The Urban Farmer: Growing Food for Profit on Leased and Borrowed Land

304 Pages·2015·59.18 MB·English

by  Curtis Allen Stone

THE
URBAN
FARMER

GROWING FOOD FOR PROFIT ON
LEASED AND BORROWED LAND
CURTIS STONE

CURTIS
STONE

GROWING FOOD FOR
PROFIT ON LEASED
AND BORROWED LAND

www.newsociety.com

US/CAN $29.95
GARDENING / SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Making a living with intensive
food production in small spaces

The Urban Farmer is simply the best guide out there for anyone wanting
to grow vegetables for market.

— TOBY HEMENWAY, author, Gaia’s Garden and The Permaculture City

THERE ARE 43 million acres of lawns in North America. In their
current form, these unproductive expanses of grass represent a
significant financial and environmental cost — but they can
also be seen as a tremendous source of opportunity. Access
to land is a major barrier for many people who want to enter the
agricultural sector, and urban and suburban yards have huge potential for
would-be farmers wanting to become part of this growing movement.

With only a small capital investment, and without the need to own land, you can
become part of this growing movement. The Urban Farmer will help you learn the
crops, techniques, and business strategies you need to make a good living growing
food intensively right in your own backyard.

Growing food in the city means that fresh crops may travel only a few blocks from
field to table, making this innovative approach the next logical step in the local food
movement. Based on a scalable, easily reproduced business model, The Urban Farmer is your complete guide to
minimizing risk and maximizing profit by using intensive production, and making a good living growing high-yield,
high-value crops right in your own backyard (or someone else’s).

Curtis Stone is at the forefront of a stirring revolution. Urban farming will change what
local food means and I know of no other farmer that is as successful at it as he is.

— JEAN-MARTIN FORTIER, author, The Market Gardener

I have no hesitation in saying that The Urban Farmer by Curtis Stone is one of the most important,
and overdue, books on urban agriculture ever published.

— ROB HOPKINS, Founder of the Transition movement and author, The Power of Just Doing Stuff

CURTIS STONE is the owner/operator of Green City Acres, a commercial urban farm growing vegetables for farmers
markets, restaurants, and retail outlets. During his slower months, Curtis works as a public speaker, teacher, and
consultant, sharing his story to inspire a new generation of farmers.

UrbanFarmer_Cvr.indd 1
2015-10-28 10:34 AM

Praise for The Urban Farmer

The Urban Farmer is simply the best guide out there for anyone wanting to grow
vegetables for market. Chock full of practical information on costs, business plan-
ning, the best crops to grow, how much land to farm, growing techniques, and
how to develop markets, this book covers it all. Curtis Stone shares his hard-won
knowledge on setting up and succeeding at small-plot intensive (SPIN) farming
in lively, easy-to-grasp prose, in all the detail you’ll need to get started. Curtis not
only tells us what works, he reveals, based on his own experience, what didn’t work
for him, and that alone is worth the price of the book. This is a comprehensive
real-world manual from someone who’s done it, and any market farmer will profit
greatly from reading it.

— Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia’s Garden and The Permaculture City

I have no hesitation in saying that The Urban Farmer by Curtis Stone is one of
the most important, and overdue, books on urban agriculture ever published. It
is simultaneously deeply visionary and immensely practical, always a heady brew.
It allows us to look at urban land in an entirely different way. If I were 18 again and
given this book, it would put fire in my belly and set me on a career path that is
cutting edge, deeply entrepreneurial and profoundly responsible. It deserves to be
a best seller.

— Rob Hopkins, Founder of the Transition movement
and author of The Power of Just Doing Stuff.

Curtis Stone is at the forefront of a stirring revolution. Urban farming will change
what local food means and I know of no other farmer that is as successful at it as he
is. And the best part is his willingness to share what is a successful business model.
If you’re interested in learning to profitably start a farm on a shoestring budget,
Curtis Stone is the go to guy.

— Jean Martin Fortier, author of The Market Gardener

A first-rate, hands-on guide to successful and profitable farming on the very small
scale, Curtis Stone’s The Urban Farmer should be required reading for anyone who
thinks that growing food requires hundreds of acres off in the countryside. Highly
recommended.

