Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer

March 17, 2010 | By In Article |

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5 Comments so far

  1. Goya Scholar on March 17th, 2010

    I wish that there would be some folks who heroically try to farm in an urban center will quit trying to be cute with distracting humor. Humor is good, but this humor keeps beating you over the head until you lose sight of the subject: the trials and tribulations of urban farming.
    Rating: 1 / 5

  2. karspeak on March 17th, 2010

    I thought this book would be right up my alley–a mix of gardening, foodie writing and practical environmentalism. Alas, the whole book could be summarized in one sentence: she moves to a ghetto and raises a garden and some poultry, bees, rabbits, and pigs. The end. She just didn’t have much substance or great writing to fill out the story.
    Rating: 3 / 5

  3. D. Lee on March 17th, 2010

    I thought this was a cute book – fast read. By far the most exciting parts were about the pig! Love you Big Guy and Little Girl.
    Rating: 4 / 5

  4. E. Chan on March 17th, 2010

    Funny and smart first-hand account of ambitious living and farming in a rougher neighborhood of Oakland. Novella’s passionate but karmic approach to the rollercoaster ride of her farm is inspiring and entertaining. Read it, and go plant something outside.
    Rating: 5 / 5

  5. RM Oesch on March 18th, 2010

    Any gardener who has struggled with getting their zucchini to bear, or in the opposite extreme, has struggled to get rid of it will appreciate the adventures, trials and tribulations, narrated in Farm City. This “unputdownable” book welcomes us in to her unexpected garden and farm, where the neighbors and animals are equally interesting, challenging, and mysterious. The current economic climate, the rise of Slow Food Nation, the success of Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, have a great many of us suddenly interested in Fresh, Real, and Sustainable; many of us in the big city or suburbia are feeling stranded, flocking to farmers markets and paying $7/lb for tomatoes. Novella is our heroine, bravely taking on the concrete jungle and creating her own answer, her own solution to Fresh, Real, and Sustainable, and explores for us what an undertaking it is, with a dedication most of us lack. Her drive stems from some internal urge, deeper than a devotion any ideology. She just can’t seem to help herself. Humorous, triumphant, not preachy, and including a bibliography full of lesser known, yet excellent, sources for further reading for those of us who are thinking of ripping up the lawn and trying our own hand at Urban Farming.
    Rating: 5 / 5

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