For those of you who have worked with a BCS walk-behind tractor, you have learned that the heavier your implement is, the harder it is to turn the machine around at the end of a bed. The Power Harrow, for example, is an extremely heavy implement. In order to turn the tractor at the end of the bed, the operator will typically disengage the PTO for safety, lower the handles for leverage, and then...
In the market gardening world, permanent raised beds generally refer to beds that are raised 4-6” above the pathways, creating a mound. The mound is then leveled off to create a nice “tabletop” surface for planting crops, typically 30” wide. Pathways are often 18” wide. The 18” width is not only for the convenience of allowing a comfortable space for harvest totes and wheelbarrows, but it also...
In the final part of our series on the benefits and how-to’s of leasing land for market gardening, we turn to the specifics of converting leased land into an urban farm. The Initial Conversion Turning a newly rented piece of land into a farm is a process. Before signing the lease, Curtis takes a shovel and digs into the ground to check the soil and to look for invasive weeds. This is an...
In the first two parts of this series, we’ve covered the benefits of leasing land to start a market garden and how much you should expect to pay for that land. Today we’ll cover how to increase the value of your rented land. There’s No Shortage of Land According to urban farmer Curtis Stone, “Land is basically free. Not to buy, but to use.” There’s a ton of uncultivated land just sitting...
In Part 1 of this series on finding access to farmland, we made the case that land access does not need to be a major hurdle for aspiring farmers. Plenty of land is available to lease — it’s just a matter of figuring out how to do it. In this post, we will begin to delve into the costs, values, and profits of renting land for farming. Compensating Landowners How should you, the...
Almost everyone thinks owning land is a prerequisite to farming. But it turns out that leasing farmland is not only a viable alternative — it may even be preferable to owning. In this four-part series, we’ll discuss the benefits and how-to’s of leasing land for market gardeners. A Hurdle that Doesn’t Have to Be a Hurdle Let’s face it: land in the U.S. and Canada is too expensive for the...
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