Help Zephyr Family Farm Secure Our Forever Farm

Help us secure our forever farm. We’re beginning family farmers who are facing an existential crisis: our current farm landlord sold to developers without telling us, putting our dreams in jeopardy. The universe is an awesome, wild place and we’ve somehow found an amazing farm for sale with owners willing to work with us. We’ve extended every bit of capital and credit we had to get this far, and the farm is our sole source of income. So, we need your help to make this happen. We need to raise $50,000 by the end of December. Half will go to the first year’s lease-to-own payment, and half will be used to get the new farm running and through its first season.

Since 2021 we’ve been building our dream livelihood under challenging conditions. The farmland we lease has no electricity, no running water, a rain fed irrigation pond that dries out every summer, intense deer pressure and highly diseased soil. Even with those challenges we’ve managed to double our revenue this year! The forever farm we’ve found is within an hour of our existing markets and customers. It already has electricity, multiple wells, propane tanks, and five heated greenhouses, plus it’s classified as prime agricultural land and was previously used to grow Organic crops. Imagine what we could do with those resources in our corner.

The plan for the first year is to get the largest greenhouse fixed up and into production, plus build our basic infrastructure like a wash pack station, cold and dry storage areas and deer fencing. This should allow us to start bringing in revenue while we get the other four greenhouses into production, growing into the space over the next several years. Since the forever farm is close enough to keep our current customer base, we can focus on expanding, rather than starting over. Over the next four years the plan is to grow to a 100 person, 3 season CSA, add a wholesale revenue stream, and join another large market. We’d also finally be able to have on farm events like farm to table dinners, volunteer days and farm tours. Our growth will have a ripple effect in the community, allowing us to help our current markets grow and necessitating the creation of several living wages jobs on the farm.

Rasing money is something we’ve never done before, and it feels pretty daunting. Starting a farm with no formal experience seemed pretty daunting too, but with the support of our community we’re succeeding. So, we’re embracing that approach and going for it. Can you help us take advantage of this incredible opportunity and contribute to us securing our forever farm?

Check out our full story on our website www.zf.farm