Hey guys, the most common question is, what is our net profit. It's changed over the years and it used to be way higher during the years I used to work full time on the farm. It's still around 50%, even with me working part-time on the farm. Over the last 2 years, our net profit was 75%. Hope that clears that question up.
So it doesn't include salaries? How much working hours does it require to be running? Does it include your mortgage (if you have)? How much capital you had to invest on it to this day?
I've been thumbing through your videos for a day now, I'm in Casa Grande AZ (Pinal County between Tucson and Phoenix). Kudos on your very informative channel, I just got back from a trip to Mississippi where I was considering buying land for meat production but after seeing what you have going I'm considering staying here and starting out with micro greens (Maricopa County is a economic juggernaut filled with people who appreciate health food). I imagine my issues growing will be quite different but I am considering buying a 2 acre plot with a 1,200sqft home (80k) and nightly irrigation included in the taxes which are $800 USD a year. Winter production will be perfect here and that's when the snowbirds drive up the economy, I'm not sure how I will be able to deal with summer, it gets to 118f and might only drop down to 98f by 6am. Evaporation cooling works well here (I've seen humidity as low as 4%) and the solar potential is among the best so I might be able to refrigerate my green houses with solar panels, I was also thinking of using Earthship technology to build the green houses and geothermal cooling tubes, anyhow keep up the great work with your channel and business.
When you say "our net profit", does this mean you're splitting the 50% - 75% net revenue with a partner?? which would be around 25k- 37.5k in net profit.
What strikes me more than anything, as a fellow market gardener, is how efficient and thoughtful this is. He has figured things out, in terms of reducing work, maximizing yield while maintaining organic quality. Little things like his salad trimmer, washing systems, earth storage of greenhouse heat, which he readily shares here, along with the thinking that lies behind his techniques are a huge gift to the rest of us. In addition, he is providing a model of using urban land that is not currently in use for food production. Huge benefits from this depth of design. Because I live in Newfoundland, the challenges of climate for gardeners and growers are much more extreme than in Kelowna, BC. However, most of his techniques will work here, mainly by using greenhouses and row covers to start plants early and harvest them late. Thanks so much!
This is so fascinating how you make use of people's spare back yard space and everyone wins. Wish more neighborhoods were so enlightened and saw the value of this, rather than pointlessly competing to see who has the greener lawn.
So this is that video that's the most concise, and gives the overview of the operation, but hasn't taken that many views. Great stuff. The summer setup for microgreens the one I've been looking for.
The notes on the side of the Fridge at 5:15 are fascinating. I think handling information about what's in the fridge is probably more important than the equipment itself! I'd be interested to know more about how you make sure you're always sending out the freshest produce.
Good luck with trying this in Nashville without getting subpoena to court. Just parking my work vehicle at nights in my driveway, simply because my tags were “commercial” I got a letter, then another, then I couldn’t park on my backyard, then I just bought land an hour away and I couldn’t be happier! We started with an acre, now we own almost 14 acres.
I have no interest in gardening. This is what covid has done. I’ve watched nearly everything on TH-cam at this point. But, that’s a very cool business plan you have. Smart guy
Is the not backwards thinking though? Wouldn't you be interested in farming or at least gardening so you can supply yourself with food and not have to worry about the greed of others wiping grocery store shelves of food?
Jonathan Blackmon the tiny amount of vegetables I could grow on my property would be nothing more than a hobby, not a sustainable source of food. For myself, and I would guesstimate about 90%of Americans, we do not have enough land or time to grow our own food. I would not consider this “backwards thinking”. It’s rational thinking.
@@youtubeisbroken241 it's possible friend. Anything is. Nah but all you need is a few pots with quality soil to get started. Growing 4 tomato plants will give you enough for one person for 6 months at least. It's easy plus you know you gotta eat right or else a bigger even deadlier virus will come for all of you. Or the planet will boil over and sea and fresh water will overrun all over the world bc of meat eating. 22,000 gallons of water it cost to make one hamburger. From the grain crop for the cow to the cows own waste. All of it destroys ecosystems and our atmosphere. Plus it warms the planet with methane gas from the cows which is 30x more heat trapping than CO2. So animal meat production makes more pollution than all transportation combined. I call it meat production bc that's all it is, and this is wayyyyy different and a whole lot more twisted and toxic than the ranches some of our grandparents or great grandparents had. So eating more greens when grown (tastier that way too) will uh kinda prevent those great deaths for our species. I've been growing vegetables since a little kid in the middle of the ghetto lol. Anyone can do it.
Regardless of your profit I have alot of respect in what you guys do! I am struggling trying to keep a couple of raised beds to grow veggies. Plus your doing organic. Your offering a valuable resource to the community with fresh organic produce. It looks like so much work and study. Great job!
great info and great plans. in one of your videos you mentioned greens that were about $9 a pound and i knew right away you could not be in the usa. you are doing it right. We enjoy your information and process. wishing you continued success !
Thumbs up Curtis. you are my role model and thAnk you for all your input. I have realised duplicating what you do I now srarted making progress and my sales getting better at the Market and my customer base is picking up everyday. thAnk yiu for sharing
This is exactly what I’ve been looking for. I’m moving out of San Diego to North Carolina. I want to start a small homestead and small farm as a business. This was super helpful. You’re a true badass Curtis. 🤘🏻🌱🤘🏻
Saw your post here a year ago. Did you move to NC? We moved from Northern California to North Carolina about 1-1/2 years ago and absolutely love it. The heat and humidity for farming can be a bit daunting however. Hope all is well.
This was a great overview of your operations. I've been overdosing on your videos for the last month or two. It can get to be a bit overwhelming. This one kind of resets things, slows it down and puts it back in a neat box. Now I can go back out and get my market garden fix again.
Just discovered your channel, and your farm is very impressive.. Back when I was still in the Landscape design game I used a Perennial Flower Nursery that was essentially like your urban farm. It was a half acre Nursery in the middle of a housing development. Mike the guy who owned it squeezed flowers and greenhouses into every inch of the property that wasn't his house, and made a great living doing it. He put four kids through college with that tiny nursery, and had so many varieties of perennials, it was one stop shopping for me.
