Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer Audiobook

" A quick, enjoyable read. There are points when she tries too hard to establish her hippie/hipster/slow food cred, but overall, the book left me with warm feelings about Oakland and a nagging curiosity about what it would be like to get my own urban meat by butchering the fat geese at lake merritt. "

" Inspiring for the urban farming wanna-be. Got me thinking about how much more I could grow in our yard and what it means to be personally responsible for the things that you eat. "

" Brilliant, funny and inspiring - I lend this one out a lot. Autobiographical account of a woman who sets up a mini-farm on some land behind her house in downtown Oakland. "

" i want to be novella carpenter. at least the urban farmer part. "

" This book was great! Read how she raises 2 pigs in an urban backyard in Oakland, CA, mostly on dumpster scraps. An urban farming must read. "

" Fun and educational it made me want to do more to feed my self and not fell so bad about not feeding my self all at the same time. This book is the funnest gardening book i have ever read, "

" I haven't been very good at sleeping lately, so for a while this is what I was reading in the middle of the night when I didn't want to think about anything or have any emotions. It's about a lady in Oakland who has a garden and some bees and chickens and ducks and turkeys and rabbits and pigs. Towards the end I realized she was giving away quite a bit of her eggs and honey and vegetables, and I wondered if maybe I ought to be a more generous person. As soon as I wondered this I fell asleep. When I went out to water my garden the next morning, I noticed that several of my tomatoes had been stolen. Generosity was being forced on me. A few days later I was mowing my lawn and my lawnmower kept dying so one of my neighbors who I've never talked to before came over to try to help me. We couldn't figure out what was wrong with it so he just let me borrow his and while we were talking his kid (I guess it was his kid) wandered over by my tomato plants and stroked the leaves. "That one just looooves tomatoes" his dad or whatever said. I have a suspect that I can't be mad at. He's like two years old and rides a tricycle and chews on a Silver Surfer action figure all day. Maybe if he keeps taking all my tomatoes his dad will feel obligated to let me use his lawnmower every week. "

" Bought it on my Kindle and made it through the first chapter "

" Novella Carpenter is a self-proclaimed nut, and I really enjoyed reading about her adventures in Urban Farming. Great read, and hopefully a good motivator for me to build some garden beds. And maybe my dog Lebowski needs some friends. Chickens? A goat? "

" Even this vegetarian liked it quite a bit. Probably because I spent a summer living not too far away in Oakland. "

" awesome stories of urban farming! loved it. "

" I enjoyed this book, but I am very happy these people do not live next door to me! "

" Those of you that know about my little urban chicken farming project will understand my love for this book. It was hysterical at times but on a more serious note it made me think alot about where the food on my table comes from. After you read it, you may want a hen or two of your own! "

" This books makes me miss living in the Bay Area. We lived in south Berkeley, just a couple of miles from the Ghost Town Farm. I found the authors style to be engaging, funny, edgy and enjoyable. I would definitely recommend this to anyone with a green thumb and an open mind. "

" Very light read, great for summer. Certainly makes you want to plant a garden. "

" This was a fantastic look at eating local and urban farming. It makes me let go of all the excuses if she can do it in a city I can surely do it in the country! "

" there was a lot of killing in this book. but it was cute and charming killing. "

" Wonderfully entertaining... my brain knows that Novella grew up around gardens/farms, but reading about her experience has me convinced that I could succeed with an urban farm as well. "

" another food book about urban farming. funny! funny! funny! "

" Very inspirational. I especially enjoyed the parts about her gardens, beekeeping, and the urban farmer lifestyle. I wouldn't necessarily recommend to vegetarians -- there's a lot in the book about raising animals for food (butchering, etc). "

" At the beginning I was giving this one 3 stars but as I progressed it turned into 5 and now I want to know if she's written anything else. This lady really knows how to write. "

" Oakland Ca. is an unlikely place to raise chickens, rabbits and pigs in an urban back yard. Timely, cute story. "

" Very frank and funny--a little like a love letter to a neighborhood. "

" Loved it. Funny, light and educational. I may be partial since I live in Oakland and have a garden and chickens! None the less, she's a great writer! "

" I worked with Novella a few times at Cody's books. I'm impressed with her writing. She's clear and witty, but very good at describing what her urban farm education was like. "

" OK, I started to just get grossed out and wigged out imagining her life...the dumpster diving for food for her animals kind of got me. But it was a fun read full of compelling characters, not least of which were some of the animals. "

" Set in Oakland so it is fun to hear about the neighboring city and know the places she discusses. Enjoyable book, especially if you have dreams of growing food for yourself in the city. "

" Good book that makes me want to get off my butt and into a garden. So much to learn but I feel a strong tug to get my hands in the dirt and to make something grow. "