This guys is one of the most data driven farmers I've ever seen. It's really exciting to see someone like this optimizing every aspect of his operation.
IF they were done with the strawberry patch for the season and already picked the runners to start a new patch elsewhere, they could instead of doing labor pulling everything out just move their chicken pen to the strawberry patch and let the chickens do the tearing out and turning of the soil. Add a horse/cow manure row on the high side and the chickens will pull it down the entire distance... That way you get good eggs, fast growing chickens and you don't have to feed the chickens anything else and they do all the work for you. Once they are done, move them to another spot that needs clearing and tilling and clean your terrace rows up for the next planting.
Chicken fertilizer is chicken poop. And those microbial issues you seem to be concerned about are actual beneficial in preparing the soil to be useable by plant life.
^ right on. The whole north island is nice, since there are changes in altitude everywhere and the climate is great because of coastal weather. Better than where I come from, since it is rather flat here and the weather is either freezing in winter or burning hot in summer.
That is the perfect location for planting crops because of the water runnoff from the surrounding hills and the nutrients carried with the water is very good for plants plus it looks like the way he has it set up is perfect where the tent creates a runoff into the crops. Perfect set up and location for growing crops not too much sun or getting burned because of the hills and the hills and the set up seem good for good drianeage and clean and nutritive runoff from the surrounding landscape. plus its higher up and gets good airflow which is also important.
This is an amazing operation, and what makes it so great is this guy's work ethic, knowledge, and organizational skills. (and the wisdom of listening to his wife, lol) One thing I've noticed is that people who just knuckle down and do the job are much happier and have this amazing aura of rightness about them, as opposed to people who stand around and talk and complain. I wish many blessings to him and his operation. The world needs more men like this. Doing, learning, growing, adapting. Awesome!
Judy Onthemton Exactly what I thought. I pictured billions of spores flying off the moldy flats & cringed. BUT I'm super impressed with the set up & took notes.
Great to see another small scale producer doing it off grid and in New Zealand! The cooling is always the issue but once you can work that one out it's all sorted! We use a simple reverse heat exchange system using ground water for cooling all run via a 12v system. The Nissan eNV200 electric van is a good way to go if you want capacity and something relatively affordable and very simple (eg Nissan Leaf in a box!)
Curtis, I saw you on WranglerStar and decided to give your channel a look. Now I am subscribed! Thanks for making the trip to be on RUclips w/Cody and Mrs. W!!!
This is a very productive garden. In the first few minutes when he was showing the rows of strawberries, I was thinking about John Jeavons, and biointensive beds instead of rows. I was fortunate enough to participate in a 3 day workshop with John Jeavons, Carol Cox, and others from Ecology Action in Willits, California back in 1995. It was a great learning experience. I recommend their books and materials highly. They also have a seed company called Bountiful Gardens that sells nothing but open pollinated seed varieties.
Curtis I have watched ALL your videos and your work is truly inspiring. You are a mentor to many in this world so keep doing what you are doing and sharing knowledge and courage. I am in my first year of farming so this update video was also truly inspiring. Wish you and all the other people you have touched the best in this world., PS I was browsing Paraka's instagram and would just like to say congrats to you and katie & good luck
This is almost exactly the look I am aiming for once my student loans are paid off! I absolutely love hillside terrace permaculture and I have to say you folks at Pakaraka are awesome! If I ever make it out that way I hope you won't mind a visit!!
I'm loving this channel. we are planning on buying roughly 20 or 30 acres in Louisiana. we were planning on orchards and chickens or goats but I'm starting to think growing crops would be a better experience. it's very inspirational stuff.
I can't understand what he is saying at 3:16. I really want to know because I have 75 Strawberries on the way and I am planning to propagate them out like in this video. Thanks.
Can you tell us more about your community? It looks great and I will be eventually trying to do exactly the same thing you are and run everything off the sun!
This was a really great video. Very inspirational to see how much he has grown, and seeing all of the healthy green foliage and dark soil reminds me that spring and summer are on their way.Thanks for the great vid.
Very cool grow. Cheers from across the big pond. We love the strawberries, micro greens, basil. In the tunnel greenhouse, is that bamboo used for the tray shelving ?