Thank you for sharing. The soaker pipe appears to have a steadier coverage than what we prep. Regular plastic piping with equalateral spacing may have been superseded by soaker pipe. Thanks for sharing Peace
For me it's one of the most important approaches to farming in this decade. A must have reference on how to focus your own business in such a delicate part of economy. Cheers from Spain
@@cf453 Not necessarily. Having access to fresh veggies whenever is a pretty valuable service to many people and is a great hedge against a SHTF scenario. Furthermore, there is virtually no market for leasing out your backyard so obviously rent is going to be cheap.
@@CigEconomy I'm an anti-prepper. I believe in spending my energy to work on preventing the SHTF scenario. Everything else is a pathetic adolescent fantasy.
@@cf453 Fair enough, just pointing out that there are many people who want to be at least somewhat prepared in the event that something that bad does happen.
I decided to film my garden this year. Its just a traditional garden with lots of grass but most things did well. Im hoping to do much less weed filled garden next season. Yours is beautiful.
Hardworking farmer and hardworking video maker! Awesome piece of content. I get a lot of questions about my urban farm (which is based on your model and book), and I'll probably just start sending people here :) You are making a difference in thousands of peoples lives. Keep up the good work!
100k gross revenue, let's calculate the profit, two workers on min wage let's consider 15$ so after taxes it would be 18$, 32 weeksx 36$x40hr = 46k 20 weeks × 36$ × 20 hr=22k Just the wages : 67k which is 67% not to mention other expenses, so how the hell net profit is 50% or more. I used to like your videos and Eve started to think about starting business. But now I doubt it.
Truly excellent video Curtis. Thank you. In my mind this is like your long elevator speech/video for urban farming. Read your book along with JM Fortier's The Market Gardener. I plan on starting small in my yard this spring. Best to you and your family
Just picked up your Book, as well as started gathering the materials to get this started in a small town in Southern Ohio. Pretty pumped to get this started next season.! Thanks for the information in these video's and the book.
Chad: I just got back from visiting Curtis' farm in Kelowna after reading his book...Absolutely incredible. The concepts are simple and accessible which is what makes them AMAZING. If you can swing the time, you should go to his workshop in Tennessee in October. Especially since you said you're in southern Ohio-not far. :-) His workshops make the concepts in his book come alive. Best of luck!
This is great Curtis has always inspired me right from his early beginnings. I’ve set my goals to make my allotment a production model. Then I’ll upscale on a different plot. It takes a big commitment in money to start up though.
What is the plant hardiness zone in which these greenhouses are being constructed and used? How deep do the 5 inch footings go? Soil that has been growing weeds for 5 years or for millenia sometimes needs to be "broken in" with cropping for a year or two before it is actually productive for human-domesticated food crops.
This is awesome, I wish I could find someone who was that interested in this in the Fraser Valley who would convert some of my land into garden. Maybe I will find someone one day.
Great video, question do you stock grocers shelves and remove spoiled product. I deal mostly with restaurants and universities and sell very small amounts of greens for half the price you can get and am wanting to increase these sales, but with the over 100 restaurants they purchase too small amounts to make up much in production space. Really great and thorough video. Thanks and keep em coming.
Curtis I've watched a few of your videos and I want to say thank you for the information and the end depth look at starting a small scale grow operation. I was interested in taking your online course but I live in the states and wanted to know if the legalities are the same and the process of starting this kind of business. I grew up on a farm did just about everything as a kid growing up got into the family business managing properties and eventually went behind the wheel of a commercial truck which I continue to do as of now. Very excited to buy some property and of this year probably in northern part of Texas north of Dallas. Keep up the good work hope to get a reply when you get a chance thank you
My lettuce is grown so slow. Could lack of water cause that? It is dry here in Minnesota. Could use rain. Water it tonight. Most of it is 1 inch tall. How much do you think that will grow in the next week?
Thank you so much Curtis, I am about to start my adventure on our piece of land. My family owns a 65 acre piece of land here in Pennsylvania. With your videos and small farm information I am really excited to see what we can do.
My understanding is that the cultivated land itself is 1/4 acre between all locations. I'm curious, what is your property size for your "homebase" (and neighbors property) ? The land behind your house looks to be at least 3/4 acre not including your neighbors land. By the way, I enjoy your videos and appreciate you sharing your knowledge with the world.
Amazing. I guess you had to get permits to do this. I saw somewhere it was said it’s against the law to grow food on your own property. Imagine? But congrats. You must be very proud of your accomplishment. Good luck to you.
This was great! thank you for doing this! and I am absolutely buying your book :) Thank you so much for always being so open with all your processes and farm management strategies. It really is so incredible helpful!
Yeah that’d be great for those who don’t have kids! But for people like me who have kids, we need a lawn! Lol! Although this is definitely giving me an idea for part of the lawn though! 😄
just a quick question. Im in Nc just getting started in understanding and buying some land. What kind of grocery stores do you approach or do you have videos on that. Im really interested in turning some land into farm area. thanks and subscribed
Skurrix but that’s with no humidity. Here we will have months that it’s 100 degrees or more with 100% humidity. If you walk into the shade in Arizona it gets cooler. That doesn’t happen here.
It's obvious this was losing money or not making enough. That's why he has the course, the books, and the youtube channel to help break even or push the profits farther. 100k in gross revenue doesn't mean 100k in profit, when you subtract the water costs, labor, etc you are left with the money of a regular office job if you're lucky.
To bad there are no more office jobs or food in the shelves and the dollar is falling. If you are luck to have a job it's going to cost a days labor for a little wheat.
How much is your profit though ???? Please Curtis ive been dying to know this as the videos you have talked about this in you never specify and it leaves people to think thats how much you're making yourself a year , please and thank you from an aspiring beyond organic urban farmer , remember what you said , abundance thinking not scarcity thinking so im sure youll be happy to sure the knowledge , thanks for everything Curtis !
He means that his profit is 50% of his total revenue. So, 50% x $100k = $50k profit. However, from this profit, there are wages to pay, tools to replace etc etc so this model alone is not viable. It is why you see people who do this kind of enterprise always offering workshops and diversifying in other ways because the farm alone is simply not enough to live well on.
Its not worth the effort. It took him 5 years to get to a pount where he made a decent wage himself and then within 3 years after that he is out of it. He only does the farm as a way to market and promote his other ventures. I think it is giving people false hope to tell them that they can make a decent living on an urban farm such as this. But hey, a sucker born every minute.
