Business Plan
Module 1 – Getting Started with the Course
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Unit 1. Welcome to the Course
No Notes
Unit 2. Setting up Disqus
No Video
Unit 3. Introduce Yourself
No Video
Unit 4. Accountability Partners
No Video
Unit 5. Quick Start Guide
No Video
Module 2 – Your Customers
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Unit 1 – Intro to Your Customers
There are Four Types of Potential Customers:
- Restaurants
- Farmer’s Markets
- Distributors
- CSA’s
- Not recommended to market to this group for the first year
Restaurants
- Curtis’ primary customers
- Purchase a large amount of product
- Consistent orders of consistent products
- Valuable customer
- High volume
- Typical orders $300-$1000/week
Farmer’s Markets
- Best place to start
- May have a waiting list to get a spot
- Sell what you have available for harvest
- Don’t have to have consistent product week to week
- Restaurants and Distributors require consistent product availability week to week
- Ability to meet people and prospective customers
- Simple
- Just show up and sell what you have available that week
Wholesale Distributors
- Need consistency and volume of product
- Higher volume than restaurants
- Organic Delivery Services
- New distribution system
- Like a CSA
- Source products from multiple locations/farmers
- Assemble a box of products
- Deliver the boxes to customer’s homes
- Offer more products than a traditional CSA
- You must have reasonable volume
- Your prices must be low enough for the service to make money
- Need to have at least 50 units of a product available for sale
- 100 units is better
- Not advised to market to this customer group for the first year
- A method to get rid of excess product
- They will only buy a subset of all of your offered products
CSA
- Not crucial to an urban farm
- There is not enough variety of product grown on a small, urban farm to support a CSA.
- You can’t make $100,000/ 1/2 acre by selling to CSA’s
- Other possibilities
- Work with other growers to do a collaborative CSA
- Contribute to someone else’s CSA
- Act as a broker
- Buy product from other growers
- Lower margins on products from other growers
- CSA’s force you to grow crops that:
- Have low profit margins
- Take up a large amount of space
- Don’t meet the criteria for profitable, small space, urban farming
Unit 2 – Restaurants
Characteristics of good, prospective restaurants
- Owner Operated
- Typically small
- Only a couple of staff
- Change the menu all the time
- Daily sometimes
- Field to Fork
- Want to work with local farmers
- Are flexible
- Don’t require consistent product weekly
- Be open about being new to farming
Poor Prospective Restaurant Customers
- Franchises
- Large, well known in the area
- Hotels
- Resorts
- Wineries
Build a customer base of several small restaurants
Target orders sizes of $100-$250 / week
- Average $200/week in peak season
- Typical order
- 10 lb. greens
- 30 bunches of radishes
- 2 lb. of sunflower shoots
- 10 lb. box of tomatoes
Try to establish consistent sales throughout the season
- Eases cash flow
Chefs make the buying decisions
Who do you deal with:
- Small Restaurants
- Executive Chef
- Owner/Operator
- Will make volume purchases
- Larger orders than at a Farmers’ Market
- Chef du Cuisine
- Sous Chef/Executive Sous Chef
- Large kitchen
- Executive Chef is not involved with food preparation or production
- Chef du Cuisine
- Sous Chef/Executive Sous Chef
Establish and maintain good relations with Chefs
The customer is always right, bend over backwards to make things right.
- If there is a problem:
- Reimburse for the product
- Give them something extra
- Mistakes can be expensive
Chefs climb the ranks and move to different restaurants
What do Chefs look for:
- Taste
- Texture
- Appearance
- How does it plate
- Your story and your farm’s story
- Delivered by bicycle
- Grown within x number of miles/block
- It is the hook of a song
- Must be sincere
- Corp Exec. Turned farmer
- e.g. I combined my love of cycling, cooking, gardening and the local food movement
- The price has to be fair
Minimalism is very important in high end restaurants
- The product, when plated, looks like it did when it came out of the field
- What is important
- Size
- Shape
- Color
- Baby root veggies
- Require less preparation
- Can be served as is
Chef, give me your feedback and I will grow to your desires
- Modify characteristics of products already grown, not additional varieties unless demand dictates it
Beets are hard to keep consistent size
Carrots shouldn’t have a core in many cases
Unit 3 – Farmer’s Market
Primary sales outlet for season 1
Easiest way to get started
Who are the customers at the Farmer’s Market:
- Diverse group of shoppers
- 25-55 years or age
- Health conscious
- Fit
- Primarily women
- Not college students
- Young families
- With children
- Do it for their children’s health
What do the shoppers value
- More than just the produce
- The “experience”
- Good products
- Reasonable prices
- Customer service
- Personal service
- Customers want to be engaged
- Education on how to use the product
- A connection to the grower
- Understanding where there food comes from
- Have their names remembered
- Write down people’s names
- Mark down physical characteristics to help you remember people’s names
- Google Dale Carnegie’s 6 Tips to Remember Names
- Note what they like to buy
- Write down people’s names
Farmer’s Markets will help you find land.
- Your customers become a real estate sourcing network
There will be a learning curve at the beginning.
- You need to develop efficient systems
Customers talk to other potential customers.
About 20% of income comes from the Farmer’s Market once you are established
Get to know the other farmers and trade products
Farmer’s Markets are physically exhausting.
Finding your place in the market can be difficult at the beginning
Some growers will walk around and compare prices and then adjust prices to the competition.
- Curtis does not do this
Figure out what you are good at and capitalize on it.
Unit 4 – Wholesale Accounts
Should not be targeted in the first year of growing
Wholesale Accounts are Primarily:
- Grocery Stores
- Look for smaller chains
- Margins are very low
- Some products won’t work due to these margins
- May have to individually package large quantities of product
- Micro-greens are a good product to sell to them
- Faster and easier to package
- Margins are higher
- Only benefit is that they can move a lot of product
- Last resort as a sales channel
- Keep track of Whole Foods prices
- Compare to yours
- Distributors
- Deal in volume
- May be able to bag the produce themselves
- Reduces your labor cost
- Look for distributors who sell to high end markets
- Will pay less for your products than other customer segments
- Some want such a cost break that you can’t afford to deal with them
- Know your costs to produce your products
- Break even point
- Minimum margin with overhead and capital expenses
These customers buy based on
- Price
- Most important factor
- Quality
Unit 5 – CSA’s
Not recommended as a sales channel for the first year
Not economical when farming on a small space
- A small acre farm can’t produce enough variety
- A lot of work managing
- Packaging boxes
- Delivering
- Risky
- Products must be consistent
- Must be what was promised
- To work the farm should be at least 1/2 acre
You can collaborate with other growers
- Provides variety of product, but at a lower margin
- The box must be at least 1/2 of your products to be profitable
- Margin on products from other growers is only 25-35 percent
- Requires a lot of management and labor
- Don’t try for the first couple of years growing
- Makes sense when you don’t have access to a lot of restaurants
- Need a minimum of 60 CSA customers at $20/box for this to be profitable
Module 3 – Your Products
Click here to view or download the Video Notes for the Module
Unit 1 – Intro to Your Products
Crops = Products = Product = Items
Five (5) Crop/Product Categories:
- Greens
- Most highly valued crop
- Can sell hundreds of pounds per week
- Long growing season
- 8 months
- Lettuce
- Arugula
- Mustards
- Mixes
- Salad
- Spicy
- Braising
- Backbone of the urban farm
- Responsible for the largest share of revenue
- Root Crops
- Beets
- Radishes
- Turnips
- Carrots
- Different varieties and colors of each
- Very popular crops
- Especially with restaurants
- Beets and carrots growing times are longer
- Less turnover of beds
- Radishes and turnips
- 21-28 day growing cycle
- Could potentially grow more of these than greens if you have the market for them
- Sells very few at the Farmers’ Market
- Sales are mainly to restaurants
- All root crops are grown to “Baby” size
- Shorter days to maturity
- Command a higher price when this size
- This is the size that restaurants want
- Coreless carrots
- Radishes and turnips grown to ping-pong ball size
- Summer Crops
- Primarily tomatoes
- Grown in greenhouses
- Categories of tomatoes grown
- Cherry
- Saladette
- Plum-sized
- Roma
- San Marzano
- Saucing or canning
- Heirloom
- Oxhearts
- Pattypan squashes
- Picked small
- Command a much higher price
- Peppers
- Eggplants
- Primarily tomatoes
- Herbs
- Smallest amount of crops grown
- Basil
- Available to sell mid to late May
- Parsley
- Cilantro
- Spring and fall
- Bolts quickly
- Micro-greens
- Command a very high selling price
- Only need 400 sq. ft.
