The Urban Farmer

There are twen­ty 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.

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.