— John Michael Greer, author of Green Wizardry

Curtis Stone has artfully blended my three favorite things—entrepreneurship, in-
dependence and sustainable food production into one amazing book. He has also
done so in a way that lowers the entry point for anyone who is truly motivated to
no longer have any excuse for not getting started. To say I recommend this book
highly is a gross understatement. I consider it required reading for anyone with a
goal to start a business, not matter what niche they end up in.

— Jack Spirko, TheSurvivalPodcast.com

If factory farms are not the solution to the biggest issue of our time—how to feed
9 billion people without cooking the planet—what can we do? Grow more food
in the cities where we live. Urban agriculture is a tradition dating back thousands
of years as well as an innovation reshaping modern city design. It’s also a lure for a
growing number of idealists drawn by a vision of reconnecting with the land while
becoming part of the solution. But hold on. Anyone who’s tried it as a business
knows there’s more to urban agriculture than romance. It takes hard work and com-
mon sense—two gifts Curtis Stone has in spades, and he’s always been generous
with sharing it. Local growers have appreciated the lectures and workshops where
he spells out the dollars and sense behind growing city food. Now readers every-
where have the opportunity to tap into this valuable resource.

If you’re going to invest in your future as city food grower, start with a copy of
The Urban Farmer.

— David Tracey, author of Guerrilla Gardening and Urban Agriculture

This book is a treasure for anyone really serious about making a decent living off
an urban farm. Back-to-the-lawn urban farming might look easy, but Curtis Stone
shows exactly how that “ease” grows out of getting a thousand details right. They’re
all in this book, generously shared. This is not just a well-written business text,
illustrating the myriad technical, entrepreneurial, marketing, accounting, farming
and people skills Curtis developed to work smarter, not harder. It is even more a
quintessential “how-to” manual, taking the reader step by step by step to the roots
of running a profitable urban farm.

— Peter Ladner, author of The Urban Food Revolution
and a long-time urban food gardener

THE URBAN FARMER

THE
URBAN
FARMER

GROWING FOOD FOR PROFIT

ON LEASED AND BORROWED LAND

CURTIS STONE

Copyright © 2016 by Curtis Stone. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Diane McIntosh.
Upper left cover photo © Andrew T. Barton.

Unless otherwise noted, all cover and interior photographs by Curtis Stone.
All interior illustrations by Anthony Ross (flexanimousart.blogspot.ca).

Printed in Canada. First printing January 2016.

Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of The Urban Farmer
should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below.
To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free
(North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com

Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:

New Society Publishers
P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada
[phone]

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Stone, Curtis, 1979-, author
The urban farmer : growing food for profit on leased
and borrowed land / Curtis Stone.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
isbn 978-0-86571-801-2 (paperback).—isbn 978-1-55092-601-9 (ebook)

I. Title.

S494.5.U72S86 2016
630
C2015-906769-3
C2015-906770-7

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vii

Contents

Foreword, by Diego Footer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
xi

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
xv

1

A Farm in the City. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1

1. Why Urban Farming? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3

2. Connecting the Dots: An Urban Farmer’s Place in the
Community. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7

3. Quick Breakdown of Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11

2

A Viable Farming Business On ½ Acre Or Less . . . . .
13

4. The Zones of Your Farm and Your Life . . . . . . . . . . . .
15

5. Crops Better Suited for the City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19

6. Introdution to Urban Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . .
27

7. Start-Up Farm Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
29

3

The Business of Urban Farming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
37

