The Ruminant: Audio Candy for Farmers, Gardeners and Food Lovers - e106: How to Gross 250K on 1/2 Acre

Episode Date: February 21, 2019

This ep: my conversation with urban farmer Kevin Sturdy, author of a book getting a lot of buzz: You're Welcome: How to Crush Your Dreams By Grossing More Money on Less Land Than You Ever Thought Possible. Kevin claims that by following his guide, you can gross 250K on a half-acre urban farm. Episode Sponsor: Dubois Agrinovation Many thanks to professional thespian Kirk Smith, who co-produced this episode with me.  

This episode is supported by Dubois Ag Renovation. For irrigation supplies, hand tools, mulch films, pest control, containers, and much more, visit Dubois Ag Renovation at duboisag.com and get free shipping on orders of $200 or more. That's d-u-b-o-i-s-a-g.com. I'm Jordan Marr and this is The Ruminant, a podcast about food politics and food security and the cultural and practical aspects of farming. You can find out more at theruminant.ca or email me, editor at theruminant.ca. I'm on Twitter at ruminantblog or find me on Facebook. All right, let's do a show. Hey folks, it's Jordan. So the intro to this episode will probably be short because I don't think today's guest needs much of an introduction. His name is Kevin Sturdy and the book he wrote

that everyone's talking about is called You're Welcome, How to Crush Your Dreams by Grossing More Money on Less Land Than You Ever ever thought possible. In a pretty short time span, Kevin has become a rock star in the market gardening world. Not in the sense of throngs of screaming fans chasing him everywhere he goes or hedonic drug-fueled binges with international elites, but more in the sense that he gets a lot of invites to do PowerPoint presentations. Anyway, Kevin was generous enough to carve out a bit of time in between those presentations to talk about his book. That's it. Here's my conversation with Kevin Sturdy, author of You're Welcome. I think probably not everyone knows your

story, Kevin. How did this all begin for you? Sure. In a nutshell, I graduated college when I was 24 and immediately... What did you... Sorry, Kevin. What did you study? Oh, I did a major in sustainability and a minor in commerce. Anyway, I graduated and found a job in my field almost immediately. What was the job? I was working for this huge construction company that managed big housing developments all over the world. I was their sustainability coordinator. They flew me around to their different job sites

to make sure that the workers were being sustainable enough. Like, sustainable how? That's the thing. It wasn't very well defined. I spent a lot of time in the break rooms making sure people were recycling their lunch garbage, and I would try to encourage people to just wear an extra layer instead of burning the propane heaters at the outdoor sites. Stuff like that.

So, like, did you eventually quit because you hated the work? No, I loved the work. It felt really good to do something meaningful. But it wasn't very gratifying in a way because the people I was helping, for the most part, didn't appreciate it. I took a lot of guff from them. They made it seem like what I was doing was pointless. They were totally clueless. And I have to assume that it also felt weird to be flying all over the place to convince people to be less wasteful, hey? What do you mean? Well, I just mean that flying is pretty resource intensive, isn't it?

Well, I guess so But most of the flights except for the private charters were going to fly without me Plus, I'm pretty sure the company was purchasing carbon credits for some of them Anyway, the job made me realize that meaningful work wasn't enough for me if it was thankless You know? I really needed something that was thankful. And then, on one of my work flights, I picked up the in-flight magazine, and there was an article about urban farming, like spin farming. Yeah. It was a long flight, and I just zoned in. I read

about how much good soil is devoted to people's lawns in North America and how much food could be produced on that soil. And I kind of had an epiphany. And then, as fate would have it, this flight was taking me to a development site in Peru. And when I got there, it turned out there was nothing for me to do because there was a big protest to the construction site because some local people were pissed about the deforestation of the site. So I couldn't do my sustainability monitoring.

It almost seemed like fate. I spent the whole trip on my laptop in the hotel, learning everything I could about urban farming. And then the police finally managed to clear out the protesters, and my boss asked me to get back to work, but I quit on the spot. Flew back to my hometown two days early. You didn't do the monitoring?

