Curtis Stone

Before starting his urban farm in the fall of 2009, Curtis had absolutely no previous experience in farming or even gardening. Up until 2008, he had been living in Montreal as a musician, playing in a band called People for Audio. It was over 15 years ago, when he heard the old cliche, "if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem". That was a turning point for him in that he knew that it was important for us to be active participants in our society, rather than just being by-standers. But it wasn’t until Curtis discovered a thing called Permaculture, while searching around on the internet for sustainable building methods, that it opened up a Pandora’s box of information and inspiration for him.

From there, he knew that he wanted to live in a way that was life affirming, not destructive. He left Montreal in March of 2008 to return to his home town of Kelowna, BC, to try and pursue this kind of life style. It was a bike tour down the west coast from Kelowna to San Diego in fall 2008 where he visited off-grid homesteads, eco villages, and urban farms, that inspired him to try to make a difference through his own actions. Upon returning from the trip totally inspired and ready to do something involved in sustainable ag, but not exactly sure what yet, a friend of his directed him towards SPIN farming. The stars must of aligned at that movement because once Curtis discovered that there was a way to farm that required very little investment, no need to own land or heavy machinery, he was confident that he could do it. He spent the rest of the fall and winter of 2009 studying SPIN farming and various other gardening and farming books, and then decided to go for it. With a little bit of money saved from a 6 month season of tree-planting, he had everything he needed to start a farm. After completing a successful and profitable first season in 2010, Curtis is a case study example that the methods taught in the SPIN farming models, are simple and easily transferable to anyone, including those who have no experience.

Through the off-season, Curtis works as public speaker on food related issues, and is a consultant for multiple community food projects throughout Kelowna. In September 2010 he was awarded ‘gardener of the year’ from the city of Kelowna’s Communities in Bloom.

Permaculture BC Courses and Events this instructor is participating in: 

A Fall Evening with Urban SPIN Farmer Curtis Stone

SPIN Farming Intensive Workshop

Student Tesimonials for Curtis Stone