Seems like everything went wrong for you. A bad year is always discouraging. It gives some appreciation of the pioneers whose gardens were a matter of eating or not eating.

Shade is a killer when it comes to food production. I know a lot of people who would like to garden in their urban backyards, but few get enough hours of summer sun to pull it off. A treed acreage has the same problem. Sometimes a greenhouse can help, but it becomes much more intensive in terms of the work.

Good pollination can be a big issue as well. A week of wet and cool when fruit trees are blooming can lead to a very thin crop. I'm starting my own colony of mason bees (a.k.a. orchard bees) to supplement all the native bees I have been carefully encouraging.

I like the CSA concept. Some farmers are tired of the mass production agribusiness treadmill. And most people don't have the time to dedicate themselves to producing their own food. So, a potential win-win.