This is great! You may already do this but do you wear gloves when packing produce? That may seem like a stupid question but at the moment there are a few scares with bad produce... so I think I am hyper aware of that kind of stuff.... I am sure your stuff is perfectly sanitary....
Not really. Marginal cost reduces with scaling. Industrial farming will always be more efficient, especially with vertical farms and even hydroponics starting to become commercial.
100k $ with 50% profit, divided by 2 persons = 2083 $/month. In Europe you can have a good life with this amount of money, but I don't know about the life cost in Canada.
Romain Queutelot In England that's less than £2K mate, I don't know where you get your ideas from but you can live off eating peanuts for that money over here!
Sussex Gardening ? I live in Guernsey which is more expensive than England and I know because I spent most of my life there, and I can live a great life on 2k a month.. You're obviously poor at financial management! 😂
Thank you Curtis for this inspiring and informative video. I love farming and gardening since my childhood days. I'm from Africa and lived in Toronto, Canada since 2011. Now I'm in Oshawa which is a very good area for farming. I am very interested in starting small scale commercial farming, but I don't know how and where to start. The best way I learn is hands-on practical with some theory. So I believe working under a farmer at least one season will help. I am willing to work in your farm FREE or little stipend just to learn or anyone you can direct me to. Also, If you're charging to teach I'm interested. Please reach out to me. Thank you again.
Great Man! I am now currently starting an urban farming in a 500 sqm lot instarted with My green leafy vegetables set up and with some bin To produce vermicast.
Any chance you would disclose what % of your sales are microgreens (ball park). Also, do you have how many total hours between all employees? Feels like it would be conservatively 3,500-4,500+ hours even with the months off. And for the record, you deserve to be making $100k net a year off this channel.
In our town it seems hard to get people to be interested in lettuce. I have done 4 farmers market now and each time I can only sell a few bags of lettuce. The ones that do buy it are really excited but most are not interested. I have it set at $3/bag about a half pound. I really hoping I could get this to change. The other guys doing produce don't even have lettuce either. Thanks for all your information and time you put into these videos!
Hey i recently secured an acre plus plot in Richmond BC I have 2months off starting end of april and would like to be in grees production by mid may. cheers! creat vids.. Also since you have the paperpot trans. do you even use the seeder anymore?
How do you get away with having a full on farm (especially in the front yard right next to the street). I have a 10 acre farm, but it is in farmland zoned area. We had to go through all sorts of hoops to be able to farm. What do you use for water? Where we are you cant just use well water. What do you plan on doing if you are getting a visit from code enforcement? Do your neighbors get pissed that they bought a home in a residential area and you put up a farm next door? Why not get like 5 acres in the country for the same money as the tiny property you have. Then you can use your skills to make way more.
Thats cool. I figure you must be in a suburban or maybe a rural area with a neighborhood. When I think urban I think city, and I dont know any city in the states that would permit this kind of farming, im sure it is different in Canada. I could totally see why someone would want to live in a city and also farm in their yard, as that would be a pretty cool thing to do. From the drone shots it looks like where you are is pretty rural/suburban. How far from a major city are you? If you are living 2 miles outside of toronto or something like that and you have an urban farm that would be cool because you would have access to all the city offers, and also a farm. But if you are far from the city and are farming in a suburb I dont see why you wouldnt just move a little further out and get a big farm for the same money. To each his own, im just all about maximizing efficiency and there is a reason why smart money isnt buying up residential property to do small sized farming- although it is interesting to watch a TH-cam video of to see someone just so blatantly put a middle finger up to his whole neighborhood. At least, in America, that is what this would be considered.
We are technically in an urban area according to the city planning departments. There is urban, suburban, peri-urban and rural. By our cities definitions, we are urban. However, we're in a city with 180,000 people, not a city with a million.
So you want 25 lbs per 50 ft plot. 63 plots. 4 harvests a year. That is 6300 lbs of produce. So you sell produce at 15 bucks a pound to make 100k? You are supplying 5 grocery stores with a full shelf of fresh lettuce every two weeks off of sixty three 50 ft plots? The simple fact of this is that you cheat. You buy wholesale and repackage. I am not hating, in fact I applaud your acumen. I just think that you should represent yourself as someone who has figured out how to brand yourself and sell products at a premium. The idea of making a profitable living from growing on a quarter acre is laughable. As someone with experience in the modern farming era there is simply no way to sell at a price point that turns a profit with so little volume.
I recently sold my farm and thought if he can make $75,000 on 1/4 acre why bother farming hundreds of acres? LOL The pricing makes no sense. How can a store buy produce for $15/pound then sell a 12 oz (3/4 lb) bag for $3.99???? They'd be losing $8 on each bag! Note, he is also a "consultant"' and has a website hawking books, clothes, mugs and tickets for seminars. (It says he has 1/3 acre - $75,000 vs 1/4 acre - $100,000.)
smb12321 So, in a nut shell: because you arent making money farming hundreds of acres conventionally; he cant be making money farming intensively?? Curtis isn't the only one doing this.
Ron - I never said a thing about not making money. I made great money (precisely because I had a corporate farm and tripled my price when I sold). I was simply pointing out that if he sold greens at $15 pound and Publix sells them for $3.99 pound something is rotten in Denmark. Virtually all these "1/2 acre - millionaire" are specialty farms for high-end restaurants. You never see any that grow tomatoes or potatoes or corn or beans. It's always greens and micro veggies which makes sense considering the size.
This has me curious, since you've already made a decision you've obviously taken the time to double the check in numbers in terms of yield/unit production cost/unit sale price/types of crops/grow cycles to maximize growth time etc...? If so please share and let me know you decided the numbers just didn't quite add up. If you did the research that is.
Raj Singh he did an interview with some guy he said now he doesn’t really farm anymore he just creates content like TH-cam and such. He has a full time employee and another that’s full time half the year the profit from the farm pays them. He mainly makes money social media and classes. The income from the farm pays the two employees.
Is Dibrom approved for organic farms? Just wondering because they spray us with it for mosquitoes multiple times a month here in Florida. Dibrom aka "Naled" breaks down into a carcinogen called dichlorovus that's pretty nasty stuff. Also, are you using municipal water and if so, how do you filter the heavy metals, chlorine and other contaminants?
