Another Book... Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer

I recently finished this book. It didn't take long considering I sat down with it at breakfast, lunch, dinner and every spare moment in between. You'd think I have nothing to do all day but sit and read. Far from the truth, however I will credit much of my progress these passed few months to the inclement weather, three feet of snow outside, which has all but melted. My rampant reading may take a back seat until fall.

Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter

This book is yet another homesteading book. To be honest I am getting a little tired of these books which keep getting published lately. Some are great, others... not so much. As much as I despise the publishing industry capitalizing on a growing trend (no pun intended) this is a book I was glad I read.

I have a soft spot for books written autobiographically, however I am very much aware of the genre's disappointments in the past (ahem... A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, now categorized as "semi-fictional memoir") but I digress.

I still know a good read when I read one and this is a good read.

The book is about a young couple recently arrived in Oakland, not just any part of Oakland, Martin Luther King Way Oakland, which prior to this book would have been just another address, now I see it as one of those places I can cross off my 'to visit' list. I have no desire to loose my bicycle or my life at the hands of my neighbours. However it intrigues me to no end how this couple managed to propagate a substantial garden (in a vacant lot), raise chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, rabbits and (yes they get bigger) two pigs without any city officials noticing. I mean really!

I am a true believer in self-sufficiency. I believe everyone should do away with grass and plant an edible landscape. I have a soft spot for anyone on the 100 foot diet but don't you need permits for this kind of operation?

Disbelief aside, Novella is witty, zany and kind of spacey. Completely harmless. I particularly like her admonition that she "is NOT a hippie!". I gave a soft chuckle every time she refused to call herself what she very clearly is. I don't blame her though. I too, was a closet hippie but now I like to call myself a free range hippie. It has a nice ring to it.

I make no excuses for my nutting, crunchy granola beliefs but then again it took me many years to get to this point. Perhaps Novella is at this point too, only after chronicling her adventures.

I found this book entertaining but far from educational. To become an urban farmer one must follow the by-laws, obtain the right permits and represent the urban homesteading movement in a slightly more nieghbour-friendly way. But what the heck do I know, I have a 130 square foot garden and no livestock to add to my curriculum vitae. I'm just a gardener to some, far from an urban homesteader.