8. Starting Small . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
39

9. Market Streams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
41

10. Working with Chefs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
51

11. Labor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
55

12. Software and Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
61

13. Self-Promotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
73

14. Finance Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
75

viii
The Urban Farmer

4

Finding the Right Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
79

15. Scouting for Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
81

16. Urban, Suburban and Peri-Urban Land . . . . . . . . . . .
89

17. Multiple or Single-Plot Farming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
93

18. Urban Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
95

19. Land Agreements and Leases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
99

20. Urban Pests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
101

5

Building Your Farm, One Site at a Time . . . . . . . . . .
105

21. Turning a Lawn Into a Farm Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
107

22. Choosing A Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
115

23. Garden Layout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
119

24. The Perimeter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
121

25. Irrigation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
123

6

Infrastructure and Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
133

26. Base of Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
135

27. Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
143

28. Special Growing Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
147

29. Inexpensive Season Extension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
151

30. Transportation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
155

7

Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
157

31. Work Smarter not Harder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
159

32. Harvesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
167

33. Post-Harvest Processing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
173

34. Portioning and Packing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
179

8

Production Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
185

35. Beds for Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
187

Contents
ix

36. Planting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
195

37. Microgreens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
199

38. Extending the Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
205

9

Basic Crop Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
211

39. Determine Your Outcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
213

40. The Base Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
217

10

Crops for the Urban Farmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
223

41. Parting Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
249

Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
251

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
253

Endnotes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
255

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
257

About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
265

xi

Foreword

by Diego Footer

Do you dream about becoming a farmer...
making a living with your hands in the soil,
being outside far away from the confines of
the cubicle, working your own piece of land
and growing the nutrient-dense food that
you want to eat?
It’s a nice thought. A worthy ambition.
But if you are seriously going to go
down that road then you need to ask your-
self: How are you ever going to make a living
farming?
The concern around farming being a vi-
able and profitable career is legitimate. And
the talk of farming NOT being profitable is
more truth than exaggeration. Most farm-
ers struggle earning a living farming; recent
USDA data supports this:

Given the broad USDA definition of
a farm, many farms are not profitable
even in the best farm income years.
The projected median farm income of
−$1,558 is essentially unchanged from
the 2014 forecast of −$1,570. Most farm
households earn all of their income
from off-farm sources—median off-

farm income is projected to increase
4 percent in 2015.1

If you have to work another job in order to
be a farmer, it isn’t good, and you probably
won’t be a farmer for very long.
Over the past few years with Perma-
culture Voices, I have spoken to numerous
visionaries such as Joel Salatin, Michael
Pollan, Geoff Lawton, Mark Shepard, and
Allan Savory about the future of agricul-
ture. I understand what’s possible and what
could be, and I also understand that things
need to change.
During that time I have also spoken to
countless people looking to break into the
farming business and make agriculture
their future. These people dream about be-
ing farmers—the next wave of farmers, the
20 and 30 somethings that aspire to follow
in the footsteps of people like Joel Salatin
and break into farming. Through these
conversations I have come to fully under-
stand the dream and the lure of the farming
lifestyle, but also the obstacles that hinder
making that dream a reality.

xii
The Urban Farmer

These obstacles include:
• The high cost and limited access to
land
• High capital costs for equipment
• The lack of an efficient distribution
system for small farmers
• A broken food system that values
cheap food over high-quality, nutrient-
dense, locally raised food

For many people, these obstacles are too
much to overcome. Costs are too high,
prices are too low and margins are too thin.
As a result, the dream of farming fizzles out.
Profitable farming is possible, but farm-
ing profitably may look different in real-
ity than the idea of farming that you have
in your mind. Many people are lured into
farming by icons like Joel Salatin who are
farming on a lot of acreage. So naturally
many people think that in order to be prof-
itable they need to farm a lot of land.
Like many of you, I thought farming
had to be big. Then I met Curtis, and he
shattered that myth.
I first met Curtis through my work with
Permaculture Voices. When I learned about
what he was doing, I was a bit taken aback.
Here was this guy farming in the city and
doing everything by bike. This sounded
ideologically great, but how serious an op-
eration could it be? After all he was doing it
by bike in the city. Legit farming has to be
big right? Wrong. After diving a little deeper
I was floored. Here was a guy farming in the
city by bike and absolutely crushing it. He