I was wondering how you make $100k on one quarte acrer than you mentioned "organic" now it makes sense. $100k will get you about 5 lettuce at the shops lol jks. Good job.
Great work guys be blessed and keep working for green future. But I am surprised to see some people disliked the idea and I don't know why...but anyway keep up the good work.
The labor would have to be practically minimum wage. At $10 an HR, cost to business around $15 an hour after taxes, workers comp, etc. 32weeks x 80 hrs per wk x $30 per hr (two workers) = $76,800 20 weeks x 40hrs per wk x $30 per hr = $24,000 $76,800+$24,000 = $100,800 a year.
well, if its him and another guy, its 50k each, less annual inspections, licenses, and permits to operate a farm, less income tax, less property tax, less medical insurance less material (seeds, plastic bags, labels, toner, gas for the truck) and equipment expenses. they are probably an LLC and deduct all expenses and depreciate the equipment. not sure its worth working 12 hours a day every single day for this meager wage.
The profit is $0 hence why he has books he's selling and youtube videos. He might have made some profit early on. As you scale up your costs also go up, you need more workers, more stores to deliver to etc.
Skyrunner Lawn And Service LLC if they are each working 80 hours a week then you would also have to do overtime. I assume you meant to not double the hours so it would actually be half what you calculated. Still doesn’t explain his capital costs. Lots of seed costs etc.
Amigo, saludos desde Medellin Colombia, muy bueno tu trabajo estamos en la misma linea me suscribi al canal eres un Heroe Urbano, excelente y magistral video.Gracias por subtitularlo al español.
100k off a quarter acre? I'm highly skeptical. I want to see your tax return, and distributors list. Where the hell can you offload such a small amount for so much? I own a 400 acre farm and pulling in 100k a quarter acre would be unimaginable. Edit: Ah, you're working three quarters of the year, and it's 'gross' profit. This makes sense. Running a larger farm you work maybe a month of the year. Maybe two days a week tops. And your gross profit offsets the use of heavy equipment too. Where yours doesn't.
How do you only work 1 month a year, 2 days a week? When I helped grow burley as a kid I was in the field from dusk till dawn for just about 2 solid months.
most likley he grows grain, way easier and lower return per acre than tobacco and vegetables. You till (or use a burn down), plant, cultivate (or spray) 1-2 times in the summer, and harvest. we seriiously spent more time maintaining equipment and getting supplies ready than we did actual field work. I grew up working a grain and cattle operation, but fruit and produce were always what i wanted to do.
Hey guys, the most common question is, what is our net profit. It's changed over the years and it used to be way higher during the years I used to work full time on the farm. It's still around 50%, even with me working part-time on the farm. Over the last 2 years, our net profit was 75%. Hope that clears that question up.
Urban Farmer Curtis Stone I
So it doesn't include salaries? How much working hours does it require to be running? Does it include your mortgage (if you have)? How much capital you had to invest on it to this day?
I've been thumbing through your videos for a day now, I'm in Casa Grande AZ (Pinal County between Tucson and Phoenix). Kudos on your very informative channel, I just got back from a trip to Mississippi where I was considering buying land for meat production but after seeing what you have going I'm considering staying here and starting out with micro greens (Maricopa County is a economic juggernaut filled with people who appreciate health food). I imagine my issues growing will be quite different but I am considering buying a 2 acre plot with a 1,200sqft home (80k) and nightly irrigation included in the taxes which are $800 USD a year. Winter production will be perfect here and that's when the snowbirds drive up the economy, I'm not sure how I will be able to deal with summer, it gets to 118f and might only drop down to 98f by 6am. Evaporation cooling works well here (I've seen humidity as low as 4%) and the solar potential is among the best so I might be able to refrigerate my green houses with solar panels, I was also thinking of using Earthship technology to build the green houses and geothermal cooling tubes, anyhow keep up the great work with your channel and business.
When you say "our net profit", does this mean you're splitting the 50% - 75% net revenue with a partner?? which would be around 25k- 37.5k in net profit.
How do you/what do you do to get rid of pests like squirrels that love to destroy crops?
What strikes me more than anything, as a fellow market gardener, is how efficient and thoughtful this is. He has figured things out, in terms of reducing work, maximizing yield while maintaining organic quality. Little things like his salad trimmer, washing systems, earth storage of greenhouse heat, which he readily shares here, along with the thinking that lies behind his techniques are a huge gift to the rest of us. In addition, he is providing a model of using urban land that is not currently in use for food production. Huge benefits from this depth of design. Because I live in Newfoundland, the challenges of climate for gardeners and growers are much more extreme than in Kelowna, BC. However, most of his techniques will work here, mainly by using greenhouses and row covers to start plants early and harvest them late. Thanks so much!
This is so fascinating how you make use of people's spare back yard space and everyone wins. Wish more neighborhoods were so enlightened and saw the value of this, rather than pointlessly competing to see who has the greener lawn.
So this is that video that's the most concise, and gives the overview of the operation, but hasn't taken that many views. Great stuff. The summer setup for microgreens the one I've been looking for.
This is the most inspiring urban farming video I've ever seen. Amazing and well done sir.
The notes on the side of the Fridge at 5:15 are fascinating. I think handling information about what's in the fridge is probably more important than the equipment itself! I'd be interested to know more about how you make sure you're always sending out the freshest produce.
Good luck with trying this in Nashville without getting subpoena to court. Just parking my work vehicle at nights in my driveway, simply because my tags were “commercial” I got a letter, then another, then I couldn’t park on my backyard, then I just bought land an hour away and I couldn’t be happier! We started with an acre, now we own almost 14 acres.
I have no interest in gardening. This is what covid has done. I’ve watched nearly everything on TH-cam at this point.
But, that’s a very cool business plan you have. Smart guy
Is the not backwards thinking though? Wouldn't you be interested in farming or at least gardening so you can supply yourself with food and not have to worry about the greed of others wiping grocery store shelves of food?
Jonathan Blackmon the tiny amount of vegetables I could grow on my property would be nothing more than a hobby, not a sustainable source of food.
For myself, and I would guesstimate about 90%of Americans, we do not have enough land or time to grow our own food. I would not consider this “backwards thinking”. It’s rational thinking.