That's how passionate about urban farming I was, Jordan. Anyway, I did a bunch of networking, and I found a suitable plot within a week. And after that, I just figured things out on the fly. And the rest is history. At some point, I realized that I was really good at this, and that there were tons of other people like me who were looking for work that was meaningful and thankful. And so I wrote my book to show people the way. And now I'm sitting here talking to you.

Amazing. But OK, so when did you get that first farming plot, Kevin? That was about a year and a half ago now, give or take. No, sorry. I meant like, when did you get the first plot you mentioned? Like the one that you got when you had just flown back from Peru? Yeah, no, I know. That was a year and a half ago. And I'm still on the same plot. It turned out it was the perfect plot. In a year and a half, you went from being a rookie farmer to writing a book about how to be successful at it? Yeah.

I mean, the way I saw it is I clearly have a gift and people are yearning for this information. So I pounced on the opportunity. And you know what they say, fake it till you make it. And don't get me wrong. By now, I'm faking like almost none of it. Right. Okay. So let's actually talk about your book then. It's basically a model for how to gross $250,000 on half an acre. Yeah. That's right. That's right. So right away, I just want to clear something up for listeners that confuse me at first. When I agreed to do this interview with you, you sent me only half the book. Yeah, that's one of my

winnovations. This episode is supported by Dubois Ag Renovation. Renowned for their customer service, Dubois can be your one-stop shop for tools and supplies for the modern farm and market garden. Irrigation supplies, hand tools, pest control, mulch films, containers, and on and on. Visit them at DuboisAg.com and get free shipping on orders of $200 or more. As a market gardener myself, I've benefited from their huge selection, and it's really easy to get someone on the phone to ask questions and build an order. That's DuboisAg.com. Thanks to Dubois for their support. Hey there, one more note while we're talking about show support. Producing this podcast is a ton of work, so if you're enjoying it, please consider

supporting it. You can do so at theruminant.ca slash gift registry. That's theruminant.ca slash gift registry. Thanks folks. So right away, I just want to clear something up for listeners that confused me at first. When I agreed to do this interview with you, you sent me only half the book. Yeah, that's one of my winnovations. Winnovations? It's a term I coined for an innovation that represents a win for the seller and the customer at the same time. Oh, so more like a win-win-ovation. Technically, yeah, but that sounds a bit dumb, so I just dropped one of the wins.

So what was the win-ovation involved in selling only half the book at $42.50 per half, I should add? Yeah, well, that way the customer doesn't have to spend the full amount before figuring out if they like the book. It's my take on try before you buy. But they do have to buy. Yeah, but only half. It's like try before you buy too much. But that's not really the confusing part, Kevin. You sent the book and it was literally as if you cut the book in half right down the middle.

Like all I could read was a vertical slice of every page in the full book. And it was literally as if you cut the book in half, right down the middle. Like, all I could read was a vertical slice of every page in the full book. Exactly. Think about it. By doing it this way, you can actually get a sense of all the content of the book. If I had just split the book in half the traditional way, into two volumes, you'd have no idea what the second volume might be like. I guess, but usually people only split a book into two volumes, you'd have no idea what the second volume might be like. I guess, but usually people only split a book into multiple volumes if it's too big for one volume. Your book, once you rejoin the halves, is 39 pages. Sure, but remember, Jordan, I'm a farmer, and farming is a tough way

to make a living. And my followers are farmers too. They get it. No offense, but you might want to read my chapter called The Importance of Positivity. Is that what it was called? The chapter in my copy is titled The Importance. I didn't know until just now what it was about. You're hilarious.

Anyway, I asked you to send me a summary of your model in an email, and you obliged. So let's talk about that. Because again, Kevin, it had me a bit confused. All right. Okay. So essentially your book is about how to gross $250,000 and you've got a half acre plot, right? Yeah.

