also provide a food safe product to our customers and increase the shelf life of our crops.

These investments have been made possible through the support of grants and our community whether through their purchase of CSA shares or patronizing the Farm Stand and markets.

Relationships

By building community relationships with our customers rather than bankers we invest in those people directly affected by our farming choices. Less transactional spaces give our farm the flexibility to pivot given unpredictable outcomes.

When a bad storm hits, we have chefs able to utilize “ruined” produce. These deals would be impossible with large-scale institutional buyers.

As we embark on our next growing season, we are anticipating challenges and creating a plan that allows necessary wiggle room. We do this to ensure our customers get the most bang for their buck across the 6-month regular season CSA.

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Farm News

Seeds are being sown and the first of 2026’s crops are germinating. As I write this, we are running irrigation water in our high tunnels for freshly planted greens and roots. This winter has moved quickly, and the farm is revving its production engines again.

That is why we need you. CSA shares make this lift possible and while those tomato sandwiches of summer seem far off, we farmers are laying the foundations now.

February will likely be our last month attending the Fort Collins Winter Farmers for the year. We will also likely be closing our Farm Stand doors temporarily as we spend energy on getting crops planted. We look forward to serving you this month and still have quite a bit of delicious produce in stock.

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Heart rate rises, mind starts racing. News of other farms making moves, scaling, or introducing new products kicks on my base human emotions of jealousy and fear.

In local agriculture competition is felt immediately from people you know, and respect.

I have to work on embracing these feelings and trust the end result of having many producers, each striving to win, makes for a healthy business ecosystem. Competition drives us all to be better, try new things, and improve. It is the constant pressure that refines stones, polishing them to beauty.

The landscape in our food system is changing. Reductionist, consolidated agriculture has hit its end point. It is time to reclaim agriculture for the people and communities it affects; revitalize rural economies, build soil security, and decentralize the way crops are produced. This story has played out over decades, but I want to focus on recent actions that are fundamentally driving the way agricultural products are produced in America.

Our large farms are in crisis. The Trump administration released $12 billion dollars through “bridge payments” to help farmers navigate through the tumultuous tariff policies, rising input prices, and add breathing room to their bottom lines. These tax dollars were sold to the American people as a farmer bailout, yet it will not be farmers receiving these funds.

A pivotal moment in my understanding of ag history came during 2018 when Bayer purchased Monsanto becoming the world’s largest seed company. Bayer and Corteva, another seed company, account for more than half of corn and soybean seed sales in the US (USDA). Consolidation of epic scale has become intrinsic across the pesticide, machinery, and fertilizer industries whose sole intention is to increase shareholder value at the cost of rural society.

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These hyper-scale consolidations lead farmers to have less, or no, choice in where they purchase crucial production materials. Without the ability to shop around farmers have lost leverage and become subject to corporate price control used to inflate share price. When so few companies control the means of production, farmers are stuck paying the costs.

Carrying the burden of input costs leads producers to grow their crops only to encounter another bottleneck at the point of sale. Buyers of commodities have also consolidated allowing limited or no options for producers to sell their harvest. The prices they receive at the elevator are out of their control and farmers are often forced to sell at a loss.

The continuing of these systemic realities and forced selling has created the conditions where farmer debt has reached $591 billion (USDA).

The bridge payments were sold as a way to help float the 1% of farmers producing crops for 99% of people. However, the money just moves through the producers to pay the debts carried from their annual purchase of seed, fertilizer, fuel, and machinery. Basically, the money goes directly into companies like Bayer at the benefit of shareholders and not the producers.

Farm foreclosures have risen 13% in the past year with no sign of slowing. Rural America is being drained, and farmland is moving to fewer and fewer hands. This will inevitably lead to less farm innovation, less diversity of crops, and increased risk to human and environmental health.

My farm is different. We produce fresh products sold directly to the end users (CSA members, farmers market attendees, chefs, etc.) and control our distribution channels. In doing so, we can know our costs and modify prices to reflect the true costs of production. While we are competing in a marketplace this allows us more freedom in our prices and marketing.

The competition I face is on a local scale, with my neighbors, not distant corporations who I will never interact with. There is mutual respect and flexibility in carving a niche, compared to a system based purely on market share and extraction.

This is where your direct support of local farms is crucial. When you join a CSA we build a relationship that is less transactional and built on trust. We know our members, their children, and see them every week. Because of this we work hard to repay the debt of vegetables owed to CSA members and produce a surplus to market through other channels.

The landscape of local food production still has plenty of hurdles whether through local building codes, development, land prices, and the changing habits of shoppers.

One thing is certain, your choice matters. How we decide to nourish ourselves directly relates to how food is produced. Vote today for your dollar to support local, resilient, and nutritious agriculture.

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Farm News

We have been pleasantly surprised by the turnout at the Fort Collins Winter Farmers Market. The sentiment upon returning after taking a few weeks off was very heart warming. Thanks to all our supporters for turning out and making these weeks so great. We have harvested a bunch of fresh greens ahead of the freezing weekend and will be brining quite the spread tomorrow the 24th.

