The Backyard Farm Company

What The Backyard Farm Company does

The Backyard Farm Company is a private, founder-owned urban farming services and education business founded in 2012 by food-forward landscape designer Christian Douglas and based in San Rafael, Marin County, California. The company designs, installs, and maintains edible gardens for residential homeowners primarily across the San Francisco Bay Area, and additionally offers online self-paced courses, digital ebooks, soil-testing services, virtual garden consultations, and a published book ('The Food Forward Garden,' Artisan/Hachette, 2024). A 4-person core team of designers and farmers is augmented by a 6-partner Farmer Collective network of independent growers covering Marin, Sonoma, Alameda, and Contra Costa Counties, enabling service-area scalability without proportional full-time headcount growth. Revenue is generated through a diversified mix of high-touch professional services (hourly consultations, recurring maintenance, garden design/install) and lower-touch digital products (online courses at $147-$197 one-time with lifetime access, ebooks at $2.99-$14.99, a $149 soil-testing bundle) supplemented by branded merchandise and book royalties.

The underlying technology is deliberately lean: a Squarespace-hosted e-commerce storefront with a separate members-only portal for course delivery (video lessons, downloadable PDFs, assignments, community forum, live Q&A). Pricing across offerings is publicly disclosed, indicating a self-serve, low-friction acquisition model. Go-to-market is a hybrid of product-led growth (courses), direct-to-consumer e-commerce, inside sales (consultations via contact form), and channel partners (Farmer Collective). Customer segments include residential homeowners (primary), chefs and hospitality (notably Chef Tyler Florence), landscape architects/designers seeking edible integration expertise, and wellness-oriented hobby gardeners seeking structured self-paced education. Marketing relies on organic content (Instagram, blog), earned media across national home and garden publications, and the founder's author platform, with no evidence of paid performance marketing or institutional sales infrastructure.

Name

The Backyard Farm Company

Legal name

The Backyard Farm Company

Website

https://thebackyardfarmcompany.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Backyard Farm Company is a Bay Area urban farming business founded in 2012 that designs, installs, and maintains residential edible gardens, complemented by online courses, ebooks, virtual consultations, and a Farmer Collective partner network across four counties.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Edible Garden Design and Urban Farming Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Crop Production (11511)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Vegetable & Herb Garden Installation and Maintenance (HSAIAFAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Seasonal Color, Planting & Horticultural Services (BPABADAL)

Keywords

• Edible garden design
• Urban farming services
• Online gardening courses
• Garden maintenance consulting
• Soil testing services

Headquarters

HQ city

San Rafael

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Online Courses: Self-paced digital courses (Farm in Four Weeks, Bigger Better Harvests) delivered via members-only website. Courses include video lessons, printable downloads, assignments, live coaching sessions, and community forum access. Lifetime access granted upon enrollment.
2. Digital Products (eBooks): Sale of digital PDF ebooks on gardening topics (Intro to Soil $7.99, How to Build Raised Beds $14.99, Planting Best Practices Leaflet $2.99) and a digital service bundle (Soil Testing $149 includes lab testing + custom Soil Action Plan). One-time purchase with instant download delivery.
3. Garden Consultations & Phone-a-Farmer: Virtual garden consultation services: site assessment, annual planting schedule, crop layout, expert recommendations (Virtual Consultations, hourly billing); and 30-minute on-call virtual guidance with follow-up email recap (Phone-a-Farmer). Revenue recognized per engagement.
4. Garden Maintenance & Mentoring (Farmer Collective): Ongoing garden care services delivered by partner farmers through the Farmer Collective. Services include regular maintenance visits, crop planning, and hands-on mentoring. Customers are paired with local farmer collective members for estimates and service delivery.
5. Merchandise: Sale of branded physical merchandise including hats ($19), t-shirts ($29), and gift bundles. Products sold via e-commerce storefront. Hat and T-shirt pages note additional $5 shipping fee.
6. Garden Design & Building: Design and installation services for raised beds, pathways, and irrigation systems. Often paired with subcontractor for construction. Mentioned as part of Farmer Collective offerings.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Backyard Farm Company designs, installs, and maintains edible gardens for Bay Area residential and commercial clients, and sells related digital education (online courses, ebooks), soil testing with custom action plans, and branded merchandise. Service delivery is performed by a small in-house team of designers and farmers supplemented by a Farmer Collective network of partner growers across Marin, Sonoma, Alameda, and Contra Costa Counties.

