Help Red H Farm Build Climate Resilience

Farmer Caiti here, from Red H Farm . I’m reaching out to the community today because it has been a really tough year and Red H Farm needs some support. The cumulative impacts of climate change, from hotter summers, extreme local fire seasons and now a catastrophic drought have taken a deep toll on this farm and farmer. Because I dry farm half of the land, relying on residual soil moisture from winter rains for much of my spring and early summer harvest, I have lost a huge percentage of my production this year. Can you help?

On this small, 1.2 acre, no-till, agroecological, woman-owned-and-operated, hand-scale farm….that means I am at 50% of usual harvest and sales. This financial loss is quite catastrophic. Not only a financial toll, the impacts of drought on our ecosystem takes a really deep emotional toll. It is hard to explain what it feels like to walk through crackly fields and witness the loss. It has been a tough year.

This comes at a particularly difficult time when, in order to remain viable and keep this farm thriving in the face of our changing climate, I am in the midst of big transitions that require some costly infrastructure investments. Over the past eighteen months I have been developing a plan to expand and transition much of my production to storage crops grown for my new winter CSA program . These long term crops require less intense physical labor in the increasingly hot summer months and will make farming into the future possible for me.

This necessitates a big upgrade to my crop storage facility and digging a well at the home farm. To be clear, the endless digging of new or deeper wells is not the solution to water crises across the west. However, on agroecological farms like mine I focus on conserving water and maximizing water holding capacity through mulching, drip irrigating, and building soil organic matter. This coupled with my particular terrain means I can grow exponentially more food with just a little bit of water. It is infrastructure that is both necessary and ecologically sound.

These infrastructure improvements were already going to be a big financial stretch, but necessary to grow into this new phase of Red H Farm. The financial strain due to drought makes this feel near impossible. But this farm plays a lot of roles in the community, and I am committed to keeping it thriving. I want to tend the ecosystem with deep care, continue providing an educational and mentorship space, continue community organizing on behalf of womxn leaders and grow nourishing food. The farm is central to all of these things. I’m hopeful this community can help me make it happen!

Turns out asking for support is a really hard thing to do in this culture! I’ve found it difficult to share the depth of struggle, both emotional and financial. I've also found it hard to articulate the value I know this farm brings to the community. So, read on for testimonials from other folks who are better at sharing all this farm provides, and more details on Red H Farm and me, Farmer Caiti.

Thank you for considering supporting this small farm and for sharing this far and wide! (And if you prefer Venmo, I"m at @Caitlin-Hachmyer). Your care means the world!

Words from the community…

“Caiti grows so much more than veggies at Red H farm! She's one of the most socially and ecologically engaged people I've ever met. She's out there composting the industrial growth society in with her food scraps, building soil and a resilient community of women-led farms throughout the Bay Area. Caiti's work encourages biodiversity and all-kinds-of-people diversity all at the same time. Caiti is always learning, always ready to open her mind and heart a little more, and she is always teaching (she can explain complex food systems to 5 year olds and school college students in her powerhouse, consciousness-raising classes at Sonoma State). That Caiti grows the best greens in Sonoma County and gorgeous boxes of nutritious food that my kids will reliably eat raw it is so delicious are just a co-benefit. I support Red H farm because I love Caiti, and because every dollar spent supports a phenomenal woman-led business that I know is creating health of all kinds, from soil microbes and abundant insects, to the lung tonic herbs she tucks in boxes on smokey days, to the communities of humans she connects to good food on a daily basis.”

- America Worden, CSA member

"Caiti and Red H Farm are the models of the modern farmer and farm we need in the future. Her endeavors to coalesce the bastions of ecological sustainability, equity, and economic vitality are only topped by her motivation to teach that and ensure well-being and longevity for her community."

- Reyna Yagi, Former Apprentice/Mentee and Farmer

“In a time of climate chaos and unstable food systems the world needs solutions that empower local food production, social equity, and repair ecosystems. Caiti Hachmyer and Red H Farm are just that. She models the path humanity must take to navigate the intersection of these global crisis. We need to keep her on the land doing this work that she does best.”

- Erik Ohlsen, Permaculture Earth Artisans

“Caiti works to the highest standards when it comes to the land she farms and the communities she nourishes. She is as dedicated to land stewardship as she is to producing delicious and nutritious food. In addition to food, Caiti grows communities through her networks and endless contributions to social justice and communal health. She is a precious nexus in the intersection between land and people. Unfortunately, the state of our food systems means that she shoulders the cost of these efforts in time, labor and money herself while dealing with massive economic and environmental pressures. We need farmers like Caiti, and an investment in her comes back to us a hundred-fold. Support this incredible farmer and her essential work!”

- Tiana Doht, Tranforming Dominant Culture

Caiti is an amazing farmer, friend, and comrade with a kind heart dedicated to agroecology, food sovereignty, and land justice. I'm grateful for her unwavering commitment to deepening in community with other small farmers and to building resources with women, non-binary, and QBIPOC land stewards. Please support Caiti and Red H Farms to continue growing nourishment and inspiration for a climate-resilient, socially just, and joyfully cooperative future!

-Leah Atwood, Agroecology Commons

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Farmer Caiti bio:

Caiti Hachmyer is a farmer, educator, activist and public academic. She founded Red H Farm in 2009.

Caiti has an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and Conservation Resource Studies from UC Berkeley and a graduate degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University.

In addition to building an agroecological farm landscape, she is the coordinator of Celebrating Women's Leadership in Food , a contract researcher and writer, an educator with Agroecology Commons and adjunct faculty (teaching Agroecology) at Sonoma State University. In 2021 she was awarded Farm Advocate of the Year at the CA Small Farms Conference for her work supporting women in food. Caiti has been acknowledged by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and by American Farmland Trust for her leadership in agroecological farming.

She is a published writer, having contributed chapters to two separate books – “Notes from a New Farmer: Rent Culture, Insecurity and the Need for Change,” in Land Justice: Re-imagining Food, Land and the Commons in the United States(Food First Books) and “The Role of Land Rights in Social Transformation: Stories from Boston and Philadelphia” in Public Policies for Food Sovereignty: Social Movements and the State (Routledge). Most recently she published a piece in Civil Eats on the lived experience of climate change at Red H Farm.

Find more information at our website Red H Farm and on Instagram @redhfarm