Book: Farm City - The Education of an Urban FarmerAuthor: Novella Carpenter
Farm City is the story of a woman (Novella Carpenter) and her experience as a squater when it comes to urban farming. Yes, squater. In a very bad part of Oakland, CA of all places.
I found this book incredibly charming on several levels.
1. We're both from Idaho
2. We're both journalists
3. We both live (or in her case lived) in Seattle
4. We're both slightly obsessed with our new gardens
She however takes her obsession to a level my hubby would probably not really want me to go to.
(Right now he only shakes his head when I tell him my plans for the chicken coop.)If you enjoy gardening, this book is for you. If you enjoy growing your own food, harvesting it, finding the perfect recipe and sharing it with your friends, this book is for you. If you've ever looked out your window onto your garden and thought, yeah, I could raise chicken, geese, ducks, turkeys, rabbits, pigs and then slaughter them yourself, then this book is for you.
Ok, even if you don't go that far, this book is still a delightful, charming read that will have you laughing out loud and contemplating your role in our food/consumer relationship. Oh, and it'll make you hungry. After reading her chapters on pigs and what they will mean to her (nurishment wise, not emotionally attached to them - although that does happen), I actually ordered bacon the other day. And I ate one piece. That's a big step. For me anyway. The hubby gladly took care of the other two slices.
And after reading about her garden, I just wanted to share some of my garden pics!
4 comments:
I heard an interview on NPR about this book. Sounds perfect!
It's in my reading queue, Meg! Thanks for the review. And your little orange tomatoes -- they look like heaven!
What an interesting sounding book! I am not sure I could take out my own cute little piggies. But I can say I have no qualms about crunching down on a tasty piece of bacon. Thanks for the review! -Sara
Ooh! This sounds like a book that's right up my alley! Aside from all that yukky slaughtering business of course. ;-) I will look for it at the library -- thanks Meg!
Post a Comment