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

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New Society Publishers, Dec 1, 2015 - Gardening - 240 pages

Strategies and techniques for making a living with intensive food production in small spaces

There are 40 million acres of lawns in North America. In their current form, these unproductive expanses of grass represent a significant financial and environmental cost. However, viewed through a different lens, 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.

The Urban Farmer is a comprehensive, hands-on, practical manual to help you learn the techniques and business strategies you need to make a good living growing high-yield, high-value crops right in your own backyard (or someone else's). Major benefits include:

  • Low capital investment and overhead costs
  • Reduced need for expensive infrastructure
  • Easy access to markets.

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 in small leased or borrowed spaces.

 

Contents

A Viable Farming Business on 12 Acre or Less
13
The Business of Urban Farming
37
Finding the Right Site
79
Color Section
103
Building Your Farm One Site at a Time
105
Infrastructure and Equipment
133
Operations
157
Production Systems
185
Parting Words
249
Acknowledgments
251
Glossary
253
Endnotes
255
Index
257
Urban Farming Stud y Course
264
About the Author
265
A Guide to Responsible Digital Reading
266

Basic Crop Planning
211
Crops for the Urban Farmer
223
Books to Build a New Society
267
Copyright

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About the author (2015)

Curtis Stone is the owner/operator of Green City Acres, a commercial urban farm based in Kelowna, BC. Farming less than half an acre on a collection of urban plots, Green City Acres grows vegetables for farmers markets, restaurants and retail outlets. After five successful seasons, Curtis has demonstrated that one can grow an extraordinary amount of food in a backyard, and make a good living doing it. During his slower months, Curtis works as a public speaker, teacher, and consultant, sharing his story to inspire a new generation of farmers.

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