But when I actually add up the veggie sales you did last year, it only works out to around $15,000. Well, yeah, but that's because the garden is only part of the equation. That's one of my chief winnovations. Are you referring to the B&B? Precisely. So what you've done is you've built a 10,000 square foot building with four guest suites in it, yeah? Well, more like 8,000 square feet, but then we felt we needed to have a lawn if we were going to rent out to tourists, so there's another 2,000. And you rent those out on Airbnb? Exactly. In the world of green-trepreneurship, they call it income layering. Some might argue it isn't farming, though. Well, no, it's not farming. It's agritourism. And you've been able to fill the suites?

Basically year-round. You have no idea the appeal for people to be able to come and see firsthand a farm that grosses $250,000 on such a small space. It inspires people. Okay, but I did the math, including the suites, and it still only adds up to around $120,000 per year. Sure, but you've left out the revenues for my book and the companion course I offer the farm 10 times per year. Hold on.

Just so I understand, you've written a book all about how to achieve farm revenues of $250,000 a year, but you're proposing that roughly half those revenues will have to come from writing a book and offering courses to other farmers? Exactly. Kevin, as a path to farming success, that doesn't make any sense. I mean, who's going to take the classes if everyone is offering their own classes? But there's your negativity again.

You've got to remember that A, if you're talented, there's always room at the top. And B, it's a VBM. A VBM? A volume-based model. got to remember that a if you're talented there's always room at the top and b it's a vbm a vbm a volume based model i mean i can't make promises to people who find my book or all the other books two years from now but right now there are all kinds of people who want meaning and thankfulness in their lives who are just waiting for a guide to show them the way. It sounds like a pyramid scheme. Exactly, which frankly have received terrible PR. Pyramid schemes are fine, so long as you're near the top,

which you'll be if you have a good attitude and work hard and buy my book before everyone else does. A couple more questions, Kevin. I looked at the actual output of your garden beds and it doesn't actually seem that impressive. Again, no offense, but do you consider yourself a good market gardener? I consider myself an expert, especially given the extra challenges I face on that plot. What are the challenges?

The B&B shades out a good chunk of the plot for half the day, for one thing. Also, during construction, one worker accidentally spilled 10 gallons of paint into the garden, which I assume is one of the reasons it isn't as productive currently. It almost sounds like you could have used a sustainability coordinator during construction, Kevin. That's so funny. Oh, talk about full circle. That's so funny. Talk about full circle. One last question. Didn't you say you just started your plot a year ago? That's right.

Then it seems like you haven't even had a year's worth of revenues yet, no? Like, have you actually grossed $250,000 on this model? Well, no, not technically. But it's a solid projection based on early book and course sales and a couple other assumptions. What kind of assumptions? Assuming I create lots of buzz about my model by going on podcasts like this one. So I guess I can expect lots more requests to come on the show from your future readers then, hey? You're probably right.

Kevin, thanks a lot for joining me on The Room in a Podcast. Good luck with that book. It was my pleasure. Namaste. All right, folks. I hope you enjoyed that. The book is called You're Welcome. How to Crush Your Dreams by Grossing More Money on Less Land Than You Ever Thought Possible. Kevin says you can find it in all the normal book places,

plus his website, which is www.geocities.com slash greenworldsites slash kevinsturdy slash you'rewelcome222. Now the you're in you'rewelcome is spelled Y-O-U-R, and I don't know if that's just a straight up typo or it is a typo, but it's actually a typo that's in the web address. Uh, yeah.

Anyway, this has been episode three of a five episode batch. More coming within hours. I'm lonely. Email me at editor at the ruminant.ca. Or if you're listening from Newfoundland, send me an awesome handwritten letter that I will be thrilled to receive and place in my desk drawer to quote unquote answer next week, but then never get around to answering because I am human garbage. XOXO Because why would we live in a place that don't want us

A place that is trying to bleed us dry We could be happy with life in the country With salt on our skin and the dirt on our hands I've been doing a lot of thinking Some real soul searching And here's my final resolve I don't need a big old house

or some fancy car to keep my love going strong so we'll run right out into the wilds and graces we'll keep close quarters with gentle faces and live next door to the birds and the bees

And live life like it was meant to be Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah,