urban farmer

I just finished an excellent book about a woman who started what was essentially a small farm a few blocks from downtown Oakland. (see Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer). She grew the usual vegetables, but also kept a swarm of bees, turkeys, rabbits, and even a couple of pigs. So committed, she spent a whole month eating solely off her very local bounty. A term she explores throughout the book is "urban farmer," ultimately reaching the conclusion that though not a "farmer" in the sense normally attributed, the work she has done to produce the bounty she has shared with her neighbors and friends give her full license to call herself a "farmer," albeit in an urban setting.

My favorite story is when she and her boyfriend are dumpster diving at night in Oakland Chinatown trying to find fish carcasses to feed their pigs. The fish are slimy, and in the midst of forraging on behalf of their pigs, a lot of fish guts from the dumpster have splashed onto their faces and clothing. It is a sad scenario. A homeless man who often solicits change approaches them. They expect that he is panhandling. In fact, he is offering them a dollar, so desperate they appear. The author starts giggling, miner's helmet on her head with large mounted flashlight, because this is a lot of effort and humility in the name of urban farming.

She also manages to make friends with the owner (formerly a chef at Chez Panisse) of a restaurant on Fourth Street in Berkeley while dumpster diving, who takes her into his kitchen and teaches her to make salami and other cured meats out of her beloved pigs. It is really interesting.

I too am an urban farmer, I'm growing the avocado tree pictured above haha. In just seven short years (best best case scenario), friend and I will be enjoying its fruits. woo woo.