@@youtubeisbroken241 it's possible friend. Anything is. Nah but all you need is a few pots with quality soil to get started. Growing 4 tomato plants will give you enough for one person for 6 months at least. It's easy plus you know you gotta eat right or else a bigger even deadlier virus will come for all of you. Or the planet will boil over and sea and fresh water will overrun all over the world bc of meat eating. 22,000 gallons of water it cost to make one hamburger. From the grain crop for the cow to the cows own waste. All of it destroys ecosystems and our atmosphere. Plus it warms the planet with methane gas from the cows which is 30x more heat trapping than CO2. So animal meat production makes more pollution than all transportation combined. I call it meat production bc that's all it is, and this is wayyyyy different and a whole lot more twisted and toxic than the ranches some of our grandparents or great grandparents had. So eating more greens when grown (tastier that way too) will uh kinda prevent those great deaths for our species. I've been growing vegetables since a little kid in the middle of the ghetto lol. Anyone can do it.
I feel you, my youtube recommendations has switched languages I've watched so much
Have you found the guy that drains the streets yet
Wow, the tip you shared at 2:30 was a game-changer! Thanks for breaking it down so clearly. Keep up the great work! 🌱
Regardless of your profit I have alot of respect in what you guys do! I am struggling trying to keep a couple of raised beds to grow veggies. Plus your doing organic. Your offering a valuable resource to the community with fresh organic produce. It looks like so much work and study. Great job!
Dang, you've got this system dialed! Super awesome to see how it all works- hopefully more people are inspired to do something similar.
Just heard you on red pilled America. I am a Canadian born in penticton and living in Edmonton. Just wanted to say hello and subscribed !
great info and great plans. in one of your videos you mentioned greens that were about $9 a pound and i knew right away you could not be in the usa. you are doing it right. We enjoy your information and process. wishing you continued success !
Nifty I have .68 acre this gives me hope and ideas for my simple homestead
Thumbs up Curtis. you are my role model and thAnk you for all your input. I have realised duplicating what you do I now srarted making progress and my sales getting better at the Market and my customer base is picking up everyday. thAnk yiu for sharing
+African Sisters Produce great to hear friend. Keep crushing it!
Very impressive video, the amount of thought and work that has clearly gone into all of this is amazing
This guy is fortunate to have good neighbors.
This is exactly what I’ve been looking for. I’m moving out of San Diego to North Carolina. I want to start a small homestead and small farm as a business. This was super helpful. You’re a true badass Curtis. 🤘🏻🌱🤘🏻
Check the land prices in helmet and valle vista. Less humidity ut decent climate.
Saw your post here a year ago. Did you move to NC? We moved from Northern California to North Carolina about 1-1/2 years ago and absolutely love it. The heat and humidity for farming can be a bit daunting however. Hope all is well.
This was a great overview of your operations. I've been overdosing on your videos for the last month or two. It can get to be a bit overwhelming. This one kind of resets things, slows it down and puts it back in a neat box. Now I can go back out and get my market garden fix again.
Check out Bright Agrotech, you might end up falling in love.
Just discovered your channel, and your farm is very impressive.. Back when I was still in the Landscape design game I used a Perennial Flower Nursery that was essentially like your urban farm. It was a half acre Nursery in the middle of a housing development. Mike the guy who owned it squeezed flowers and greenhouses into every inch of the property that wasn't his house, and made a great living doing it. He put four kids through college with that tiny nursery, and had so many varieties of perennials, it was one stop shopping for me.
Thank you for sharing. The soaker pipe appears to have a steadier coverage than what we prep. Regular plastic piping with equalateral spacing may have been superseded by soaker pipe.
Thanks for sharing
Peace
For me it's one of the most important approaches to farming in this decade. A must have reference on how to focus your own business in such a delicate part of economy. Cheers from Spain
Amazing use of space. I really like the set up. Everything so well planned out. Keep it up!
Thanks for detailing the arrangement with the neighbors: I was writhing in curiosity.
At a penny or two per square foot, he's ripping them off. Not to mention the loss of privacy and the noise.
@@cf453 Not necessarily. Having access to fresh veggies whenever is a pretty valuable service to many people and is a great hedge against a SHTF scenario. Furthermore, there is virtually no market for leasing out your backyard so obviously rent is going to be cheap.
@@CigEconomy I'm an anti-prepper. I believe in spending my energy to work on preventing the SHTF scenario. Everything else is a pathetic adolescent fantasy.
@@cf453 Fair enough, just pointing out that there are many people who want to be at least somewhat prepared in the event that something that bad does happen.
I decided to film my garden this year. Its just a traditional garden with lots of grass but most things did well. Im hoping to do much less weed filled garden next season. Yours is beautiful.
Wow it’s hell of a machine! Who would have thought a farm could be so small !
Just found you on TH-cam I'm 84and trying to container garden .have been around some kind of farming and gardening all my life
Hardworking farmer and hardworking video maker! Awesome piece of content. I get a lot of questions about my urban farm (which is based on your model and book), and I'll probably just start sending people here :)
You are making a difference in thousands of peoples lives. Keep up the good work!
+Microgreens Farmer thank you.
100k gross revenue, let's calculate the profit, two workers on min wage let's consider 15$ so after taxes it would be 18$,
32 weeksx 36$x40hr = 46k
20 weeks × 36$ × 20 hr=22k
Just the wages : 67k which is 67% not to mention other expenses, so how the hell net profit is 50% or more. I used to like your videos and Eve started to think about starting business. But now I doubt it.
Truly excellent video Curtis. Thank you. In my mind this is like your long elevator speech/video for urban farming. Read your book along with JM Fortier's The Market Gardener. I plan on starting small in my yard this spring. Best to you and your family
KILLING IT!! GREAT EXAMPLE OF WHAT CAN BE DONE
Especially in Kelowna with such a sharp season..
Except if you have any grasp on the concept of business. Who wants to make 25k a year each for full-time work.
Maybe if you just want to scrape by.
Like and subscribe to you Like and subscribe to me
Aren't solar panels also a direct target receiver and director for EMT?
Love this incredibly well done video and seeing how a good few of your neighbors have started gardens as well! Nice job!
Just picked up your Book, as well as started gathering the materials to get this started in a small town in Southern Ohio. Pretty pumped to get this started next season.!
Thanks for the information in these video's and the book.
