Farm City by Novella Carpenter - Book Report/Review Example

Lecturer: Book Review: Farm by Novella Carpenter Novella Carpenter’s, Farm captures an emerging trend in urban life, combination of small-scale urban farming and the continuation of urban existence. The book provides an interesting analysis into urban farming albeit with a delicate writing style that captivates the reader. Traditionally, farms are located in the country sides, far away from the hustle and bustle associated with city life and yet food is essential to human beings. Therefore, the book brings new insight into the not so traditional life of the city dwellers. The book exposes the major limitations of urban farming: small space and the minor role urban framing plays into improving food security of an area. The book is a description of Ghost Town Farm-which she describes as favoring such venture compared to Berkeley or San Francisco. According to the author, the area she set to do farming is often thought of as one of the worst, neglected neighborhoods in the city. The book addresses the reasons that prompted the author to begin raising her own food and the manner in which she undertook the process. The book is set on when the author and her boyfriend moves from Seattle to what she describes as a small apartment in the city of Oakland. She avoids San Francisco, which she describes as a city filled with people who are successful and polished.  Intertwined with the trade, manufacture, residence, recreation and the welfare associated with city life. The author injects an arousing fresh idea into city life- urban farming. She began by growing her own food, first, a garden, then a chicken coop and a beehive, captivated by these she added a beehive, a turkey, ducks, geese, rabbits and ultimately bringing pigs to the farm. The garden she creates is on a 4500 square foot adjacent to her apartment building. In the book, she provides an insight into the relationship between herself, boyfriend and her neighbors and further her growing knowledge in animal husbandry. Engaging in both plants and animal husbandry in an urban area demands not only intricate planning but also extensive sacrifices. Initially, the urban garden she intends to build, and after getting permission from the owner, is rustic. A repair shop and a junkyard border the farm, such that the noise emanating from her livestock compete with shrieks from car alarms. Further, a loud freeway and a billboard, which has a warning on sexual predation, are nearby, equipping that the scents of honey mingles with exhaust from the freeway. The book paints a picture of a transformation of the ghosts land into ecstatic piece of imagination. The delicate use of words provides a mesmerizing imagination of the farm, “a lime tree next to the fence... stems of salvias… and thistle-like leaves of artichokes glowed silver” (Carpenter 23). Further, she provides a vivid mental description of strawberry runners and the raspberry canes. The author provides a rich imaginative addition of animals into her farm, the rabbits, pigs, poultry and bees. The book provides an amateurish guide into urban farming design. Farming in the urban neighborhood is her answer to the mistakes she underwent when she used to live with her parents the rural places. Her interactions with livestock draw more impetus than plants. Indeed, the three chapters are named Turkey, Rabbit and Pigs respectively. The chapters dive into the delight and challenges of raising poultry, rabbit and pigs. She names and loves them and times constrained by the dilemma of raising the animals for meat yet loving them, and this is the paradox in the story. Ms Carpenter decries her murdered chicken, in fact, she mourns them, and then in a twist of irony, she succeeds in killing her first animal for meat, a turkey, and proceeds to involve her neighbors in investing in the farm. According to the author, the pigs, are the most involving, as they feed a lot, in fact, the author spend very many hours foraging in dumpsters to look for their feeds. Evening going into Chinatown to rummage for left over feeds for their pigs. Farm City provides a fundamental foray into urban design and farming as it provides a guide through which the reader understands the development of an individual, households and the community. The viability of her project is astounding, to say the least, and the transformation of the ghost town to place of plenty actually captures the gist of the story. The farm, hitherto unused, becomes a place where local nutritious foods find their way to the authors table. She is proud of the achievement and writes, “I felt young and healthy” (Carpenter 134), and this is a vivid expression of delight on such an accomplishment. Therefore, the small 4500 square land becomes a regenerating and she continues to live in harmony with the earth and its trappings. The book combines the best of rural life-the farm, with the best of the urban life-efficient transport system, to provide a rich assault into such an existence. The book provides an answer to the challenges of sustainability, which has amplified the influence of urban farming into urban planning and design. The particularly picked an area that is not only dangerous, but also neglected, providing a humorous glimpse into the art of balancing the high-risk ghetto life and farming. The book brings forth a combination of art, space, effort and time into the creation of the garden, bringing a reinvigorating purpose rich in experiences and the imaginative exploration of the farm. The patience, people skills, innovativeness, resourcefulness and the humor the author displays is infectiousness and motivating. A framework towards food self-sufficiency in a city, as it packed with a lot of information. The thoughtfulness in design the garden easily provokes the imaginative drains of any designer especially her choice of suitable materials and their detailing. The garden, from, the authors imaginative writing is by definition a living organism, twisted by the intrigues of the city life.  Indeed, Farm City is a captivating tale of urban farming packed with wonderful stories. She has bitter memories of the rural life in Idaho, a loneliness place, full of solitude; in fact, she admonishes people who head to the rural areas in an apparent attempt to connect with nature. Work Cited Carpenter, Novella. Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer. London: Penguin Group (USA). 2010. Print. Read More