was making a consistent five-figure income
farming, more than most farmers than you
will ever talk to, and he was doing it on one
third of an acre. One third of an acre, that’s
it. It was impressive. Curtis’s farm was sim-
ple, efficient and effective. It wasn’t high
tech. This wasn’t hydroponics or aquapon-
ics. This was old-fashioned, in-the-ground
farming. It didn’t seem possible, but it was.
What Curtis is doing is special. It is very
different from what you would expect when
it comes to the traditional farming model.
It is small; it is in the city; it is low tech; it
is being done on land that he doesn’t own;
and it is profitable. It’s a paradigm shift.
I have stood on Curtis’s plots in
Kelowna, British Columbia, and seen his
systems at work firsthand. They are the real
deal: small-scale, bio-intensive production
that is efficiently and effectively managed
in a way that is profitable. Curtis’s systems
work, and this book explains those systems
in great detail.
I want to emphasize that these systems
have been field tested over time. That’s im-
portant because there are a lot of theorists
out there with great ideas but little actual
experience or on-the-ground projects to
back themselves up. Curtis backs it up.
This is not a book about untested theory;
this is a book based on real-world experi-
ences. Curtis has been a profitable farmer
for six years. That is his job. His only job. He
is supporting himself and earning a living
wage farming—as previously stated, this is
a rarity in farming.

Foreword
xiii

Why has Curtis been so successful—

and how can that help you as a new farmer?
I think it boils down to a few things:
• He markets and brands his farm and
his products very well.
• He is extremely efficient and effective
with everything that he does on the
farm.
• He approaches farming as a business
with strict adherence to the bottom
line.
• He takes meticulous records, analyzes
them, and implements changes based
on that analysis.
• He has the ability to solve problems on
the fly and quickly adapt.

Most farmers don’t do all five of these
things well. In fact, many farmers don’t do
any of these five things. And as a result they
don’t succeed and stay farmers for very
long.
What you will notice about these keys
to success is that they aren’t directly farm-
ing tactics or techniques. They are much
more macro, and they are related to the
specific methodology and mindset with
which Curtis approaches farming. It is this
methodology and mindset that has helped
Curtis to be successful and profitable as
an urban farmer, and it is this approach to
farming that I believe will have the greatest
effect on your success.
This approach to farming has really res-
onated with me. As an engineer, I realize
the importance of systems thinking and

how important it is to dissect larger prob-
lems into solvable smaller problems in
order to move forward. This is essentially
what Curtis does, has done and how he has
arrived at his current method of farm pro-
duction. He has paid special attention to
what has worked and what hasn’t and then
focused on what has worked, dropping off
what hasn’t. Pay attention to how Curtis
approaches farming as you go through The
Urban Farmer and think about how you can
apply his methods to your situation. But
don’t overthink it. There is no need to re-
invent the wheel or overcomplicate things;
what Curtis does works. Adapt his tech-
niques to your situation and your market,
and do it.
Success in farming is possible. But in
order to be successful as a modern-day
farmer you need to be more like a modern-
day tech entrepreneur than a peasant agrar-
ian of yesteryear. The image that you have
in your head of a farmer and the farming
lifestyle isn’t the image of reality that is go-
ing to get you where you want to go. The
traditional farming model is broken and it
doesn’t work.
For the next generation of farmers I
think that Curtis brings a different model
to the table, and at the end of the day it’s
all business when it comes to running his
farm. The lifestyle is there, but the business
comes first.
A lot of new farmers struggle because
they follow their hearts instead of ap-
proaching farming as a business. As a result

xiv
The Urban Farmer

they end up letting their hearts down and
end up out of farming.
The common causes of failure are wide-
spread: growing crops without a specific
market in mind, taking on too much land,
not planting densely enough, approaching
farming as a lifestyle and a hobby—not a
business. All of these causes of failure can
be addressed if you approach farming stra-
tegically as Curtis has done.
If you want to take on farming as a ca-
reer then I believe that the information in
The Urban Farmer can drastically help you
skip what doesn’t work and focus on what

does. I believe that if you model your farm’s
systems after Curtis’s then you can be suc-
cessful and profitable as a farmer. It won’t
be easy, and it will take time. You have to be
willing to put in the hard work, learn from
your own experiences and push through
hard times. When other people would
quit, and when you want to quit, you need
to push on and adapt. The obstacles pre-
venting you from getting into farming can
be overcome.
Profitable farming is possible.
The methods are in this book.
The rest is up to you.

— Diego Footer, Founder
Permaculture Voices