Chad:
I just got back from visiting Curtis' farm in Kelowna after reading his book...Absolutely incredible. The concepts are simple and accessible which is what makes them AMAZING. If you can swing the time, you should go to his workshop in Tennessee in October. Especially since you said you're in southern Ohio-not far. :-) His workshops make the concepts in his book come alive. Best of luck!
Yeah I will look now about the workshop. Thanks for the heads up !
This is great Curtis has always inspired me right from his early beginnings. I’ve set my goals to make my allotment a production model. Then I’ll upscale on a different plot. It takes a big commitment in money to start up though.
Great work! Love love the setup! Are you grafting your tomatoes? Huge benefits.
.....continuing to watch: WOW!! You're amazing at this.
This backyard is so beautiful it brings tears to my eyes.
What is the plant hardiness zone in which these greenhouses are being constructed and used? How deep do the 5 inch footings go? Soil that has been growing weeds for 5 years or for millenia sometimes needs to be "broken in" with cropping for a year or two before it is actually productive for human-domesticated food crops.
This is awesome, I wish I could find someone who was that interested in this in the Fraser Valley who would convert some of my land into garden. Maybe I will find someone one day.
@Berserker von Sudetenland working on it. Old owners had a massive flower garden and blackberries I'm currently trying to get rid of
*Nice business strategy !*
It's a lot of work, but less investment, than in other businesses.
Great for the other urban farmers to copy.
Going to binge watch all your stuff! Cant wait to start this
Great work guys. Absolutely love watching this. I love gardening and this is something I would love to do where I live.
I’m actually really surprised the US gov. has not made this illegal...
cattleNhay (aka Eggman) why would they
Its Canada not us
Farming is the backbone of America, there is no way that can make something so American, illegal xD!
Ty Soro sure they do..depending on city/county codes and shit.
Many cities and towns have but not federally.
Great video, question do you stock grocers shelves and remove spoiled product. I deal mostly with restaurants and universities and sell very small amounts of greens for half the price you can get and am wanting to increase these sales, but with the over 100 restaurants they purchase too small amounts to make up much in production space. Really great and thorough video. Thanks and keep em coming.
Great video and this encourages me to do more planting on our 15 acre lot here in NC. #MakeMoneyOffTheLand
Are you worried about pollution from cars in the front yard ? What about pesticide being sprayed from the neighbors?
Really creative, smart & inspiring systems & ideas here. Glad I found your channel!
"This video is amazing! at 3:43 Your passion and dedication to sustainable agriculture shines through. Thank you for sharing such valuable content!"
Curtis I've watched a few of your videos and I want to say thank you for the information and the end depth look at starting a small scale grow operation. I was interested in taking your online course but I live in the states and wanted to know if the legalities are the same and the process of starting this kind of business. I grew up on a farm did just about everything as a kid growing up got into the family business managing properties and eventually went behind the wheel of a commercial truck which I continue to do as of now. Very excited to buy some property and of this year probably in northern part of Texas north of Dallas. Keep up the good work hope to get a reply when you get a chance thank you
The courses are all set up to accommodate Americans. So, you're covered.
My lettuce is grown so slow. Could lack of water cause that? It is dry here in Minnesota. Could use rain. Water it tonight. Most of it is 1 inch tall. How much do you think that will grow in the next week?
Just discovered this channel, amazing stuff you're doing. Well done Sir!
Yes sir, priceless information here. Curtis, can you tell us what is the tool you use for harvesting @ 15:39 ?
Thank you so much Curtis, I am about to start my adventure on our piece of land. My family owns a 65 acre piece of land here in Pennsylvania. With your videos and small farm information I am really excited to see what we can do.
I hope u find success man
I live on 7 acres in East Tn. and you can certainly do it here. Absolutely no Govt hassle.
WesB1972 I’m on 2 acres in East TN. and utilizing every inch i can.
I just bought your book via amazon, can't wait to get it!
My understanding is that the cultivated land itself is 1/4 acre between all locations. I'm curious, what is your property size for your "homebase" (and neighbors property) ? The land behind your house looks to be at least 3/4 acre not including your neighbors land.
By the way, I enjoy your videos and appreciate you sharing your knowledge with the world.
Amazing. I guess you had to get permits to do this. I saw somewhere it was said it’s against the law to grow food on your own property. Imagine? But congrats. You must be very proud of your accomplishment. Good luck to you.
Some places growing food is against some zoning of finance.
A lot of home owners association's ban it.
That's why you plant on your neighbor's property! That way it's not illegal
this is off topic, but do you have any idea where I can buy ginger from to grow. It is very difficult to find. Thank you
This was great! thank you for doing this! and I am absolutely buying your book :) Thank you so much for always being so open with all your processes and farm management strategies. It really is so incredible helpful!
Very neatly organized. Thanks for sharing.
Impressive ! If everyone would do that instead of growing lawn..
Yeah that’d be great for those who don’t have kids! But for people like me who have kids, we need a lawn! Lol! Although this is definitely giving me an idea for part of the lawn though! 😄
just a quick question. Im in Nc just getting started in understanding and buying some land. What kind of grocery stores do you approach or do you have videos on that. Im really interested in turning some land into farm area. thanks and subscribed
Every time he says “2 months of summer” I have to chuckle. I live in Texas we have like 6 months of summer.
only 6 months? Laughable. Here in Arizona summer goes 12 months a year
Skurrix but that’s with no humidity. Here we will have months that it’s 100 degrees or more with 100% humidity. If you walk into the shade in Arizona it gets cooler. That doesn’t happen here.
Laughs in south florida
No my friend 😂 in Texas we go from winter to summer... It’s really like 8 months of summer to be fair.
@@zachlankford6486 It also gets pretty damn cold in the desert at night.
It's obvious this was losing money or not making enough. That's why he has the course, the books, and the youtube channel to help break even or push the profits farther. 100k in gross revenue doesn't mean 100k in profit, when you subtract the water costs, labor, etc you are left with the money of a regular office job if you're lucky.
To bad there are no more office jobs or food in the shelves and the dollar is falling. If you are luck to have a job it's going to cost a days labor for a little wheat.
How much is your profit though ???? Please Curtis ive been dying to know this as the videos you have talked about this in you never specify and it leaves people to think thats how much you're making yourself a year , please and thank you from an aspiring beyond organic urban farmer , remember what you said , abundance thinking not scarcity thinking so im sure youll be happy to sure the knowledge , thanks for everything Curtis !
