BellCast: Profitable Urban Farming

This morning I received a message on Instagram from Scott Hebert asking me when Michael Bell from Half Acre Farm was going to be back on the podcast.  It has been a while since the first BellCast (Season 3 Episode 5) in January, and a lot has happened!  Fortunately for all of us, Micheal Bell returns to the Small Scale Life Podcast to discuss progress at his urban farm in Dallas, Texas. Michael and I discuss a number of topics including the great weather in Texas right now (and the crappy weather in Minnesota), what he has planted and some of his profitable urban farming strategies.

Michael is using some really interesting and simple marketing techniques to develop business opportunities and increase his urban farming operation.  As you will hear, he is employing techniques with great success! Michael feels that there are a lot of growth opportunities for profitable urban farming in the future, and he provides some positive encouragement to those who might be considering an urban farm as a side business.

Topics Discussed on the BellCast: Profitable Urban Farming

Micheal Bell and I discussed the following topics in this podcast:

Welcome Back to the Show

Texas weather

Minnesota weather

What’s Growing on the Farm?

Tomato varieties

Peppers

Squash and zucchini

Greens

Onions

Radish

Beets

Tomato Tips

Septoria Leaf Spot

Pruning Tomatoes

Watering - low and slow

Marketing and Customers for Profitable Urban Farming

Instagram Strategy

Telling the story

How to sell a superior product

Vegan Body Builder - YouTube Video

Try to get restaurants for the Summer

Start Profitable Urban Farming: 100 families = $100,000

Community Building

Other farms are starting in the area, but there is a big market

Rose Creek Farm

Singing Frogs Farm

Scott Hebert at Flavourful Farms

Opportunities to collaborate and work together

Diego Footer's Farm Small; Farm Smart Podcast

Connect with Michael Bell on Instagram

Putting It All Together

As Michael stated, you can start profitable urban farming using simple techniques: connecting with people who are looking for great tasting, fresh produce in your area using Instagram.

By starting small, you can focus on your client’s needs and share you story as you sell your produce.  As Curtis Stone has said on many occasions, your customers want to share your story with others, and once you sell your produce, customers will share their experience with others.  Michael experienced that very thing with the ladies who spent time at the farm and essentially sold his product to the whole office!

You can do this, and there are people out there that can help!  We will continue to explore these topics with Michael in future BellCasts!