There are plenty of folks with aspirations to become a farmer but few can afford a sprawling orchard or a grassy pasture.

That was the predicament Curtis Stone, founder of Green City Acres and author of the Urban Farmer, originally found himself in.

Photo Credit: Contributed.

But deciding to ditch the farming dream because you can't afford the land would never get a young man featured on KelownaNow’s Okanagan Innovators Series – now would it!?

“It was somewhat delusional thinking but when the market crashed in 2008 it actually motivated me to start learning about agriculture and sustainable living,” laughed Stone.

“Before that, I was a struggling musician in Montreal and to make ends meet I would travel west to BC in the summer for the tree planting season.”

Working summers in the province's backcountry continued to drive an interest in agriculture but wasn’t enough to afford enough land to farm.

Or so he thought.

Photo Credit: Facebook.

"I was introduced to small pot intensive farming and that led to farming in backyards and eventually to making a living for myself,” said Stone.

“Farming in a backyard forced me to look at the bare bones of what I needed to make a business out of selling vegetables. Economic efficiency meant focusing on vegetables with higher value, crops I could grow in a lot of in small spaces and cost effective infrastructure.”

Doubling down on efficient farming techniques not only led Stone to building a successful farm but also to several other successful endeavors.

With 150k Youtube subscribers, a published book and a series of workshops scheduled around the globe, Stone has had to hand over the everyday operations of Green City Acres to his good friend and farming partner.

“I found a huge niche for information, I started putting up YouTube videos and a lot of people jumped on it. I began to realize I was innovating techniques on my farm specific to how to maximize profitability of a small farm, which is focusing on fast-growing crops, high-value crops, and high-density crops,” explained Stone.

Photo Credit: Facebook.

“The main job now is teaching my 2 to 5 day technical workshops on farms around the world and right here in Kelowna. This year we will be New Zealand, Australia, USA, Israel with my family.”

While Stone now takes his farming around the world, Green City Acres continues to operate in downtown Kelowna.

Photo Credit: Facebook.

“Kelowna has been great for the company and my family. It’s a very free enterprise town, I'm gardening in my front yard. People on youtube from the America say that if you tried that that in the US the HOA would come and tear it down!”

Click here to learn more about Green City Acres.