- Can be grown in:
- Greenhouse
- In your house
- Garage
- Basement
- Workshop
- Production scales easily
- Turnover of crop is 10-14 days
- A specialty crop
- Less market demand
- Not common
- Expensive
- Require a lot of seed
- Are high risk
Unit 2 – Greens
Spring Mix
- Largest volume of crops
- Sells to both the market and to chefs
- Variety of ingredients in the mix
- Convenient to grow
- Ingredient ratio can vary
- Flexible
- Varies by what is available to harvest
- Mix Ratios
- Restaurant Mix
- Bolder flavor
- Lots of color
- Varied shapes and texture
- 50% Lettuce
- Red
- Green
- 50%
- Arugula
- Mustards
- Beet greens
- Miznua
- At times
- Red Russian Kale
- At times
- For the Farmers’ Market
- Makes a less spicy mix
- Mainly lettuce
- Mizuna
- Beet Greens
- Restaurant Mix
- Chefs like it because it is already mixed
- High-end restaurants don’t like it
- It’s too easy to make a salad with a mix to justify a high-end restaurant price
- Number 1 product at the Farmers’ Market
- One of the earliest crops available at the market
Salanova Lettuce
- From Johnny’s Seeds
- Only supplier in the US and Canada
- Expensive seed
- Hybrid
- When it gets bigger the leaves don’t get bigger
- People don’t want large leaves
- Rather than the leaves getting bigger as the head grows, it grows more leaves
- Harvest with a knife
- A new head will grow back
- Sometimes in the summer sold standalone
Mustard Greens
- Red Giant Mustard
- Bolts quickly
- 2-3 cuts per planting in spring and fall
- 1 cut in the summer
- Arugula is the same
- Why added it to the salad mix:
- Adds Color
- Adds Flavor
- Spicy
Beet Greens
- Great summer green
- Planted mid-May
- Direct seeded
- Red Wonder Beet
- Green and red stem
- Bull’s Blood Beet
- Darker red stem
- Planted like a green
- Will not form beet roots
- Get many, many cuts/planting
- Up to 10
- Have to keep on them
- Plant shorter beds
- Harvest the whole bed at once
- Harvest when around 3″
Mizuna
- Doesn’t grow in the summer
- Low yielding crop
- Hard to keep clean with multiple cuts per planting
- Best way to harvest is to cut by hand
- Time consuming
- Inefficient
- Best way to harvest is to cut by hand
- Curtis is growing less and less of it
- Grown for its shape
- Interesting looking green
- Is never sold standalone
- Could be cut from the mix
- It is a hassle to grow
- Curtis does not recommend growing this
Spicy mix
- The mix consists of whatever is ready in the fields
- May change week to week
- Typical components:
- Muziuna
- Mustard
- Arugula
- Non-lettuce based mix
- Large demand for it
- Only sold at Farmers’ Market
- Flavor is important
- Some color
- Some different textures
- All of the greens are grown separately
- This is more efficient and less wasteful
- The components have different days to maturity
- This is more efficient and less wasteful
Arugula
- Sells a lot of it both in mix and standalone
- Sold for flavor
- Planted every week
- Yields only 1 cut per planting in the summer
- Sold standalone
- Restaurants
- 10-20 pounds / week
- Farmers’ Markets
- 80 – 1/4 lbs. bags/ week
- Restaurants
Scarlet Frills Mustard
- Very low yielding
- Plants 1 bed every 2-3 weeks in the spring
- 1 bed or short beds in the summer
- Adds beautiful
- Color
- Flavor
- Texture
- All for its dynamic presentation
Bok Choy
- Grown only in the spring
- Could grow longer
- Transplanted
- 400 plugs every couple of weeks
- Harvested and sold as heads
- Quick growing
- Popular in both restaurants and the market
- Chefs would buy it all season long if possible
Do not mix greens seeds and plant them for a mix
Lettuce types:
- Lettuce is normally sold as part of a mix
- Red Salad Bowl
- Green Salad Bowl
- Red Sails
Mustards:
- Grow fast
- Grow one bed at a time
- Harvest whole bed at a time
- Low yields
Kale
- Varieties grown:
- Red Russian
- Quick growing
- Many cuts / planting
- Over 10
- Seeded densely
- Make sure that the bed is totally weed free before planting
- Very popular
- Sold to chefs as a baby crop
- Like the jagged shape
- Colors
- Holds dressing well
- Very robust
- 1″ of stem at most
- Not as much demand at the market
- Winterbore
- Darkbore
- Red Russian
- Hard to get seed
- Extremely popular veggie right now
- Hand picked, not cut
- Steady crop
- Primarily grown in Bi-rotational plots
- Sold in 1/2 lb. bunches
- Done by the end of July
- High aphid pressure at that time of the year
- Replaced by a fall crop
- Mainly sold a markets
Spinach
- Grows a lot of it
- Varieties grown:
- Broad leaf variety
- Baby variety
- Huge harvests
- Best as an overwintered crop due to Curtis’ climate
- Planted during the first week of Oct.
- Starts to harvest mid-March
- Bolts when the soil gets hot
- Doesn’t germinate or yield well in hot soil
- Sold to chefs in the early spring
- Diverse, many uses
- Sold consistently at the market
- Getting consistent leaf sizes is difficult
- It is never added to a mix
Chard
- Steady crop
- Grown in a Bi-rotational bed
- Grown and harvested just like kale
- Bunched and sold by the bunch
- Bright Lights is the main variety
- Curtis doesn’t grow a lot
- Not very popular
- Sold to chefs a and at the market
- 10 lbs. to restaurants
- 20 bunches at market
- Only plants one bed for the season
- High yielding
- Grows back quickly
Tatsoi
- Early Asian green
- Goes into Salad Mixes
- Never sold standalone
- First direct seeded green of the season
- Seeded in greenhouses the first week of Feb.
- Called Asian spinach
- Robust
- Lots of flavor
- High yield
- 1 cut may be 30 pounds
- Planted like Arugula
- Thick, same texture as Bok Choy
- Easy to harvest
- Starts to bolt in mid-May
- Let it fully bolt and harvest stems
- Leave it in the field for an extra week after it starts to bolt
- Market the stems as Flowering Bok Choy
- High-end restaurants love it
- Not a big marker for the stems
Braising Mix
- Spicy Mix
- Tatsoi
- Red Russian Kale
- Only sold in the early spring
Unit 3 – Herbs
Cilantro
- Variety called Calypso
- Direct seeded crop
- Harvested and bunched in the field
- Selling price $2/bunch
- Sold to both restaurants and customers at the market
- Planted in half beds
- 1/2 bed cilantro, 1/2 bed parsley
- Harvest for 3 weeks in a row
- Plant succession planting 1 1/2 -2 weeks after the preceding one
- Curtis does not sell a lot of herbs
- Doesn’t need to be dried
- Displays the bunches wet at the market
- Helps it keep longer
- Displays the bunches wet at the market
- Does not like high temperatures
- Need to tighten successions in warm weather
Parsley
- Treated like Cilantro for
- Planting
- Harvesting
- Bunching
- Will not bolt like Cilantro
- Established beds can be covered with a poly-tunnel in the fall to extend the season
- Versatile
- Chefs love it
- Consistent demand all season
Basil
- Takes a lot more work than Cilantro or Parsley
- Must be careful with
- Cold temperatures
- Moisture
- Rather finicky
- Prices fluctuate greatly
- Once other growers have it the price drops
- Try to get it to market early, before everyone else
- Mid-May
- Sell for $16/lb.
- Prices are low in the fall
- Sells better at the market
- Is a commodity in the restaurants
- Not worth selling if it is less than $8.00/lb.
- Sweet Basil is the best variety
- Pick the tops
- Will create fuller plants
- Do not separate into individual leaves
- Do not pick when wet
- It will turn black and rot
- Keep the Basil covered in a greenhouse or low poly-tunnel to keep it dry for harvesting
- Picking it will keep it from bolting
- It is possible to sell the flower buds in some instances
Dill
- Grow as Baby Dill
- Called Fernleaf Dill
- Expensive seed
- Needs to seeded densely
- Sold in 2oz. Bunches
- Plant in a 10 or 12 foot bed
- Very profitable crop
- High-end restaurant product
- Demand at market is only in the fall for canning season
- High aphid pressure plant
- No effective method of controlling
- Good demand from chefs
Unit 4 – Root Crops
Turnips
- Hakurei
- Also called Tokyo Turnips
- Grow quickly
- Grow much like a Radish
- Date to maturity is only 10 days longer than a Radish
- Can grow a lot in a small space
- Chefs love them because
- Of their very sweet taste
- The greens are edible
- The whole plant is edible
- Present well
- Minimal prep
- Presented with a little bit of the stem left on them
- Not as popular at the Farmers’ Market
- Because of the small size, people think that they are Radishes
- The largest size grown is golf ball sized
- Mainly grown to just smaller than a ping-pong ball size
- Some Chefs will take them of any size
- Also grows Scarlet Queens at the request of some Chefs
- Harder to grow
- Taste the same as the white ones
- More prone to pest problems
- Not as popular as the white turnips
Radishes
- Three (3) Varieties:
- French Breakfast
- One of the first crops of the season
- Germinate fast
- Grow fast
- Get woody and hollow if left in the ground too long
- The harvest window is short
- 3-4 days in the summer
- Longer in the spring due to cooler temperatures
- The harvest window is short
- Chefs love them
- Funky
- Colorful
- Unique
- Mild in flavor
- Easter Egg
- Most grown variety at Curtis’ farm
- Colorful
- Dynamic
- Funky
- White Icicle
- Does not grow as many of these
- Grown for specific Chefs
- 1 bed every two weeks
- Not as much demand for these
- Unique
- There are some challenges to growing these
- Sometimes they grow crooked
- Will grow very large
- Greens will break off
- Very watery
- Does not grow as many of these
- French Breakfast
- These are uncommon varieties
- Not seen in grocery stores
- Sells hardly any at the market
- 10 bunches
- Sells 400 bunches/week to restaurants
- Versatile
- Slice very thin
- Shredded
- Sushi
- Braised
- Roasted
- Available most anytime during the year
Beets
- Golf ball sized for restaurants
- Work better direct seeded than transplanted
- Thin harvests them
- Harvest the perfect size
- Go back and harvest when the next batch is the proper size
- Repeat
- May harvest 1 bed for up to 3 weeks
- Beet varieties
- Golden
- Very popular
- Don’t bleed their color
- Much like the Red Beets
- Red
- Very popular
- Good for cooking
- Color bleeds
- A salad will turn red from the color running
- White
- Least popular
- Candy Stripe
- Popular
- Golden
- Likes growing them
- Always sells out
- Can’t grow enough
- Chefs love them
- Popular at the market in the early season
- Stops taking them to market in June
- Too much competition in the summer
- Demand is high throughout the season from restaurants
Carrots
- Popular crop
- Can’t grow enough of them
- Longer growing season
- 75-80 days
- Can’t be transplanted
- Varieties grown:
- Rainbow
- Mokum
- Nelson
- Purple Haze
- Atomic Red
- If only growing one variety, grow Mokum
- If growing two varieties, Mokum and Rainbow
- Different carrots can not be planted together due to different times to maturity
- Restaurants want coreless carrots
- Medium to small carrots
- High-end restaurants like micro-carrots
- Plants in 12 1/2 foot beds
- Very profitable product
- Often used for a special event
- Wedding
- Charity event
- Sweet 16 party
- Etc.
- Plant every month
- Plant enough to last 3-4 weeks
- Carrots are more forgiving than Radishes when it comes to harvesting
- Farmers’ Markets like carrots too
- Don’t thin carrots
Scallions
- Not a large part of Curtis’ operation
- Grows Kincho variety
- Consistent
- Purchase from West Cost Seeds
- Red Baron
- Purple
- Funky
- Doesn’t grow this variety any more
- Good variety though
- Sells majority of crop to restaurants
- 10 – 20 bunches to the market
- 4oz. Bunch
- Direct seed
- 7 rows/ 30″ bed
- 1 bed/month
- Takes a lot of processing work
- Soak
- Trim roots
- Peel
- Sold by the pound to Chefs
- Pencil sized
- Roots removed
Grow things that you can’t find in a grocery store for Chefs
Chefs usually want some amount of greens left on root vegetables
Unit 5 – Summer Crops
Summer Crop – any crop that is a transplanted, fruiting crop
- Fruits many times during the season
- All are considered “steady” crops
Patty Pan Squash
- Summer squash
- Like a Zucchini
- Varieties
- Sunburst
- Yellow
- Peter Pan
- Light green
- Sunburst
- Grown to the size a ping-pong ball
- Will fruit more consistently when picked
- Commands a higher price at this size
- By July must be picked every day or at least every other day
- Fruit grow very quickly
- Grow close to home for this reason
- Curtis had his in his front yard
- Sliced in half or served whole
- Does not sell them at the market
- Chefs prefer the small sized squashes
- Larger sized can be cut up and pickled
- Sort the squash by size when harvesting
- Grow equal amounts of yellow and green
Zucchini
- Grown to small size for restaurants
- Larger go to the market
- Raven variety
- Sometimes grows yellow varieties
- Golden Glory
- Much like Patty Pan Squash
Cherry Tomatoes
- Largest percentage of tomatoes grown on Curtis’ farm
- Steady crop
- Have the longest season of the tomatoes
- Go into the ground in mid-May
- Start producing in late June
- Varieties
- Sungolds
- One of the top sellers
- Not a Hybrid
- Don’t produce as prolifically as Sakura
- Great taste
- Taste deteriorates towards the end of the season
- Sakura
- Most prolific
- Somewhat large
- Good taste, consistent
- Sweet Baby Girl
- New for this year
- Combines good traits of the two varieties above
- Sungolds
- Everyone loves Cherry Tomatoes
- 10oz. Basket for the market
- Majority are sold to restaurants
- Characteristics to look for in new varieties of Cherry Tomatoes
- Production
- Taste
- Looks
Slicer Tomatoes
- Generic looking tomato
- Hybrid slicers produce prolifically
- Mountain Magic variety
- Huge producer
- Good flavor
- High demand
- Sold almost exclusively to Chefs
Heirloom Tomatoes
- May be a saturated market in your area
- Look for other avenues
- Oxhearts
- Is a type of tomato not a variety
- Comes in different colors
- Indeterminate plants
- Incredible production
- 30 lbs. / plant in some cases
- The taste is incredible
- Good slicer
- Good sauce tomato
- Is a type of tomato not a variety
Saucing tomato
- San Marzano
- Good for canning
- Salsa
- Meaty, thick
- Store well
- Don’t bruise easily
- Like a Roma
- More prolific than Romas
- More demand than for Romas
- Need warm temperatures
- Do well at both markets and in restaurants
- 50 lbs. at a market
- 12 or 14 oz. packages
Grow all your tomatoes in greenhouses
- Extends the season by 3 weeks
Gets tomatoes to market 2 weeks earlier
Determinate tomatoes set fruit and ripen all at once.
- Bush like plants
Indeterminate continue to grow and set fruit throughout the season.
- Vining varieties
Peppers
- Very minor part of the business
- Grows for himself and 1 or 2 Chefs
- Varieties
- Ace
- Purple Islander
- 10 plants
- Inter-planted in greenhouses with tomatoes
- Low value crop
- On occasion will grow jalapenos for market
- Used to put on the market table for marketing
- Increases the look of abundance and variety
- The days to maturity is too long for peppers.
*** Look for niches that you can exploit with your products
- In most cases, move opposite of the herd
Unit 6 – Microgreens
Microgreens – Seeds grown until they have very small true leaves
How do microgreens affect the farm:
- Critical part of the system
- Bridge out the shoulder seasons
- Would start the season with much less income without them
- Help stabilize cash flow
- Smooths out average weekly income in the spring and fall
Sunflower Shoots
- Most popular of the microgreens
- Popular with
- Fit, healthy people
- Juicers
- Wheatgrass shooters
- Highest yielding microgreen
- 2 lbs. / 10″x20″ flat @ $15.00 = $30.00 / flat
- Versatile
- Use to beef up your Salad Mix
- Use during the winter when lettuce production is down
- Market customers like this
- Most Chefs are familiar with microgreens
- Average order is 1-2 pounds
- Packaged in big bags
- For Farmers’ Market
- Compostable clamshells
- 6oz. Bags
- Will stay viable for 2 weeks if kept dry
Pea Shoots
- Easiest to grow
- Like wheatgrass
- Not a true microgreen
- Don’t have fungus issues like Sunflower Shoots
- Seed is the least expensive
- Yield is lower than Sunflower
- Just under 1lb. / tray
- Just as popular as Sunflower Shoots
- Very forgiving crop to grow
- Can be grown in unheated greenhouses
- Will stay viable for up to 2 weeks
Radish Shoots
- China Rose variety
- Mostly used by chefs
- Spicy
- Sells 10 – 2oz. bag at the Farmers’ Market on occasion
- Sells 10-20 pounds to Chefs
- Yield over 1 lb. / tray
- Market customers need to educated on
- What they are
- How to use them
- Shortest shelf life
- Last around 5 days
- Harvest timing is critical
Very lucrative if you have the market for them.
Low input cost
High risk crop
Date to maturity is very short
Production scales quickly
Gateway crop to bigger things
For a $1000 investment, you can get started
- Cash flow within a month
- Use the cash to expand your business
Grown to the market demand, not for growth itself
Module 4 – The Weekly Sales Plan
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Unit 1 – How Much Do You Want to Earn?
No Video
Unit 2 Â – What Products Will You Sell?
No Video
Unit 3 – Who Will Buy Your Produce?
No Video
Unit 4 – How Much Are You Earning Each Week?
No Video
Unit 5 – Create and Review Your Weekly Sales Plan
No Video
Module 5 – The Planting Plan
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Unit 1 – Crop Data – Yields & DTMs
No Video
Unit 2 – Creating Your Planting Plan
No Video
Unit 3 – Seed Buying Guide
No Video
Module 6 – Branding
Click here to view or download the Video Notes for the Module
Unit 1 – Define Yourself
Your Name + Logo
- Can be simple
- You don’t have to make it hard
Run your proposed names past other people
You have to like the name regardless of what others think
Don’t make the name too generic
Cuteness sells
- Look for a name that fits your customer demographic
Silliness in a name usually doesn’t work
Use softer lines in your logo
- Sharp lines don’t have a good connotation when used in conjunction with a farming logo
Develop multiple name ideas
- Develop the business name and decide on your name early in your farm setup process
Consider hiring a graphic designer to create your logo
Keep your website simple
Develop a Mission Statement
- Keep it short and concise
- Who, What, Why, How
Your values
- Communicate your values through your actions
- Demonstrate
- Don’t be self-righteous
- Don’t preach
You want people to come see and interact with your farm
Leverage the bio-intensive facet of urban farming
Reality and transparency are powerful concepts and create customers for life.
Unit 2 – Create a Simple Website
No Video
Unit 3 – Start Building Relationships
No Video
Unit 4 – Social Media
Social Media
- Very beneficial
- Medium to communicate with the world at large
- Urban farming is a unique concept
- Having fans outside of your area helps you gain local customers
- Educational content
- Engage gardeners
- They are good customers
- They want to learn techniques from you
- Engage other urban farmers
- Engage gardeners
- Urban farmers are connectors
- They function as a hub
- Post pictures and videos of day to day activities on the farm
Post everything that you post to Instagram
- It can be setup to post to Facebook and Twitter at the same time.
- Curtis doesn’t post to Twitter much
Instagram’s limits are frustrating
- You can’t post your picture directly from a PC, you must use a phone or mobile device
Hootsuite manages social media posts
- Cannot post to Instagram
- Will post to multiple social media sites
Hashtags are searchable within the particular social media platform that was used to post them
Social media can be an incredible waste of time.
- Allot yourself a certain amount of time per week for social media
- Be disciplined
Module 7 – Business Administration
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Unit 1 – Register Your Business
No Video
Unit 2 – Bank Account
No Video
Unit 3 – Liability Insurance
No Video
Unit 4 – Taxes
No Video
Unit 5 – Accounting Options
No Video
Module 8 – Marketing
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Unit 1 – Farmer’s Markets
No Video
Unit 2 – Restaurants
No Video
Module 9 – The Numbers
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Unit 1 – Measure Everything
No Video
Unit 2 – Income
No Video
Unit 3 – Expenses
No Video
Unit 4 – Profit
No Video
Module 10 – Your Team
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Unit 1 – The Roles
No Video
Unit 2 – Methods of Compensation
No Video
Unit 3 – Attracting the Right People
No Video
Unit 4 – The Interview
No Video
Unit 5 – Make a Selection
No Video
Unit 6 – Hire Your New Employee
No Video
Unit 7 – Letting Employees Go
No Video
Unit 8 – Helping Employees Grow
No Video
Production
Module 1 – Get Your Land
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Unit 1 – Get the Word Out
Get any piece of land that you can to start with
Who are good initial prospects to ask to use their land:
- Look to your family or extended family
- Friends or people that you have known for a long time
Visibility of the property is important
- This is very important to your marketing.
- Other people seeing your farm plot will help you get more pieces of land.
You want people to walk by and interact
All eyes in the community are on your project
Your garden will increase the property value of the piece of land
- This is another marketing tool for finding other pieces of land to farm.
The first plot doesn’t have to be prefect or even visible to others
- Chances are that your first plot won’t be an ideal piece of land.
- You will learn how to pick plots as time goes by
Get out there and do it!
As time goes by and you build a reputation, you will find plots closer and closer to your home base.
- This is the ultimate goal.
- This will increase your
- Efficiency
- Profitability
Nothing is permanent in this system.
- Things will cycle
As you build Social Equity, more opportunities will present themselves.
As you build your brand, you will get more opportunities.
Unit 2 – Identify the Prospects
What should the main base of operations have:
- Should be central to the system
- Think of the system as a set of concentric rings
- Like a target’s bullseye
- Think of the system as a set of concentric rings
- The following criteria will change over time
- Work towards satisfying these requirements over time
- Storage for gear
- BCS
- Walk-behind tractor
- Hand tools
- BCS
- Processing capability
- Sinks for washing
- Tables for
- Sorting
- Bagging
- Banding
- Labeling
- Cold storage
- Indoor nursery capability is nice to have
- A two car garage can work
- Ideal if you live there, but you don’t have to
- Organize your system into concentric rings
- Home base is the central ring
- Pivot point for your operation
- Hi-rotation crops are closest to the home base
- Bi-rotation plots further away
- Customers, Markets, Vendors, Restaurants can be further out
- Home base is the central ring
What do you need:
- Table
- Tools
- Totes
- Greens drying station
- Soil mixing table
- Sheltered area
- Walk-in cooler
- Green spinner
Production capability at the home base is nice
- Greenhouses
Micro-green production is done at the home base, if possible
Ideally, try to spent 80% of your time in your center ring.
Try to get production as close to the home base as possible
- A 1 mile diameter ring is ideal
The home base may have to be based on the production plots that you can obtain.
Eliminating transport time between part of your system is key.
Unit 3 – Qualify the Plot
Have something on your web site listing the criteria for land that you are looking for.
- Specs
- Location
- No overhanging trees
- Etc.
Most people won’t look at the criteria before emailing of calling
- Refer them to it
Look for at least 2000 sq. ft. plots
Qualify the prospect first
You can tell a lot about a person by their home.
Set up a meeting with the landowner
- During the meeting, perform the following steps:
- Analyze the landowner
- Analyze the neighbors
- Any stray dog
- Lots of weeds
- People spraying Roundup
- What are they up to
- Analyze the neighbors
- The site history
- Questions to ask
- When was the home built
- Has this land been gardened before
- Was this a gas station or anything else that could have possibly contaminated the land
- The city may have information on the history of the house and land
- Check neighboring land history too
- Questions to ask
- Soil test
- Bring a trowel or shovel with you to the meeting
- Bring some sample jars
- Check for
- Clay
- Roots
- Rocks
- Take several soil samples
- Is there contamination
- Test the soil samples for
- NPK
- Ph
- Contamination
- Only test if it is a very good site, but may be contaminated
- Size and location
- 2000 sq. ft. or larger?
- Smaller plots must have exceptional locations
- Within your desired zone 1 or 2
- Do an invasive weed check
- Know the invasive weed in your area
- Avoid the property if there are too many invasive weeds
- 2000 sq. ft. or larger?
- Available light
- All seasons
- Shade
- Obstructions
- Fencing
- Is preferred to keep people and animals out
- Visibility to the public
- Visibility may overrule some of the other 9 characteristics of land
- Water access
- Should be relatively close to your plots
- Accessibility
- Times the plot is available
- Entrance and exit
- Analyze the landowner
Invasive weeds is one of the largest deal breakers
The land owner is another high priority consideration.