+Colloquial Gamer 50%
Urban Farmer Curtis Stone 150% is u mean. Like buying things and all for $100 and sell for $150
He means that his profit is 50% of his total revenue. So, 50% x $100k = $50k profit. However, from this profit, there are wages to pay, tools to replace etc etc so this model alone is not viable. It is why you see people who do this kind of enterprise always offering workshops and diversifying in other ways because the farm alone is simply not enough to live well on.
Its not worth the effort. It took him 5 years to get to a pount where he made a decent wage himself and then within 3 years after that he is out of it. He only does the farm as a way to market and promote his other ventures. I think it is giving people false hope to tell them that they can make a decent living on an urban farm such as this. But hey, a sucker born every minute.
@@rogerramjet1038 Profit = Revenue - cost that would include wages tools etc
This is great! You may already do this but do you wear gloves when packing produce? That may seem like a stupid question but at the moment there are a few scares with bad produce... so I think I am hyper aware of that kind of stuff.... I am sure your stuff is perfectly sanitary....
People always find reasons to be afraid and there will always be scares. Wear gloves or wash your hands when packing.
Imagine if every neighbor in the world was growing food. Hunger would be a thing of the past.
Not really. Marginal cost reduces with scaling. Industrial farming will always be more efficient, especially with vertical farms and even hydroponics starting to become commercial.
Isn't hunger an issue of naive 3rd world Government policies and not actual availability?
From an Optimist, there will always be people who will try to take your stuff instead of pull weeds.
chagew8966 your statement seems a tad naive and missed the point by 100 miles.
@@huttiz good point?
I know this is a long time ago but how would you suggest a new start up beginning?
$100k, less costs, divided by two (if both are owners) doesn't seem like enough to quit the dayjob. How do you survive on this?
100k $ with 50% profit, divided by 2 persons = 2083 $/month. In Europe you can have a good life with this amount of money, but I don't know about the life cost in Canada.
Romain Queutelot In England that's less than £2K mate, I don't know where you get your ideas from but you can live off eating peanuts for that money over here!
Your money is droping like crazy since Brexit, so every imported product become expansive...
That's the cost of liberty ;-)
Sussex Gardening ? I live in Guernsey which is more expensive than England and I know because I spent most of my life there, and I can live a great life on 2k a month.. You're obviously poor at financial management! 😂
post tax?
Thank you Curtis for this inspiring and informative video. I love farming and gardening since my childhood days. I'm from Africa and lived in Toronto, Canada since 2011. Now I'm in Oshawa which is a very good area for farming. I am very interested in starting small scale commercial farming, but I don't know how and where to start. The best way I learn is hands-on practical with some theory. So I believe working under a farmer at least one season will help. I am willing to work in your farm FREE or little stipend just to learn or anyone you can direct me to. Also, If you're charging to teach I'm interested. Please reach out to me. Thank you again.
Very inspiring. I hope more do this.
I’m so impressed by your inventive spirit! Well done! Thank you for sharing
This guy has a 6000 kilowatt heater! Cool...
Great Man!
I am now currently starting an urban farming in a 500 sqm lot instarted with My green leafy vegetables set up and with some bin To produce vermicast.
Any chance you would disclose what % of your sales are microgreens (ball park).
Also, do you have how many total hours between all employees? Feels like it would be conservatively 3,500-4,500+ hours even with the months off.
And for the record, you deserve to be making $100k net a year off this channel.
+Drew S microgreens might be a fifth of our total sales. Thank you.
In our town it seems hard to get people to be interested in lettuce. I have done 4 farmers market now and each time I can only sell a few bags of lettuce. The ones that do buy it are really excited but most are not interested. I have it set at $3/bag about a half pound. I really hoping I could get this to change. The other guys doing produce don't even have lettuce either.
Thanks for all your information and time you put into these videos!
Hey i recently secured an acre plus plot in Richmond BC I have 2months off starting end of april and would like to be in grees production by mid may. cheers! creat vids..
Also since you have the paperpot trans. do you even use the seeder anymore?
Yes of course.
I’m in Richmond too
SKRIBBLESHEET what are you growing?
SKRIBBLESHEET mate I’m in ladner. Did yall set up? How’s the farm?
@ SKRIBBLESHEET how is things working for ya? Still on same time frame? Hope so
All looks super, except the plastic bags are something I'm sure you can ditch.
It's a good idea to use gloves when bagging the produce for distribution.
Good idea putting subtitles in Spanish, really good idea, and took some courage, again thank you.
How do you get away with having a full on farm (especially in the front yard right next to the street). I have a 10 acre farm, but it is in farmland zoned area. We had to go through all sorts of hoops to be able to farm. What do you use for water? Where we are you cant just use well water. What do you plan on doing if you are getting a visit from code enforcement? Do your neighbors get pissed that they bought a home in a residential area and you put up a farm next door? Why not get like 5 acres in the country for the same money as the tiny property you have. Then you can use your skills to make way more.
Our zoning permits urban farming here.
Thats cool. I figure you must be in a suburban or maybe a rural area with a neighborhood. When I think urban I think city, and I dont know any city in the states that would permit this kind of farming, im sure it is different in Canada. I could totally see why someone would want to live in a city and also farm in their yard, as that would be a pretty cool thing to do. From the drone shots it looks like where you are is pretty rural/suburban. How far from a major city are you? If you are living 2 miles outside of toronto or something like that and you have an urban farm that would be cool because you would have access to all the city offers, and also a farm. But if you are far from the city and are farming in a suburb I dont see why you wouldnt just move a little further out and get a big farm for the same money. To each his own, im just all about maximizing efficiency and there is a reason why smart money isnt buying up residential property to do small sized farming- although it is interesting to watch a TH-cam video of to see someone just so blatantly put a middle finger up to his whole neighborhood. At least, in America, that is what this would be considered.
We are technically in an urban area according to the city planning departments. There is urban, suburban, peri-urban and rural. By our cities definitions, we are urban. However, we're in a city with 180,000 people, not a city with a million.
Well regardless what u r doing is cool keep it up
Matthew Wolf, You guys make me so happy that I'm buying in an unzoned area. Actually, no zoning what-so-ever. So freaking cool.