Great video, very inspirational! I loved his story and enthusiasm. Thanks for showing New Zealand as well. The music at the beginning and end may as well be cats mating though.
My basil often has spotty, inconsistent germination. Also if I hold it long enough to get good volume, it often seems to start yellowing. I'm growing in a greenhouse so it can get pretty hot in there. Maybe I'm watering too much? Thoughts?
You know you got something special when you see so many nedative comments. I was in awe and i could care less how big his land is. He gave us free info and i for one am thankful. Microgreens is now where i am heading in my hoophouse. very cool thanks!
Rain or sprinkler water splashing funghal spores in the ground is the main culprit for funghal diseases affecting strawberries (Mycospherella fragaria in particular, botrytis cineraria, mildew, etc.). Make a taller growing ridge and cover it with thick black plastic. Mulch in the ways reduces splash but it also raises the ground level, so use sparingly. Plants age considerably after 7 years and it's better to plant new ones since the bark gets too thick and produces significantly fewer new shoots
Wow, I'm not into farming, of any kind.. and I'm certainly not even green fingered.. But I've loved watching this video!! This young man (Yotam?) is so sharp, passionate and incredibly knowledgeable about his subject and business. He's absolutely on the ball and would make a success of anything he attempted I'm sure. More power to your elbow Yotam, I've no doubt that you will inspire many others to attempt to do just what you're doing. Best wishes to you and good luck. To the many trolls and childish idiots who are arguing the toss about how much land Yotam is farming... Please shut up and go away you are spoiling this whole thing. He's already stated that he has a quarter acre, why should he make it up? Also... he's already stated that the land you see isn't all his. The TOTAL farmed land is all a larger community.. His SHARE of it, ..of the cultivated land that you see... IS a quarter of an acre. So, the aerial view you are all being so boringly argumentative about, isn't all his alone, you bunch of bloody trolls. .
I have 20 acres on a very hard to access area. It's on the coast area of Ecuador, south America 15 to 30 degrees centegrade all year. What can you recommend?
HA! been hunting for flats for microgreens for a while and found the same trays last week! glad Im heading down the right track! great vids and awesome to see some kiwi based content out there.
I have been cutting off the strawberry leaves each year after harvest, a few inches above the crown,but that seems to scorch and weaken my plants (it killed quite a few last year), even with daily watering after cutting. It also seems to produce weaker and scorched runners that don't thrive well. I live in Zone 6a, and its not like we are in the desert or anything. What am I doing wrong, since everyone seems to do this and swear by it? Thanks!
One option may be an "open house" day at the farm where visitors can pick their own strawberries when they're too small to be worth taking to market? No labor on the farmer's end other than keeping an eye on people.
"Guy telling his story...." "THEN THE SUN CAME???" you just cut him off to try and spoil his story by guessing the ending. Try not to do this, its very annoying to the person telling the story.
If you're this booty-bothered about someone who is giving genuine feedback on how you can make your videos more watchable then you should disable comments on your videos.
im curious to anyone out there, these lil trays he has plants growing in, wouldnt those hinder the overall yields by disrupting the taproots downward growth??? im in the stages of learning, was just curious... thanks!!
This is outstanding, how about building a greenhouse above the strawberries ? ( Get some straw around them in autumn , for insulation) . More power to you, man !
Anna at the Farm ..anna ..first there was basil..then the rest...basil is magic with most..basil .tomato..cucumber..strong cheese..balsamic..olive oil..crusty sourdough bread..food from heaven
Curtis, how do they do lettuce and micro greens in hot weather? I want to do salad and micro greens but I’m in Savannah Ga. My salad greens bolt by May. Any advice?
Can you tell us more about the sine wave generator? Who makes it and what does it cost? Are you using an air conditioner or a heat pump to cool your walk in cooler?
You can google "sine wave generator". Make sure you are looking at a power generator (hundreds or thousands of watts) not a signal generator (tens of watts with flexibility in the signal characteristics). The cost difference is in the inverter electronics, smoothing out the alternating current so motors work more efficiently.
That is an awesome production system ... loving the show and tell on the micro greens, we can't get proper flats here in the UK either and literally was looking at catering trays at my local cash and carry yesterday ... One question Curtis: I imagine the trays have been drilled for drainage, Is this so ? Thanks for the great vid :-D
+Pakaraka Permaculture +Urban Farmer Curtis Stone ... Thank you so much for your replies, you have both helped me with the work-around I've been looking for to increase testing and production for micro greens. Thank you so much
Hah this dude is adorable. He looks so happy with his farm and seems genuinely excited to tell you all about it. What a champ!
This guys is one of the most data driven farmers I've ever seen. It's really exciting to see someone like this optimizing every aspect of his operation.
Check out Neversink, that dude's the same way. Just takes him a little longer to put it into words though :P
IF they were done with the strawberry patch for the season and already picked the runners to start a new patch elsewhere, they could instead of doing labor pulling everything out just move their chicken pen to the strawberry patch and let the chickens do the tearing out and turning of the soil. Add a horse/cow manure row on the high side and the chickens will pull it down the entire distance... That way you get good eggs, fast growing chickens and you don't have to feed the chickens anything else and they do all the work for you. Once they are done, move them to another spot that needs clearing and tilling and clean your terrace rows up for the next planting.
Jeez you're on to it
Problem is that he has fabric down
Chickens poop everywhere. Chicken poop is very dirty. Chicken fertilizer is much safer.
Chicken fertilizer is chicken poop. And those microbial issues you seem to be concerned about are actual beneficial in preparing the soil to be useable by plant life.
Chicken shit is full of nitrogen.
Boy those New Zealand farmers' properties are just so beautiful. What a great shot from the drone overhead. Really nice property.
Yotam is an Israeli emigre to NZ
wow that's cool....his farm is really nice
the entirety of new zealand is beautiful, unlike australia where only the buildings look nice.
^ right on. The whole north island is nice, since there are changes in altitude everywhere and the climate is great because of coastal weather. Better than where I come from, since it is rather flat here and the weather is either freezing in winter or burning hot in summer.
Karen C ye NZ is lit
2:20 "...Yeah!..." GREAT expression of a "victory lap" as he speaks of the bounty and the 25 liters of frozen ready made strawberry sauce.
very passionate young man about his farm. Love to see this kind of enthusiasm!!
1/4 acre, 1/2 or full acre, it does not matter, his knowledge+skill+passion/artistry+++his hard work is amazing!
That is the perfect location for planting crops because of the water runnoff from the surrounding hills and the nutrients carried with the water is very good for plants plus it looks like the way he has it set up is perfect where the tent creates a runoff into the crops. Perfect set up and location for growing crops not too much sun or getting burned because of the hills and the hills and the set up seem good for good drianeage and clean and nutritive runoff from the surrounding landscape. plus its higher up and gets good airflow which is also important.
That great. I remember watching last year. He's doing an awesome job. I love that he is off grid and still crushing it. Keep up the great work.
This is an amazing operation, and what makes it so great is this guy's work ethic, knowledge, and organizational skills. (and the wisdom of listening to his wife, lol) One thing I've noticed is that people who just knuckle down and do the job are much happier and have this amazing aura of rightness about them, as opposed to people who stand around and talk and complain. I wish many blessings to him and his operation. The world needs more men like this. Doing, learning, growing, adapting. Awesome!
Don't touch the healthy flats of micro greens after touching the moldy ones?
Judy Onthemton
Exactly what I thought.
I pictured billions of spores flying off the moldy flats & cringed.
BUT I'm super impressed with the set up & took notes.
Judy Onthemton yup
Totally right! will do :)
Pakaraka Permaculture
Bobby Light two wrongs don’t make a right
Totally crushing it, very adaptive and lean
"I'm so glad I listened to my wife" this man gets reminded of that comment every time they disagree, I guarantee it.
"She's now managing half of the operation" LOL
Great to see another small scale producer doing it off grid and in New Zealand! The cooling is always the issue but once you can work that one out it's all sorted! We use a simple reverse heat exchange system using ground water for cooling all run via a 12v system. The Nissan eNV200 electric van is a good way to go if you want capacity and something relatively affordable and very simple (eg Nissan Leaf in a box!)
Just googled this van. In the UK it costs £10 000. I don't see this as low cost or affordable.
Thanks for this! Love Love Love!! From the Farm-A-Yard team!
A canadian interviewing a south american in New Zealand. Now ive seen it all.
Curtis, I saw you on WranglerStar and decided to give your channel a look. Now I am subscribed! Thanks for making the trip to be on RUclips w/Cody and Mrs. W!!!
Thanks for subscribing. It was an amazing trip all around.
This is a very productive garden. In the first few minutes when he was showing the rows of strawberries, I was thinking about John Jeavons, and biointensive beds instead of rows. I was fortunate enough to participate in a 3 day workshop with John Jeavons, Carol Cox, and others from Ecology Action in Willits, California back in 1995. It was a great learning experience. I recommend their books and materials highly. They also have a seed company called Bountiful Gardens that sells nothing but open pollinated seed varieties.
Refreshing listening to that fellow talk about practicing and honing his craft. Lots of thought, focus, and attention obviously put into his work.
Curtis I have watched ALL your videos and your work is truly inspiring. You are a mentor to many in this world so keep doing what you are doing and sharing knowledge and courage. I am in my first year of farming so this update video was also truly inspiring. Wish you and all the other people you have touched the best in this world., PS I was browsing Paraka's instagram and would just like to say congrats to you and katie & good luck
This is almost exactly the look I am aiming for once my student loans are paid off! I absolutely love hillside terrace permaculture and I have to say you folks at Pakaraka are awesome! If I ever make it out that way I hope you won't mind a visit!!
So good to see how far they've come since last time you were there
I am so happy I listened to my wife, said every man ever
Without my wife making the calls Id be dead or in prison...
I'm loving this channel. we are planning on buying roughly 20 or 30 acres in Louisiana. we were planning on orchards and chickens or goats but I'm starting to think growing crops would be a better experience. it's very inspirational stuff.
At 6:19 is that yacon growing next to the strawberries?
Yes, just fir us to eat though.
I can't understand what he is saying at 3:16. I really want to know because I have 75 Strawberries on the way and I am planning to propagate them out like in this video. Thanks.
I really enjoyed watching this video! Thank you all. So inspiring!
I remember the old video about the strawberries! So fun to see it again!
Can't get proper flats down in Portugal either.
His soil (and crops) looks amazing!
Awesome, but it looks like more than a quarter acre.
Thanks Tony, it's a 1/4 acre of market garden, not more. the farm is a community we are a part of and it is bigger.
+Pakaraka Permaculture כל הכבוד אחי, זה נראה מעולה!
Can you tell us more about your community? It looks great and I will be eventually trying to do exactly the same thing you are and run everything off the sun!
thanks
Hi, have a look at our website, we share our story there :)
You are so passionate about your business and such an honest person and joyful person. Great job on everything you’re doing.
This was a really great video. Very inspirational to see how much he has grown, and seeing all of the healthy green foliage and dark soil reminds me that spring and summer are on their way.Thanks for the great vid.
Very cool grow. Cheers from across the big pond. We love the strawberries, micro greens, basil. In the tunnel greenhouse, is that bamboo used for the tray shelving ?
Yes it is. Thanks!
Great video, very inspirational! I loved his story and enthusiasm. Thanks for showing New Zealand as well.
The music at the beginning and end may as well be cats mating though.
The farm looks great! Love that you're running off solar.
Thanks!
Amazing. congratulations on all of your hard work and harvest.
i love listening to people who are passionate about what they do. this guy truly is!
Nice tour...they are crushing it!...liked!
I lost interest very early in the vid until I heard him say, "I'm glad that I listened to my wife." I thought, oh I could learn something from this!
Great video. It was nice to see the update!
My basil often has spotty, inconsistent germination. Also if I hold it long enough to get good volume, it often seems to start yellowing. I'm growing in a greenhouse so it can get pretty hot in there. Maybe I'm watering too much? Thoughts?
A question. When planting, is it better to have rows running N/S or E/W for max sun or doesn't it really matter? Im in lower Michigan
hey thanks for talking about the process and stuff, I would like to know how he keeps the weeds out of his garden outside?
I could listen to him talk all day. Great job!
You know you got something special when you see so many nedative comments. I was in awe and i could care less how big his land is. He gave us free info and i for one am thankful. Microgreens is now where i am heading in my hoophouse. very cool thanks!
Such a great tour to watch, what an epic farm he is running
I remember the video from last year! fantastic info and enjoyable to watch.
Rain or sprinkler water splashing funghal spores in the ground is the main culprit for funghal diseases affecting strawberries (Mycospherella fragaria in particular, botrytis cineraria, mildew, etc.). Make a taller growing ridge and cover it with thick black plastic. Mulch in the ways reduces splash but it also raises the ground level, so use sparingly. Plants age considerably after 7 years and it's better to plant new ones since the bark gets too thick and produces significantly fewer new shoots
Wow, I'm not into farming, of any kind.. and I'm certainly not even green fingered.. But I've loved watching this video!!
This young man (Yotam?) is so sharp, passionate and incredibly knowledgeable about his subject and business.
He's absolutely on the ball and would make a success of anything he attempted I'm sure.
More power to your elbow Yotam, I've no doubt that you will inspire many others to attempt to do just what you're doing. Best wishes to you and good luck.
To the many trolls and childish idiots who are arguing the toss about how much land Yotam is farming...
Please shut up and go away you are spoiling this whole thing.
He's already stated that he has a quarter acre, why should he make it up?
Also... he's already stated that the land you see isn't all his.
The TOTAL farmed land is all a larger community..
His SHARE of it, ..of the cultivated land that you see... IS a quarter of an acre.
So, the aerial view you are all being so boringly argumentative about, isn't all his alone, you bunch of bloody trolls.
.
Hi Curtis great videos , I really appreciate the content you post for all of us!
I have some sloped land similar to this... I'd love to get some info on water run off mitigation
Love this. I'm really thinking of getting into small farming and horticulture. Guess I'll have to start the vids from the beginning.
looks like a great spot to live, and a beautiful garden, 10 out of 10.
Could you outline total land in the operation? Fallow Area/Production/Outbuildings/Green houses....
I wish I had the knowledge to start off my own farm...
Just subbed, and I just wanted to thank you for all the great videos, so Thanks!!
I have 20 acres on a very hard to access area. It's on the coast area of Ecuador, south America 15 to 30 degrees centegrade all year. What can you recommend?
HA! been hunting for flats for microgreens for a while and found the same trays last week! glad Im heading down the right track! great vids and awesome to see some kiwi based content out there.
could you provide what cooler you use.
Awesome and informative video. Appreciate the content
great video and info. Thanks for sharing. wonderful farm. This type of farming can feed all humanity, no problem.
how many people work in that a quarter acre ? and how long per day to fill all the land with plants.
Such an interesting episode. Thank you for producing videos on New Zealand.
I have been cutting off the strawberry leaves each year after harvest, a few inches above the crown,but that seems to scorch and weaken my plants (it killed quite a few last year), even with daily watering after cutting. It also seems to produce weaker and scorched runners that don't thrive well. I live in Zone 6a, and its not like we are in the desert or anything. What am I doing wrong, since everyone seems to do this and swear by it? Thanks!
One option may be an "open house" day at the farm where visitors can pick their own strawberries when they're too small to be worth taking to market? No labor on the farmer's end other than keeping an eye on people.
That is truly inspiring! Thanks, Curtis.
i remember the strawberries video! inspiring to see such great progress being made off- grid
I love that he is saving his salanova seeds. I am doing that too. Great minds think alike :-)
Could I get a diagram showing the size of the beds of the variuus crops?
Incredible! Insightful! Thanks guys!! From Nova Scotia
It's great to see someone so excited about what he is doing...
So happy to see this and looking forward to those videos.
"Guy telling his story...." "THEN THE SUN CAME???" you just cut him off to try and spoil his story by guessing the ending. Try not to do this, its very annoying to the person telling the story.
You know what's also annoying? People who make comments from the peanut gallery.
lol
Not as annoying as being interrupted while telling a story.
Add a time stamp to your comment, like 1:38, so others can go directly to the part you're criticizing.
If you're this booty-bothered about someone who is giving genuine feedback on how you can make your videos more watchable then you should disable comments on your videos.
He is FABULOUS! So interesting. Thank you for this video. Those salads looked GREAT. Had a hard time understanding some words
im curious to anyone out there, these lil trays he has plants growing in, wouldnt those hinder the overall yields by disrupting the taproots downward growth??? im in the stages of learning, was just curious... thanks!!
This is outstanding, how about building a greenhouse above the strawberries ?
( Get some straw around them in autumn , for insulation) .
More power to you, man !
Never thought of Basil in salad mix, I bet it would be a great seller.
Anna at the Farm ..anna ..first there was basil..then the rest...basil is magic with most..basil .tomato..cucumber..strong cheese..balsamic..olive oil..crusty sourdough bread..food from heaven
Definitely adding Basil & maybe others ..
Curtis, how do they do lettuce and micro greens in hot weather? I want to do salad and micro greens but I’m in Savannah Ga. My salad greens bolt by May. Any advice?
It’s all possible dude. Check out Ray Tyler’s Salad course. I should be doing a video about it soon.
I like this one..Yellow and Golden Chard seeds are usually half the price of Golden Beets..same color micros.
what temperature does his cooler need to be at to keep the greens?
This is so inspiring! Someday soon, this will be me!
I love that farming is getting cool.. like farming is becoming a new 'career'
I have never seen strawberries that look so amazing!! Congrats on your beautiful farm!!
Awesome video! Subbed and liked. Thank you for sharing this
I love how passionate and knowledgeable he is, always nice watching an expert speak on their craft
Don't change it!! Keep it real with the Fahrenheit!!
Isn't that a fictional movie from the sixties? or are you alluding to the documentary on American politics by that Moore producer?
so impressed with - what do you call them? - microsalads? for the sweet basil, what variety exactly do you use?
What's the name of the song in the first minute of the video?
That guy's accent is charming.
French, Israeli Middle Eastern I think.
Sooo, complementing and identifying the origins of an accent is - racist? That is just plain stupid.
What camera are you filming with around the :30 mark?
awesome video!
loved watching this one :)
What is that purple plant at 9:09
HeyZeus667 I think its a lettuce. At least that was what I was thinking it was. Looks like flat leaf of some kind.
Thanks for the reply, hoping for something a little more specific though,
So interesting !! Thanks for sharing with us
That is one beautiful landscape. What part of New Zealand is that and how do I buy property in that region?
That's in Coromandle near Thames.
Incredible work !
Farm looks beautiful, especially that field of eggplants. Also Yotam is quite attractive.
Can you tell us more about the sine wave generator? Who makes it and what does it cost? Are you using an air conditioner or a heat pump to cool your walk in cooler?
You can google "sine wave generator". Make sure you are looking at a power generator (hundreds or thousands of watts) not a signal generator (tens of watts with flexibility in the signal characteristics).
The cost difference is in the inverter electronics, smoothing out the alternating current so motors work more efficiently.
Anyone see the weed plants behind the strawberry patch??
That is an awesome production system ... loving the show and tell on the micro greens, we can't get proper flats here in the UK either and literally was looking at catering trays at my local cash and carry yesterday ... One question Curtis: I imagine the trays have been drilled for drainage, Is this so ? Thanks for the great vid :-D
+City Urban Farm Jim Peckham yes, I believe he did drill drainage holes in them.
Hi, yes we had drilled them. we take about 5 to 6 trays, put a template tray on top and drill all of them together.
+Pakaraka Permaculture +Urban Farmer Curtis Stone ... Thank you so much for your replies, you have both helped me with the work-around I've been looking for to increase testing and production for micro greens. Thank you so much
Looks great man. Keep it up!
+Diego Footer Thanks Bro, still a ways to go but really appreciate the support :-D
Just put the basil in a sub compartment with a exhaust fan and it will thank you.