- You must be able to establish a good relationship with them
What to look for in a landowner:
- Somebody who shops at a farmers’ market
- Somebody who believes In the idea of local food
- Someone who doesn’t care about their lawn
- i.e. That it will be dug up
- Don’t necessarily have to be a gardener
- Some become avid gardeners
What are the characteristics of a landowner to stay away from:
- Somebody looking for something
- Want more produce per week than currently offered
- Thorny personality
- Hard to communicate with
- Annoying
- Want to talk too much
- Be careful with retired people with too much time on their hands
- Own unruly dogs or other animals
What to look for in a good plot:
- Clear southern exposure
- Avoid plots with rhizome weeds peppered through out
- Weeds on the edges are manageable
- Avoid plots with any large overhanging trees
- Especially on the southern side
- Dripline – The area around the tree where the branches extend
- The tree will absorb all of the water within this area
- Solar Access in the shoulder seasons is important to extending the growing season
- Shoulder Season – spring and fall
Unit 4 – Agree on the Terms
Generally the landowners are paid with vegetables
- It works like a CSA
- The landowner receives one box/week during the growing season
- Box value of $20-$30/ week
- Less in the spring and fall
- More in the summer
- Produce comes from crops grown on all plots of the farm, not just theirs
- Curtis sends an email to the landowners each week with an order form
- They fill it out and send it back to Curtis
- Curtis enters their order into his order fulfillment system
- The landowners pick up their box at the farmers’ market
- He has a few elderly owners and he delivers to them
Vegetables are exchanged for land
- This relieves the burden of leasing land from the grower
The landowners boxes start when their plot starts producing.
- No later than May 1st
Most important terms in the agreement
- The structure of the vegetable box agreement
- It is not a profit-sharing plan
- Don’t specify what will be grown on their plot
- Only specify that it will either
- Veggies
- Herbs
- Flowers
- Only specify that it will either
- Landowners are not allowed to pick their own vegetables
- If they want something, they let Curtis know or come to the market
- Outline that machinery will be used
- Specify the hours that machines will be operated
- Water
- Provided by the landowner
- This must be customized to your specific area in the country
- During high usage months, Curtis writes his landowners a check for around $100 for the water consumption
- Always try to get a three year commitment from the landowner
- Exit/shotgun clause
- If a situation at the plot causes the loss of profit, the grower can leave at any time
- If the grower has to leave the plot for any reason, they can stay until the end of the season.
- e.g. Landowner sells the house
Process of signing the agreement
- The landowner is emailed the agreement document
- They return the agreement with any desired changes
- Negotiate the points
- Meeting with the landowner is scheduled
- The landowner initials each clause on the agreement
- The landowner signs the agreement
This agreement is not meant to be a legal document and hold up in court.
- The intent is to make sure that both parties have similar understandings of the situation.
The agreement is structured differently if there is no house or person on the property.
Module 2 – Infrastructure + Tools
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Unit 1. Bed Prep
Rotary Plow
- Doesn’t totally invert soil
- Pulls soil up
- Like a big drill
- Digs into the subsoil
- Not absolutely needed if on a tight budget
- Works soil quickly
- Especially if hard-packed
- Can be used to make raised bed
- Good in wet climates
- Requires a larger tractor to function
- Wider wheels
Tiller
- Used for bed prep
- Ground breaking too
- Should be 30″ wide
BCS Walk Behind Tractor
- Very well constructed machines
- No belts or chains
- Very little to break
- Last forever
- Italian built
- Developed for small plots of land
- Feature a PTO
- Power Takeoff
- The piece of hardware that the tractor’s implements attach to and are powered by
- New $5000-$6000
- Look for used
- Used may be hard to find
- Very popular and usually sell quickly
- Very little annual maintenance
- Oil change
- Change air filter
- $20-$30 annually
- Can be done by the grower
Tarps
- Used for stale seed bedding
- Prep beds
- Add amendments
- Tarp bed
- Encourages weed seed to germinate
- The tarp if left on long enough will smother the weeds
- Warms soil due to the black surface
- To shorten the process, flame weed
- Tarp beds after harvesting to prevent weed growth before replanting
- Also keeps in moisture
- Keeps weed seed from blowing in
- Crucial tool
- Minimizes labor
- Helps eliminate weeding
- Silage tarps will work
- Features
- Silver on one side, black on the other
- Heavy duty material
- 40′ x 60′
- Around $200 each
- UV resistant
- Must be cared for
- Folded properly
- Stored properly
- Don’t use lumber covers or burlap
- Any money saved on purchase price is wasted on extra labor
Flame Weeder
- Absolutely crucial tool
- Part of bed prep
- Used in Stale Seed Bedding
- Does not harm the soil
- Boils the newly germinated weeds
- Creates a perfectly weed-free bed
Tilther
- Not the best machine
- Powered by an electric drill
- Essentially a tiller
- Only tills the top inch of the bed
- Used to turn over the beds
- Mixes in the soil amendments
- 18″ wide
- Requires 2 passes per bed
- Handles can be angled
- Does not bring up new weed seeds
Seed Bed Roller
- New tool for Curtis’ system
- Same thing can be accomplished with a landscape rake
- Pushes down the bed and makes it firm
- Helps keep the seeder from moving around too much dirt
- The bed looks better and cleaner
- Has insertable dibbles for marking transplant holes
- Incredibly effective – labor saving
- Creates perfect spacing for transplants
- Head lettuce
- Beets
- Big and awkward to move around on a bike
Landscape Rake
- Make row markers from 1/4″ pipe
- Attach to the tines of the rake
- Johnny’s has them too
- Used for bed prep
- 3′ Wide
- Used to rake out debris
- Used to mark holes for transplants
- The Seed Bed Roller now performs this function
- Purchase at a specialty landscape store
Standard Rake
- Used for raking out rocks
- Has deep tines
Unit 2. Nursery Equipment
Urban farming nurseries are not optimal since they may need to be moved
Original 12′ x 22′ greenhouse can’t be used for starting tomatoes
- Tomatoes and other nightshades need to be started indoors in colder climates
Indoor Nursery
- Industrial quality vertical shelves or racks
- Steel-wire shelves are the best
- Rubber coated
- 2′ deep x 4′ wide
- Fits 4 trays per shelf
- 4′ 32w T8 Fluorescent light fixtures
- 2 lamps / light
- Microgreens can be grown under them
- 6 shelves
- Room for 48 flats
- Dehumidifier
- May need 2
- Fans
Hang products which are more cold tolerant in the outside greenhouse
Starting plants indoors is ideal
Outside Greenhouse
- Use steel T’s to hang shelves
- Hanging plants do not cast a shadow on the ground in the shoulder seasons
- The sun is lower in these seasons
- Can’t run the greenhouse irrigation with hanging plants
- Requires hand watering
- Usually only for a month / season
If space, time, and money weren’t an issue:
- Vertical nursery with a method of automatic watering is ideal
Currently building a new greenhouse
- 18′ x 50′
- Passive solar
- Insulated concrete floor
- All starts will be in here on vertical shelves
Soil Blocks
- Superior to plugs, but take a lot of time
- Good for small scale
- Planting time is much faster
- Does not use them anymore
- His farm is too big
- Still uses the soil mix
- 1/2 Peat based soil mix
- Sunshine Mix 5
- 1/2 Compost
- Wet down
- Turned into mud
- 1/2 Peat based soil mix
- Used to start plants for transplanting
- Use trays with no drainage
- Called germination trays
- 10″ x 20″
- 1″ deep
- Don’t have to water as much
- Take a long time to make
Sifter
- Screens all of his soil
- 1/4″ mesh
- 2″ x 8″ wood square slightly larger than a tote
- 2″ x 4″ inner square
- The screen is attached to this with
- Washers
- Screws
- The screen is attached to this with
Soil Prep
- Soil Mix
- 1/2 Sunshine Mix 5
- Peat based
- Contains either
- Vermiculite or
- Perlite
- Mix brand is not important
- 1/2 Compost
- 1/2 Sunshine Mix 5
- Screen mix 1 tote at a time
- Dump onto the mixing table
- Screen a tote of compost
- Dump the compost onto the table
- Take a can of organic fertilizer and dump it onto the table
- Gaia Green brand
- 4-4-4 NPK
- Use shovel to mix
- Heavily water and mix
- Water to mud like consistency
Watering Wand
- Wonder Waterer
- Used in the nursery
- Light
- Very fine spray
Tomatoes are transplanted into larger pots from the plugs
- Final is a 2 1/2″ pot
- All tomatoes are grown under cover
- Creates a stable environment for growth
Unit 3. Planting
Direct Seeding Tools
Earthway Seeder
- Good beginning tool
- Inexpensive
- Some imperfections
- Works with a plate with notches in it that drags the seeds up into a hopper
- Then down through a funnel to plant the seed
- Small seeds
- Especially Brassica family
- Mustard
- Arugula
- Kale
- Get ground up behind the plate
- Wastes seed
- Causes spotty germination
- Especially Brassica family
- Fix available from Jordan Marr at
- Puck-like device which increases pressure on the plate
- Only uses it with the Chard plate for planting Spinach
- There isn’t a good plate for the Jang for planting Spinach
Jang Seeder
- Uses rollers
- Different sized rollers for different seeds
- Uses a brush to keep extra seed from getting in the way
- Very accurate
- Able to change the spacing between seeds
- Fully customizable
- Uses 14 sprocket on front
- 9 sprocket on rear
- Uses many different rollers
- Very heavy duty
- Hopper pulls out to change seed
- Increases efficiency
- Reduces work by not having to move the seeder to the seed to refill
- Covered so rain does not affect planting
- The wheels won’t pick up mud
- A bar on the back wheel scrapes the mud off
- Speed does not matter
- You can run while planting with this seeder
- Don’t try to run at first
- Very robust
- Supposedly built by the South Korean Army
- If you can afford this seeder, buy it
- Your plantings will always be perfect
Unit 4. Seeds
No Video
Unit 5. Irrigation
No Video
Unit 6. Weeding
Curtis does not do much weeding
- 4 – 8 hours a year
- Stale seed bedding eliminates the need for most weeding
Sometimes hand weeding is the quickest
Stirrup Hoes
- Also called
- Loop Hoes
- Hoop Hoes
- Blade on each side
- Oscillate back and forth
- Used for walkway weeding
- Very quick use
- Always brings one with him to the plots
- 7″, 5″, 3″ models
- 3″ used to be used for narrow walkways and beds
- Stale seed bedding eliminated the need for this
- 3″ used to be used for narrow walkways and beds
- Not used on large weeds
- Use a pitchfork to dig large weeds out
- From Johnny’s Seeds
- Sharpen the blade several times a season
- The 7″ is used most often
Pitchfork
- Used to loosen the soil around weeds so that you can remove the whole weed
- Helps tease roots out
- The handles often break
- Expect 2 years of service
Flame Weeder
- Explained in bed prep
- Saves around 100 hours a season of weeding time
Unit 7. Harvesting
Greens Harvester
- New tool for the farm
- Purchased from Johnny’s Seeds
- Uses an electric drill
- Invented by a young guy who lived on a greens farm
- Not perfect
- Saves a lot of time
- 8 man hours down to 45 minutes
- Saves a lot of time
- Blades must be kept very sharp
- Replace or sharpen several times a year
- Used to harvest all baby greens
- Does not work well with Spinach
- Will work with over-wintered Spinach
- Cuts Spinach by hand
Knives
- Steak knife
- Serrated blade
- A dedicated lettuce knife may work better
- Dewalt Utility Knife
- Keep it clean
- Keep it sharp
- Sterilized
- Used for harvesting Micro-greens
- Simple
- Fast
- Efficient
Pitchfork
- Used for harvesting Carrots
- All other root crops are hand harvested
Totes
- Made by Rubbermaid
- All of the smaller totes fit into the next larger tote for compact transportation and storage
- They will stack in the cooler and on the truck
- Separated into:
- Field use
- Dirty
- Processed products
- Clean
- Field use
- Large
- 18 gallon/60L
- Used for harvesting greens
- 40-50 totes at the farm
- Medium Tote
- Used for packed product
- Greens in bags
- Two layers
- 24 Bags
- Not that necessary
- You could do without them
- Used for packed product
- 50-60 on the farm
- Used like the Medium Tote
- 1 layer
- 15-15 bags
- Small
- Mini
- Used for
- Harvesting small things
- Herbs
- Displaying product at the market
- Harvesting small things
- 20 totes on the farm
- Used for
- Â Macro
- Used for bunched root veggies
- Wash the veggies in the tote
- Drain and dry products
- 30-40 totes on the farm
You need to know how to harvest by hand
- Always keep a knife with you
- Sometimes a bed needs harvested immediately
Unit 8. Washing
Washing Table
- All washing occurs on this table
- Pool liner directs waste water into a tote
- Some people can get away from having to using the pool liner
- Need to have well draining soil
- Purchase from a hardware store
- Some people can get away from having to using the pool liner
- Streamed line way of washing
- Good for all washing tasks
- Built from 2″ x 4″ lumber
- 3′ deep x 8′ long
- The pool liner is rolled over several times and then attached to the frame
- The liner is attached at an angle so that it drains into a tote at the end of the table
- A 1/4″ galvanized steel mesh is attached over the top
- Make sure that there are no sharp edges
- Use washers and screws
- Overlay the cut edges of the mesh w the pool liner
- See the photo at 03:55 in the video
- The drainage tote has a sump pump in it to carry the water away from the table
- Available at any hardware store
- Around $150.00-$200.00
- Turns on when the water level in the tote hits a certain level
- Left plugged in all the time
- Does not use energy unless it is running
- The drainage hose needs to be cleaned weekly
- You can use the Dramm fixture used for washing the products to clear the drainage hose
- Saving the water is not an option
- It would need to be filtered multiple times
- It will be full of microbes
- It will go anaerobic if stored
Dramm Hose Fixture
- Simple
- Effective
- Last forever
- Gun sprayers from a hardware store only last a month or two
- Used for washing crops
- It has a variable valve on the end
- Hold it like a pencil
Unit 9. Drying
In some jurisdictions the following equipment can’t be used
Large orange restaurant salad spinners don’t work
- Cost around $200
- They have gears which wear out
- New gears cost around $150
Washing Machine Spinner
- Find a used washer
- It just needs to spin
- Modify it by removing the agitator cone
- This allows you to spin more product at one time
- Spun in a mesh laundry bag
- Set the machine on spin
Drying Table
- See photo at 04:40 in the video
- Table with screen
- 1/4″ mesh like the washing table
- 2″ x 3″ wood
- Bottom on hinges
- 2 3-speed box fans
- About 2 1/2 feet above the table
- Attached with wire
- Turn fans on for 5-10 minutes
- Move the greens around several times
- Do not over dry
- The greens will wilt
- The bottom hinges down to clean the mesh when changing products
- The drying process will remove the sunflower hulls
Greens Processes:
- Wash
- Place into a mesh laundry bag
- Drip dry in a tote with holes drilled in it
- Spin in washing machine
- Dry on drying table
- Radish microgreens will spoil in just a day or two if not dry
- ALL MICRO-GREENS MUST BE DRIED
Dry micro-greens can be stored for several days before delivery
Unit 10. Cold Storage
Coolers
- You must have a cooler
- A house refrigerator won’t cut it
- Standalone walk-in from restaurant
- Look for liquidated stock
- $1000-$2000
- Not traditional walk-ins
- 4′ x 6′ x 6 1/2′
- Having 2 is beneficial
- It will save you a ton of time
- It provides a backup if one fails
- Harvested product in one
- Processed product in the other
- Will handle up to 1/2 acre of product
- The compressors don’t last forever
- They are very expensive to replace
- The technicians are expensive
- You can build your own
- Look for plans online
- 8′ x 8′ x 8′ relatively inexpensive
- Blue foam insulation
- Wooden frame
- You can buy a restaurant cooler with a bad compressor
- The CoolBot is wired to an air conditioner
- The CoolBot tricks the air conditioner into running at temps below 55 degrees
- The air conditioner is placed in the hole in the cooler where the compressor goes.
- If the air conditioner breaks, simply replace it.
- The CoolBot never breaks.
- Simple technology
- Can actually turn a cooler into a freezer
- The CoolBot and air conditioner cost around $500
Label totes with painter’s tape
Unit 11. Season Extension
No Video
Unit 12. Transportation
Started pedal powered
3-cylinder truck and van
- Daihatsu
- Right-hand drive
- Only insures one vehicle at a time
- Only insures them for 7 months out of the year
- Built a deck covering for the bed of the truck for delivery
- Tarps the bed when delivering to restaurants
- Uses tie down straps to strap down boxes for the market
- The van is better for delivering to restaurants
- The truck is good because it is a both a delivery and a farm vehicle
- Small physical foot print
- Fuel efficient
- Marketing advantage
- People notice it and in turn the signage
- Conversation starter
The bikes are great, but you spend too much non-productive time on them.
All of his weekly work is still done by bike
All bikes have electric assist.
- Highly suggested for hilly areas
- Cost around $2500
- Sponsored by a local bike shop
Bikes and Pedal Powered Equipment
- Marketing advantage
- Head turner
- Conversation Starter
- Add signage
- Avoids traffic
- Speeds delivery
- Easy to find a space to park when delivering
- Bikes (2)
- Surly Big Dummy
- Steel frame
- Heavy gauge
- The brand is not important, durability is.