CSA memberships are selling and I want to remind you on a couple perks of being a CSA member. Not only do you receive a 10% bonus on your dollar loaded onto your cards, but CSA members get 5% off all non-farm products like fruit, eggs, honey, bread, and more! Your contribution today means the world to us going forward into the 2026 season.

The Farm Stand is open with normal operating hours Tuesday-Sunday 9am-6pm. We are running out of some crops but still have plenty in storage for shopping. Hopefully after this cold snap we can get water to some crops and get second cuts on greens!

Seeds are the most important investment a grower makes annually. Cheap seed with low vigor or germination will ruin a crop plan. Purchasing the best seed is the first step in guaranteeing a bountiful harvest. These annual investments reflect our values as growers. Each person has their own set of growing conditions, strategies, and metrics of success as diverse as the seed offerings available.

As I choose my crops for the season I find myself conflicted, caught between an inherited moral dilemma and the lived experience of a latter half “young farmer”.

Since I am not certified organic I am not solely focused on the growing conditions of the seeds I grow. Generally, I purchase organic simply because this means more acres kept away from an increasing onslaught of pesticides. There is a palpable trickledown effect from using organic seeds and for a small upcharge I can feel better about the farms supporting my production.

The open pollinated and hybrid discussion is where things get more nuanced. The main difference between the two is open pollinated crops come from consistent selection in mass populations over time. The seeds saved from an open pollinated crop will produce “true to type” offspring allowing the grower to reproduce their own seed stock. These seeds are generally cheaper to produce because they require no manual labor to cross pollinate.

Hybrids take a different approach by crossing specific lines of plants for specific offspring outcomes. Trials and time have allowed growers to develop proprietary lines of parent crops that yield vigorous and consistent offspring. Seeds saved from hybrids will reflect these parent lines and produce a wide variety of offspring.

For years I have been a vociferous advocate of open pollinated lines, especially those grown locally. This past season I grew a large round of heirloom, regionally adapted, tomatoes in one of our high tunnels. While I had some disease pressure in 2024, I figured that was likely a soil borne issue and switching to new ground would positively impact the outcome.

The same disease pressure returned, this time on a larger scale, decimating our main season tomato crop. When we should have been harvesting hundreds of pounds per week, we barely harvested one hundred pounds all season. Complete bonk.

Now back to the original tunnel. This time it was planted with hybrid seeds after doing light soil remediation. We consistently harvested ample amounts of tomatoes, seeing little disease pressure. Besides a few hornworms, this crop was an absolute knock out.

These hybrid tomatoes are bred for disease resistance and greenhouse performance. The production of last year clearly demonstrated the efforts of breeders paying off in terms of production and paying our bills.

As a commercial grower, I value supporting other local businesses and farms. I also require yields that allow us to make payroll and put food in the fridge.

For a gardener this is less of a concern. No matter what tomato you plant, at some point you will be overwhelmed with more abundance than you can comfortably handle. This lends a strong case towards an open pollinated crop full of heirloom flavor and unique appeal only found outside grocery stores.

As it pains me to realize, say, and act on, our farm will be trying more hybrid varieties this season. Not only for the yields, but more consistent products that will allow our staff clear parameters to harvest within. Our open pollinated butternut squash yielded fruits ranging from 1-8 pounds making the harvest and sorting a mental game.

This decision will inevitably push us outside of our region and into international waters in sourcing our seeds. While I still will evangelize the role of regionally adapted crops in agriculture, I am consciously putting more money into seeds produced outside the traditional routes.

Speaking of money as well, just a quick comparison. To plant my entire greenhouse complex with heirloom seeds would cost around $60. This year I plan to spend over $1,000 on hybrid greenhouse bred tomato seed. Given the projected yields, that initial cost will be covered in the first week of the main crop’s harvest and continue to yield for several months.

For the gardener who is growing outside, regional adaptation makes sense. You want a crop that will produce in your area and varieties with a proven track record. As a gardener you can choose varieties that might yield less but produce a more delicious and sensual fruit.

As someone growing controlled environments, my need for regional specificity is waning. Instead, I am more interested in if the crop is bred for greenhouse growing because a greenhouse in Colorado will be similar to a greenhouse anywhere in the world. Some sacrifice in flavor is inevitable, but we will still knock the socks off any product found on a grocery store shelf.

Do our values shape the way we interact with the world or does the world shape our values? As I write this, I feel more shaped, responding to the necessity to produce a profitable crop at a price I can market. The growing practices remain of high quality, but the seeds we are sowing are changing.

Farm News

CSA Shares for the 2026 season are officially available! Twenty-four weeks of fresh produce made available to you and your family through our gift card model. Super convenient and easy to use, shop at either our Farm Stand or Larimer County Farmers Market from mid May-October.

We have put together a tremendous crop plan full of your favorites like tomatoes, carrots, and of course our famous Hearts and Souls salad mix. Claim your share today to secure your veggies and help our farm grow this season!

Folks Farm CSA Information Here