Fridays on the Farm: Turning a Backyard Garden into a Thriving Farm

This Friday meet Carey Restino, owner and operator of Homer Hilltop Farm in Homer, Alaska. Starting with a simple backyard garden nearly two decades ago, Carey now has a thriving farm business that has more than quadrupled in size. Her 15-acre farm is situated on Diamond Ridge overlooking the pristine, blue waters of Kachemak Bay, and provides a steady source of nutritious, organically grown food and flowers to the community.

“I grew up on a subsistence farm, we grew just about everything we ate,” Carey said. “I found myself as a single mother with two kids and thinking, ‘What on earth am I going to teach them that’s valuable?’ and I did some soul searching.”

Farming was her answer. Homer Hilltop Farm began with a few raised beds, where Carey and her two toddlers could experience the joy of getting their hands in the soil, exploring what foods they could grow, and hoping to glean a youthful lesson or two about hard work and nature. Her son, Liam, and daughter, Théa, are now adults and are still integral members of the enterprise.

The Key to Success

In 2011, Carey started a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) operation and, at its height, had 45 shares and was growing at least 50 different foods. In the last two years, Carey downsized the CSA and decided to focus on growing more of the crops that were in highest demand and most profitable – in her case, salad greens and cut flowers for bouquets. These two crops comprise nearly all her farm revenue.

Carey reflected on the growth of the farm and credits USDA as a key player in her success. Over the years, she has leveraged multiple programs from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Service Agency (FSA). 

“Farming is an organism, and it evolves as you evolve,” Carey said. “It’s cool to look at the whole trajectory of our operation from the first days when we were scrappy and creative, to now when we are grossing six-figures. It certainly wouldn’t have happened without NRCS and FSA and the staff who have helped me along the way. It’s an impressive climb from where we started to where we are now.”

In 2011 Carey installed her first seasonal high tunnel with assistance from NRCS, using the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). The high tunnel provided a controlled environment that extended the growing season, protected crops from frost and wind, and allowed her to grow a wider variety of crops that otherwise could not be grown outdoors in Alaska. 

Her work with USDA programs continued to have a snowball effect. One program led to another and to another, which helped offset costs enough for her to acquire land and equipment and install critical farm infrastructure at her own pace and scale.

Taking in the View

In 2016, she purchased 13 acres of neighboring property with an FSA Farm Ownership Loan, and took out an Operating Microloan to purchase equipment and supplies. Both loans from FSA significantly changed her operation and her outlook.

“There’s this point when you start taking yourself a little more seriously as a business owner, as a farmer, and as an operation,” Carey said. “All that equipment reduced the chaos factor for me, where I could see what really worked and I could take in that 10,000-foot view.”

She used the microloan to buy a walk-in cooler so she can immediately move her product from field harvest to refrigeration, preserving the freshness and quality. She also purchased a walk-behind tractor and tractor-implements along with peony roots, and vegetable processing equipment. 

After securing the FSA loans, she worked with NRCS again to install three additional high tunnels and an irrigation system through EQIP. 

“Before we installed the irrigation system, we were running drip lines off our home water system,” Carey said.

Carey said the irrigation system has been a game changer for the farm. “If we wanted to, we could irrigate the whole farm at once! We have it automated, so sprinklers come when we need it. The consistency in watering has a huge impact on the product.”

Most recently, Carey is using FSA’s Reimbursement Transportation Cost Payment program to offset the costs she incurs for shipping farm supplies and equipment to Alaska. 

“Shipping to Alaska can often double the cost of your product, so this program is a big help,” Carey said. “It reimburses me for shipping expenses for just about everything we buy for the farm—fertilizer, plastic bags for salad, chicken feed, the chickens themselves.”

More Information

Visit local farms, ranches, forests, and resource areas through our Fridays on the Farm stories. Meet farmers, producers, and landowners who are working to improve their operations with USDA programs.

USDA offers a variety of risk management, disaster assistance, loan, and conservation programs to help producers weather ups and downs in the market and recover from natural disasters as well as invest in improvements to their operations. Learn about additional programs.

For more information about USDA programs and services, contact your local USDA Service Center.

Tracy Robillard is a public affairs specialist for NRCS in Alaska. Read the full story for more information.