- Trailer 6′ x 30″
- Aluminum deck
- Steel frame
- 1/16″ wall steel
- Flat bed
- Choose this one if you only purchase one
- Trailer smaller
- Can be daisy-chained to the larger trailer
- Creates a wiggle-wagon
- Box
- Aluminum sides and deck
- Steel frame
- 1/16″ wall steel
- Can be daisy-chained to the larger trailer
- Aluminum luggage box
- Lockable
- Used like a glove box
- Cost several hundred dollars
- Xtracycle/Panniers
- Uses for carrying totes to deliver small or rush orders
- Able to carry 2 or 4 totes
- Allows for flexibility
- Increases cargo capability without having to pull a trailer
- Good for running errands
- Not totally necessary
- Bike with Xtracycle $2500
- Don’t use your bikes to haul compost
- Too time consuming
- Unproductive
Unit 13. Market Prep
Portioning
- Weighing
- Banding or bagging
- Happens at home base
- Shaded, cool area
Analog Scale
- Used for products that weigh 1/4 lb. or more
- $60
- Simple
- Fast
Digital Scales
- Has a number of them
- Uses for Micro-greens
- Not as responsive time-wise
- Have to change batteries
- Buy scales that use AA batteries or plug in to the wall
- Avoid scales that use watch-type batteries
- $20-$40
Clamshells
- Compostable for micro-greens
- Protects the product from getting smashed
- Able to stack containers at the market
- Creates the illusion of abundance
Cardboard Boxes
- Find at grocery stores used
- Breakdown easily
- Have a wax coating
- Can have wet items in them
- Used to pack restaurant orders
- Greens are not as easy to pack in these
- Usually packed in roll bags
- Line the box with plastic roll bags if using boxes to pack
- Use totes instead
- Orders over 10 lbs.
- Can be stored in the cooler
Roll bags are used for packing bulk product
Market packaging is either:
- Small plastic bags
- Rubber-banded bunches
- Compostable clamshells
Unit 14. Farmer’s Market Gear
No Video
Module 3 – Plot + Bed Prep
Click here to view or download the Video Notes for the Module
Unit 1. Plan the Plot
Traditional Bed Layout Considerations
- Sun
- Wind
- Contour
These are not as important in Urban Farming.
- Due to limited space
Considerations for Urban Farming Bed Layout:
- Physical restrictions
- Shade
- Very important
- Trees
- Houses
- Fences
- Hedges
- Shade
- Access Points
- How do I get myself and my equipment in and out of the plot
Plant all half-beds at the same time
- i.e. plant 1/2 of a bed with one crop and the other 1/2 with another crop and plant them at the same time
- Don’t leave 1/2 a bed as dirt
Take the path of least resistance while minimizing lost/unusable space when laying out beds
Beds shaded in the spring or fall can be planted later in the season or taken out of the rotation earlier at the end of the season.
Measure the whole yard
- Take very exact notes on where the measurements are from and to
Curtis uses SketchUp for mapping his bed plots
- Allows cut and pasting from one layout to another
- Easier to try different layouts than drawing by hand on graph paper
Try multiple bed layouts for a plot
Run greenhouse east to west to take advantage of solar exposure.
Production in some plots will limited by solar exposure.
- Transplants can be used to “jump-start” beds which need to be planted later or earlier due to less solar exposure in the shoulder seasons
Sometimes you will have to make layout concessions due to owner and neighborhood constraints.
If no one is complaining, you may be able to get away with some things that don’t adhere strictly to municipal code.
Always look to maximize production in a plot before expanding the number of plots.
Unit 2. Prepare the Plot
First time plot preparation
Plot tarpped for 6 months
- This will kill all of the weeds
- Good to do if you can
Till in no particular pattern
- Starting in a square around the perimeter is a good way to start
Always set the tiller to the deepest depth
Till a new plot completely, 3 times
At the end, your hand should easily go 8″-12″ into the loosened soil
Throw rocks, stick, and other debris out as you go.
Soil heavy in clay is harder to till
Sandy soil is easier to grow these types of vegetables
Get the plot as level as possible
Forming the beds
- Foot paths are between 6″ and 12″
- They are smaller in high-rotational plots
- Wider walkways are more comfortable
- Place the tiller handles out to the side when forming the beds
- Walk down the walkway in between beds
- Till each bed again two times
- 1 pass each direction
- Level the beds as much as you can
Raking the beds
- Use the landscaping rake to level out the beds
- Be careful where you walk
- Walking on the tilled soil compacts it
This is not a complicated task.
Unit 3. The Beds and Walkways
Standard Bed Size
- 30″ x 25′
- Determined by width of tiller
- Many farm implements are 30″ wide
- 25′ most common
- Lots of things like row covers are based on lengths of 100′
- Lengths of 50′ and 100′ can also be used
- There are some exceptions, generally due to the size or shape of a plot
- Hi-rotation beds generate $800/season
- Bi-rotation beds generate $400/season
- Standard beds allow for easy planning
- Income
- Crops
- 30″ is easy for most people to stand over
- Ergonomic
- A standard bed produces a marketable amount of product
- Easy to sell that amount in a week
- Easier to turn beds
- Easy to sell that amount in a week
- It is better to have multiple standard beds planted in tight succession than larger, longer beds
- Helps conceptualize amount of work
Double bed
- Doesn’t use that often
- Can be used in shorter areas
- Used in the height of the season
- The whole bed is cropped out all at once
- Used for fast growing crops
- Radishes
- Arugula
- Etc.
- Used in ultra-small plots to maximize land use
Inter-planting
- About economics and time strategies
- Planting 2 or more crops in a single row that grow at different rates
- Allows for more efficient use of space
- Greenhouses are bi-rotational areas
- Greens and tomatoes inter-planted
- Vertical space is also utilized
- Fills the unused space in between the tomato plants until they get larger
Short Beds
- Used in confined areas
- Used with crops that aren’t produced in large quantities
Long Beds
- Reduce irrigation cost and equipment
- Reduces cuts in
- Landscape fabric
- Row cover material
- Less turns with the tiller
The configuration of beds can be changed to maximize production, as needed.
Adjust your walkways depending on the crops grown in a bed.
- Hi-rotation 6″
- Bi-rotation requires larger due to the size of the plants
- Typically beds stay either hi-rotation or bi-rotation, but walkway width can be changed with the use of the bed
Unit 4. Turning Over the Beds
No Audio on Video
Unit 5. Prepare the Beds to be Planted
No Audio on Video
Unit 6. Fertility
Use 5 gallon buckets to spread compost rather than a wheelbarrow
- Allows for consistent application of compost and nutrients on each bed
- Apply 4-6 buckets
Organic Fertilizer
- Bone meal
- Blood meal
- Increases nitrogen content
- Needed during the shoulder seasons of spring and fall
- Due to less sunlight
Module 4 – Planting
Click here to view or download the Video Notes for the Module
Unit 1. Direct Seeding
Loading the Jang Seeder
- No Audio
Planting
- No Audio
Explaining the Process
- >——————————
- ——————————–
- ——————————–
- 1 row down the middle of the bed
- ——- = row
- > = new row
- 1 row on each edge of the bed
- ——————————–
- Â ——————————–
- Planting 9 rows
- Rows are not pre-marked
- They are “eye-balled”
- This gives you 5 rows
- ————————————
- >———————————–
- ————————————
- >———————————–
- ————————————-
- Split each of these rows in the middle
- Split each row again in the middle to give 9 rows
- ——————————————–
- >——————————————
- ——————————————–
- >——————————————
- ——————————————–
- >——————————————-
- ———————————————
- >——————————————-
- ———————————————
- This technique works with odd numbers of rows
- Try to plant in even numbers of rows
- Even numbered row are eye-balled
- Always start at the edge of the bed
- Split rows until you have the desired number of rows
- Jang Seeder
- Preferred seeder
- Uses rollers inside
- Simple mechanism
Direct Seeding Carrots in a Greenhouse
- No Audio
Direct Seeding Arugula
- No Audio
Multiple Rows
- No Audio
Direct Seeding Pea Shoots
- No Audio
Unit 2. Transplanting
No Audio on Video
Unit 3. Nursery
No Video
Unit 4. Microgreens
No Audio on Video
Module 5 – Irrigation
Click here to view or download the Video Notes for the Module
Unit 1. When to Water
No Video
Unit 2. Drip Systems
No Audio on Video
Unit 3. Overhead Systems
No Video
Unit 4. Examples
No Video
Module 6 – Pests + Weeding
Click here to view or download the Video Notes for the Module
Unit 1. Identify Your Pests
Identify the main pest in your own geographic area
Root Maggot
- Affect
- Radishes
- Turnips
- Can be avoided by not planting during gestational cycle
- Lays eggs on the leaves
- Larva falls to the ground and eats the produce
Aphids
- Affect Kale and other produce
- Avoid their cycle by not planting when they are active
- No good way of mitigating them
Rats, Mice
- Figure out what they are eating
- Avoid planting those crops in that area
- Cats will mitigate these pests
- Cats will move into and area and naturally help take of this problem
- Will eat turnips
- Love Sunflowers
Cats
- Will dig up your beds
- Love freshly tilled beds
- Keep the soil wet to mitigate them
- You can create a sandbox for them to play in
- You can trap and remove them
Dogs
- Will dig up beds
- Fencing is the best way to mitigate dogs
Carrot Rust Fly
- Effects carrots
- Do not plant carrots when the fly is active
Figure out what the pest cycles are in your area
- Contact local Ag Extension Office
- Ask local farmers
Unit 2. Pest Prevention
Methods to prevent pests
- Know the gestation cycle of insect pests
- Insect netting
- 80 gram
- Used to mitigate Root Maggots
- Cover the bed from seeding to harvest
- Actually helps the crops grow
- Keeps the crop clean
- Cannot be used in very hot temperatures
- Stresses the crops
- Pest cycle is usually done by the time it gets too hot to use
- Used on single beds
- Spring clamps hold the fabric in place
- These items should be available from Johnny’s Seeds
- Protek Net
- 32″ Square metal hoops
- Use 4 per 25′ bed
- Spring clamps
- Placed on each corner of the bed
- Very high quality
- Can last up to 10 years
- Remay Gardening Cloth
- Used to keep quail from eating stems of field micro-greens
- Secure with 2″x4″s or rocks
- Curtis doesn’t like it
- Not high quality
- Insect netting is better
- Apply using the same method as above
- Mammals
- Trapping is the best for
- Mice
- Rats
- Voles
- Only uses live traps
- Allows trapping multiple animals at a time
- Only used when a problem is present
- Cats
- Keep the beds wet until the plants are established
- Use chicken wire on the sides of greenhouses to keep cats out when the sides of the greenhouse are rolled up
- Use to attach it to the greenhouse frame
- 2″x4″
- Zip ties
- Metal wire
- Trapping is the best for
Unit 3. Pest Mitigation
No Video
Unit 4. Identify Your Weeds
Every geographic area has unique weeds
Research local weeds before taking on a plot of land
- Check with local Ag Extension Office
- Use Google
Try to avoid plots that have a lot of invasive weeds
- Small amounts can be mitigated
Rototilling can exacerbate an invasive weed problem
Canadian Thistle:
- Very thorny
- Spreads through rhizomes
Field bind weed:
- Spreads quickly
- Goes deep underground
- Very difficult to get rid of:
- Especially organically
- Roundup is the only sure way
- Deep rhizomes
Unit 5. Weed Prevention
The goal is to not let weeds get established and go to seed.
