Success Story: Amor Backyard Farm

Amor Backyard Farm Creates an Ecosystem for Small Farmers in Kern County

Evelyn Young Spath had completed the KIEH Incubator and walked away with insights on a path to complete her business plan, expanded financial literacy, a solid foundation on what is needed in the key areas of business to launch a business, among other impactful takeaways. Evelyn’s initial goal was to provide a model for turning backyard lawns into vibrant food sources. She was going to be a model to teach independent micro farmers and create a Community Supported Agriculture system specifically for Black Farmers.  But she was still learning what was needed to run a farm as a business and how to replicate it, particularly on a micro scale. She needed more ag science, planning, and thinking in seasons, profit / revenue / price point / margin for micro farming, and dealing with pests.

When KIEH offered an Accelerator, this gave her the opportunity to re-assess her business through a pragmatic lens. While becoming more pragmatic for her own business, Amor Backyard Farm, her heart was to share with other Black Farmers knowledge on being fully versed for the highest possible farming capacity. All the while, she had been growing her connections, becoming more involved in what small farms needed and specifically what Black Farmers were not able to access and other obstacles to success. She created the Kern County Black Farmers Association and ultimately the Kern County Black Farmers Market – a full ecosystem.

What was growing, her reputation and sphere of influence. Opportunities were opening for grants, contracts with the city, and the big win: an ask to participate in an agrivoltaic program.

At this point, Kern Inclusive Entrepreneurship Hub helped her expand her vision of how she could bridge all these facets: her growing expertise, her connections with local Black Farmers, the City of Bakersfield, and her personal farming business. Technical assistance in the form of business planning and strategy helped Evelyn refine her business plan to now look at an opportunity to impact a larger problem: creating a marketplace and buyers that didn’t exist for micro and small farmers, creating an ecosystem of opportunity for micro and small farmers in Kern County. “If you grow it, we will buy it and sell it”.

Director Kelly Bearden, California State Bakersfield University Small Business Development Center, said, “In a region dominated by medium, large, and very large agricultural businesses, small farmers in Kern County stand out as outliers. The applicant, Evelyn Young Spath, can significantly transform the landscape by providing in-depth technical assistance and guidance to potential small farms and farmers. This focus can lead to a greater community effort to produce value-added agriculture for even the smallest farmers. Throughout Kern County, value-added agriculture is a key economic strategy and has been identified as an essential component for the county’s progress moving forward. “

Her latest project: establish a centralized aggregation and distribution facility along with two satellite facilities in the Southern San Joaquin Valley to connect small-scale, sustainable local food producers with public institution buyers, primarily schools. This infrastructure project will develop 10 acres with cold storage, processing, and distribution capabilities to overcome critical supply chain barriers facing both local farmers and institutional buyers.  She will prioritize sourcing from historically underserved producers including socially disadvantaged farmers, those operating on less than 500 acres, and those using organic or climate-smart practices. By providing aggregation, quality control, processing, and consistent distribution channels, this project enables small producers to access larger markets while helping public institutions meet farm-to-school procurement goals and nutrition standards.

“Kern Inclusive helped me become the CEO of my own business,” said Evelyn.  “I had to decide whether it’s going to be a hobby, you know, a play theme, or if I was going to be a CEO, I really had to get down to business. So learning the importance of a business plan, having access to capital. Ali has relationships and he knows people, so he opens up opportunities.“

You can find Evelyn and Amor Backyard Farms on Facebook and other social platforms. And, if you are an innovator in Kern County, make sure to connect with the Kern Inclusive Entrepreneurship Hub.

[July, 2025]