The Best video I have watched on urban farming and such a wealth of knowledge you have shared which have made your venture so lucrative. Thanks a ton
So you want 25 lbs per 50 ft plot. 63 plots. 4 harvests a year. That is 6300 lbs of produce. So you sell produce at 15 bucks a pound to make 100k?
You are supplying 5 grocery stores with a full shelf of fresh lettuce every two weeks off of sixty three 50 ft plots? The simple fact of this is that you cheat. You buy wholesale and repackage. I am not hating, in fact I applaud your acumen. I just think that you should represent yourself as someone who has figured out how to brand yourself and sell products at a premium. The idea of making a profitable living from growing on a quarter acre is laughable. As someone with experience in the modern farming era there is simply no way to sell at a price point that turns a profit with so little volume.
I recently sold my farm and thought if he can make $75,000 on 1/4 acre why bother farming hundreds of acres? LOL The pricing makes no sense. How can a store buy produce for $15/pound then sell a 12 oz (3/4 lb) bag for $3.99???? They'd be losing $8 on each bag! Note, he is also a "consultant"' and has a website hawking books, clothes, mugs and tickets for seminars. (It says he has 1/3 acre - $75,000 vs 1/4 acre - $100,000.)
+smb12321 , next time its 1/5 acre - $125.000 , because ... math ... oh wait ;)
smb12321 So, in a nut shell: because you arent making money farming hundreds of acres conventionally; he cant be making money farming intensively?? Curtis isn't the only one doing this.
Wearepricester Your experience is why you can't understand it. You are married to your crap ideas.
Ron - I never said a thing about not making money. I made great money (precisely because I had a corporate farm and tripled my price when I sold). I was simply pointing out that if he sold greens at $15 pound and Publix sells them for $3.99 pound something is rotten in Denmark. Virtually all these "1/2 acre - millionaire" are specialty farms for high-end restaurants. You never see any that grow tomatoes or potatoes or corn or beans. It's always greens and micro veggies which makes sense considering the size.
How do you determinate how much produce to give each home owner for using their land ?
2 fulltimers for $100,000 'Gross' sales.
What's left after expenses and tax... naah, better stick to my job.
But thanks for sharing.
This has me curious, since you've already made a decision you've obviously taken the time to double the check in numbers in terms of yield/unit production cost/unit sale price/types of crops/grow cycles to maximize growth time etc...? If so please share and let me know you decided the numbers just didn't quite add up. If you did the research that is.
Raj Singh he did an interview with some guy he said now he doesn’t really farm anymore he just creates content like TH-cam and such. He has a full time employee and another that’s full time half the year the profit from the farm pays them. He mainly makes money social media and classes. The income from the farm pays the two employees.
Is Dibrom approved for organic farms? Just wondering because they spray us with it for mosquitoes multiple times a month here in Florida. Dibrom aka "Naled" breaks down into a carcinogen called dichlorovus that's pretty nasty stuff.
Also, are you using municipal water and if so, how do you filter the heavy metals, chlorine and other contaminants?
You're a smart man. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.
I'm sure many have asked and it is already answered BUT what is your preferred label maker?
Never though I would say this. Thank God for my HOA. I was ok until u showed that the front yard was being used.
So much better than cars or other assorted junk.
That set up is genius
I was wondering how you make $100k on one quarte acrer than you mentioned "organic" now it makes sense. $100k will get you about 5 lettuce at the shops lol jks. Good job.
Great work guys be blessed and keep working for green future. But I am surprised to see some people disliked the idea and I don't know why...but anyway keep up the good work.
Ok $100k is the gross revenue, what's the profit?
The labor would have to be practically minimum wage. At $10 an HR, cost to business around $15 an hour after taxes, workers comp, etc.
32weeks x 80 hrs per wk x $30 per hr (two workers) = $76,800
20 weeks x 40hrs per wk x $30 per hr = $24,000
$76,800+$24,000 = $100,800 a year.
well, if its him and another guy, its 50k each, less annual inspections, licenses, and permits to operate a farm, less income tax, less property tax, less medical insurance less material (seeds, plastic bags, labels, toner, gas for the truck) and equipment expenses. they are probably an LLC and deduct all expenses and depreciate the equipment. not sure its worth working 12 hours a day every single day for this meager wage.
@@BobRooney290 plus stress of just keeping up w/seasons mucho trabajo!
The profit is $0 hence why he has books he's selling and youtube videos. He might have made some profit early on. As you scale up your costs also go up, you need more workers, more stores to deliver to etc.
Skyrunner Lawn And Service LLC if they are each working 80 hours a week then you would also have to do overtime. I assume you meant to not double the hours so it would actually be half what you calculated. Still doesn’t explain his capital costs. Lots of seed costs etc.
Amigo, saludos desde Medellin Colombia, muy bueno tu trabajo estamos en la misma linea me suscribi al canal eres un Heroe Urbano, excelente y magistral video.Gracias por subtitularlo al español.
This is so amazing.
Came here via wranglerstar video. Very interesting. Will be watching more. 👍👏
Half of that equipment doesn't seem to be food grade.
@Camden Maddox non food grade plastics expose you to chemical release agents and many other toxins.
Really awesome to be able to do that!
100k off a quarter acre? I'm highly skeptical. I want to see your tax return, and distributors list. Where the hell can you offload such a small amount for so much? I own a 400 acre farm and pulling in 100k a quarter acre would be unimaginable. Edit: Ah, you're working three quarters of the year, and it's 'gross' profit. This makes sense. Running a larger farm you work maybe a month of the year. Maybe two days a week tops. And your gross profit offsets the use of heavy equipment too. Where yours doesn't.
Be skeptical!
How do you only work 1 month a year, 2 days a week? When I helped grow burley as a kid I was in the field from dusk till dawn for just about 2 solid months.
most likley he grows grain, way easier and lower return per acre than tobacco and vegetables. You till (or use a burn down), plant, cultivate (or spray) 1-2 times in the summer, and harvest. we seriiously spent more time maintaining equipment and getting supplies ready than we did actual field work. I grew up working a grain and cattle operation, but fruit and produce were always what i wanted to do.
Really interesting, from a consumer not farmer, I care where my food comes from
ahhh yehh my man curtis is all about da benjamins!
He hustles hard!
Hustling residents!! Selling a uncertain dream!!
Bravo, Curtis. This is service work