One of the big advantages of Urban Farming is less weed pressure.
- The weed seeds get stuck in obstacles like
- Buildings
- Fences
- Cracks
Initial weed mitigation protocol
- Make a drawing of where the invasive weeds are in plot
- Mark an invasive weed area with flags
- Use a pitchfork to remove the weeds
- Be careful to remove as much of the weed and root structure as possible
- Wet the plot with sprinklers for several days
- Tarp the plot for as long as 6 months
- Check with the original drawing
- Re-dig the invasive weed areas with a pitchfork
- Dig at least 8″-12″ deep
- Rototill the plot
- Rototilling is still used to prepare a plot initially even when a no-till strategy is being employed
No-till/Stale Seed Bed is the #1 technique
- Takes more prep time
- Saves time in the long run
No-till/Stale Seed Bed protocol
- Fork the bed
- Broad fork
- Pitch ford
- Add soil amendments
- “Tilth” the beds
- Like a tiller, but only 1″-2″ deeper
- Does not bring weed seed to the surface
- Water the bed heavily
- Cover with a tarp
- Does not require an extremely heavy duty tarp
- Actually prefers greenhouse poly
- Encourages weeds to germinate
- Remove the tarp
- Fork out any weeds with taproots
- The flame weeder will not kill weeds with a taproot
- Try not to disturb the soil too much and bring up new weed seed
- Flame weed the bed
- Boils the weeds to death
- Does not harm the soil
- Can be done even a few days after untarpping
- Direct seed into the beds
Plastic Mulch Technique
- Uses Sunbelt landscape fabric
- Thick
- Woven
- Breathable
- 3′ wide
- Saves a huge amount of time
- Used on the perimeter of all plots
- Used on bi-rotational crops
- Biofilm may be used instead
- Requires no work until harvest
- Need at least 6″ centers for crops to be used
- Use a 30″ board to mark row and transplant placement
- Use a 1/4″ drill to drill hole the proper distance apart on the board
- Use spray paint to mark the plant placement on the landscape fabric
- You can put holes in multiple pieces of fabric at a time
- Use a pole with a tomato paste can on the end to burn transplant holes in the landscape fabric
- Use a propane torch to heat the can
- Alternatively, attach the can to the end of the torch and burn the holes
- Saves the time of heating up the can each time you burn a hole
- The torch can also be used to repair frayed fabric edges
- Alternatively, attach the can to the end of the torch and burn the holes
- The landscape fabric pieces can be reused from year to year
- Mark on the fabric
- The size of the piece
- Size of planting center
- 6″, 8″, 10″, etc.
- Mark on the fabric
- Use a small trowel to punch holes for head lettuce
- Using fabric saves about 50% of the water required by a bed
- Irrigation goes underneath the fabric
Tilling for fast growing crops is fine without using fabric
- The crops outpace the weeds
Biofilm
- Non-GMO corn resin
- Fully compostable
- Certified organic
- Used for closely spaced transplants
- Used in conjunction with the Seed Bed Roller
- Used to cover the walkways too
- He may try the landscape fabric for walkways, since the rolls are marked in 1′ increments
- Do not use any other type of mulches
- They are much less efficient and require more labor
- None of Curtis’ landowners have complained about using fabric or biofilm
Flame Weeding
- No Audio
Unit 6. Weed Mitigation
Weed Mitigation = Weeding
Weeding is unpaid labor
- The return is hard to quantify
Tasks with quantifiable returns
- Planting
- Harvesting
- Marketing
You can never have a completely weed free bed
The goal is to prevent weeds from going to seed
Always bring a stirrup hoe with you to your plots
Curtis only spends 4-8 hours a season weeding
Stirrup hoeing a walkway only takes a minute
- Good for newly germinated weeds
Landscape fabric all plot perimeters
Hand weeding is the most effective since it removes the complete weed
Use a pitchfork to tease out a complete weed, roots and all
Stirrup Hoe (walkway and rows)
- No Audio
Weed Whacker (perimeters)
- No Audio
Hand Weed (in bed)
- No Audio
Hand Weeding Chard
- No Audio
Hand Weeding Kale
- No Audio
Forking
- No Audio
Raking
- No Audio
Module 7 – Harvesting
Click here to view or download the Video Notes for the Module
Unit 1. Harvesting Principles
No Video
Unit 2. Harvesting Methods
No Audio
Module 8 – Processing
Click here to view or download the Video Notes for the Module
Unit 1. Processing Principles
No Video
Unit 2. Processing Methods
No Video
Module 9 – Season Extension
Click here to view or download the Video Notes for the Module
Unit 1. Season Extension Principles
No Video
Unit 2. Season Extension Methods
No Audio on Video
Unit 3. Overwintering
Video 1
- Overwintering can be used to extend the current season
- Up until around Christmas in Curtis’ climate
- Â Overwintering is used to get a jump on next season
- Overwintered crops can be harvested in late winter or early spring
Video 2
- No Audio on Video
Video 3
- Overwintered Carrots
- For early spring harvest
- Planted in August
- Grow until mid-September
- Almost mature
- DTM 70-90
- Sit dormant over the winter
- If planted too early they will go to seed
- Will also have hairy roots
- Biennial plant
- Goes to seed after the first winter
- Optimal time to harvest is mid-March
- Harvest with a pitchfork
Video 4
- Crops grown in low poly-tunnels up until Christmas
- Swiss Chard
- Multiple varieties of Radishes
- Sold over the winter
- Overwintered Crops
- Spinach
- Can grow during the colder months
- Able to harvest 1st or 2nd week of March
- Planted first week of October
- Spinach
- This allows 4 weeks for it to get established
- Carrots
- Â Lettuce
- When small will handle very cold temperatures
- Larger lettuce plants will freeze
- Can harvest as early as January 20th
Video 5
- Kale does better uncovered if there isn’t too much snow
- Start transplants the 2nd week of July
- Transplant first week of August
- Harvesting Kale
- Harvest kale from the bottom up
- Remove any bad leaves
- Remove and gather leaves into a bunch
- Place into tote
Module 10 – Graduation
Click here to view or download the Video Notes for the Module
Unit 1. Wrapping Up
No Video