Product overview

The Backyard Farm Company offers a portfolio of educational and service-based products centered on urban farming and edible garden design. Core offerings include two online courses—Farm in Four Weeks (foundational) and Bigger Better Harvests (advanced upgrade)—alongside digital products like soil and planting guides. Services encompass virtual garden consultations, Phone-A-Farmer guidance, and hands-on Farmer Collective maintenance. The company also publishes The Food Forward Garden book and sells merchandise including T-shirts and hats.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Farm in Four Weeks A self-paced foundational online gardening course teaching residential customers how to plan, prep, and plant a backyard garden. Covers space planning, sunlight assessment, seasons, building raised beds, irrigation, soil testing, crop planning, seeding and transplanting. Includes video lessons, assignments, printable downloads, monthly live coaching sessions, and lifetime community forum access.
• Bigger Better Harvests A self-paced advanced online gardening course module covering pruning, fertilizing, pest and disease control, and harvesting techniques. Designed as an add-on to Farm in Four Weeks or as part of a comprehensive bundle.
• Virtual Garden Consultations One-on-one virtual meetings with professional farmers to assess client garden sites, discuss goals, and create personalized planting schedules and crop layouts with expert recommendations. Pricing is hourly based on project scope and includes an annual planting schedule spreadsheet and crop layout garden map.
• Phone-A-Farmer 30-minute on-call virtual gardening guidance session delivered via phone, FaceTime, or Zoom by Christiana. Includes a follow-up instructive email summarizing the conversation and recommended next steps.
• Farmer Collective Garden Maintenance and Mentoring Hands-on garden maintenance, mentoring, and design services delivered by partner farmers across Marin, Sonoma, Alameda, and Contra Costa Counties. Services include consulting, design, soil testing, building raised beds, crop planning, ongoing maintenance, and mentoring. Customers are paired with a local farmer collective member and receive project estimates.
• Intro To Soil eBook A 23-page digital guide on creating and maintaining healthy garden soil, covering soil composition, 5 key indicators, macro and micro nutrients, and seasonal maintenance. Delivered as an instant PDF download for $7.99.
• How To Build Raised Beds eBook A 30-page step-by-step digital guide for creating raised beds, including location selection, bed styles, detailed building instructions, material lists, and drip irrigation installation. Delivered as an instant PDF download for $14.99.
• Planting Best Practices Leaflet A 6-page printable booklet with tried-and-true methods for planting seeds and transplants, including timing, soil moisture considerations, and plant spacing guidelines. Delivered as an instant PDF download for $2.99.
• Soil Testing Service A soil testing offering combining a 6-step digital PDF guide for soil sample collection, professional lab testing, and a custom Soil Action Plan including product links, quantities, and application techniques. Priced at $149 with a 2–3 week turnaround. Available only to U.S. customers.
• The Food Forward Garden Book A book by founder Christian Douglas on incorporating food and beauty into landscapes with edible gardens, combining inspiration and instruction for food-forward garden design. Published by Artisan (an imprint of Hachette Book Group) and distributed globally through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Waterstones, Foyles, Booktopia, and independent bookstores.
• Hat (Branded Merchandise) An eco trucker hat made of 70% organic cotton and 30% recycled polyester with an adjustable snapback. Sold for $19 plus $5 shipping, one size fits most.
• T-Shirt (Branded Merchandise) A unisex organic hemp jersey tee made in the USA from 60% viscose hemp and 40% organic cotton. Available in sizes XS through XL, runs large. Sold for $29 plus $5 shipping.

Quantifiable outcome

• Team of 4 core farmers has 36 combined years of organic commercial farming experience
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Chef Tyler FlorencenotableStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Chef Tyler Florence collaborated with The Backyard Farm Company on garden planning projects at his personal residence in Corte Madera, CA. The collaboration was featured as media content titled 'Planning with Chef Tyler Florence' in Summer 2020 and Fall 2019, showcasing the company's expertise in designing high-profile residential chef's gardens. This partnership elevates brand credibility in the hospitality and culinary space.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Rooted Garden: Provides residential vegetable garden design, installation, and coaching services with a strong digital/consultation arm. Comparable business model combining hands-on garden services with virtual consultations and educational content.
• Love & Carrots: Love & Carrots provides urban edible garden design, installation, and maintenance services for residential clients in the DC and Bay Area markets, offering the same custom food-garden service model with local farmer crews. Highly comparable on service offering and target customer.
• Edible Gardens LA: Los Angeles-based edible garden design, installation, and maintenance company serving residential and small commercial clients. Highly comparable service model focused exclusively on food-forward landscaping in an urban California market.
• Homestead Design Collective: Bay Area-based edible and ecological landscape design, installation, and maintenance firm serving residential clients in the San Francisco Bay Area. Closely comparable on geography, service mix (edible landscaping), and target affluent homeowner segment.
• Yard to Table Co. Edible landscaping company focused on building backyard kitchen gardens for homeowners, with design, installation, and maintenance offerings. Direct overlap on service category and residential target customer.

Broad incumbents

• Botanical Interests: National seed company combining horticultural expertise with educational content for home gardeners. Adjacent peer on gardening education and the small-grower audience, though operating at scale in seed retail rather than service delivery.
• Gardener's Supply Company: Established national retailer of gardening supplies, tools, raised beds, and educational content. Comparable on the gardening education and raised-bed expertise dimensions, though operates at much broader scale and primarily as a retailer.

Emerging players

• Epic Gardening: Large digital gardening content brand offering online courses, blogs, podcasts, and a gardening store. Comparable on the educational/digital course arm of The Backyard Farm Company's business, though not a direct competitor on local design-build services.
• Joe Gardener: Online gardening education platform with podcasts, courses, and a masterclass series targeting home food growers. Overlaps with the company's online course and digital education streams.
• Floret Flowers: Specialty cut-flower farm and education brand offering online courses, books, and seed sales for small-scale growers. Comparable on the "expert farmer turned educator/author" model with online courses plus a published book.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/thebackyardfarmco
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-backyard-farm-company

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Backyard Farm Company