IIrb?# farmer shares tales from book

Oakland, CA
(Alameda Co.)
bakland Tribune
(Cir. D.107,136)
(cir. s. 102,688)
l"lAR
,llt"n'"
2
I ::*11
P.c.B. Est. 1888
IIrb?# farmer shares tales from book
'Farm Citi author
fields questions,
shares stories at
Hayward Library
By Alan Lopez
Correspondent
HAYWARD
-
The farm
started smali, with some beekeeping and chickens. It grew
to encompass goats, rabbits
and pigs on what had been a
4,500-square-foot vacant lot
in West Oakland.
That's the plot of the
national bestselling book,
"Farm City: The Education
of an Urban Farmer," by au-
thor Novella Carpenter. On
Saturday, Carpenter detailed
some of her urban farming
adventures, answered questions and read from her book
at the Hayrvard Library.
The event, which drew
about 75 people, was part
of the library's first
Book-
To-Action program, which
included a book discussion
on March 21. As part of the
program, a communitywide
Novella carpenter talks Saturday about her book, "Farm city: The Education of an
Urban Farmer," at the main library in Hayward. "of course, everywhere people are doing
th s J' Carpenter sa id. " n a ny mapn oty,'--tffi u rba n farme rs.''
i
I
after moving next to an open that the idea of urban farm- rounded it.
volunteer day at the Ochoa lot in West Oakland eight ing is not new nor is it unique
Hayward librarian Sally
Middle School garden will be years ago. She started with to the BayArea.
Thomas said she chose the
"Of course, everywhere book for the Book-To-Action
held from 10 a.m.-lp.m. May beekeeping, and then began
raising turkeys, chickens and people are doing this," she program and will decide on
14.
said. "In any major city, another book within the next
Four students from Ochoa more.
She recounted her experi- there's urban farmers. Ev- few months. The Book-ToMiddle School gave their own
presentation about the gar- ence of buying piglets at an ery clty reflects its commu- Action program is funded
den at the Saturday event. auction
- first frorn China- nity style. It's interesting to in part by the United States
Thegarden is one of25 school town, and then from higher- see how it's done in different Institute of Museum and Ligardens operated in the Hay- end restaurants and grocery places."
brary Services as part of the
and feeding them
As a UC Berkeley graduward Unified School District stores
Life After 50
and overseen by Project food found in Dumpsters. ate student from the school Transforming
Project,
which
is intended to
EAT, which is coordinated by "The pigs ate reallywell," she of journalism, she said she
reach out to the baby boomer
the Alameda eounty Office of said.
was encouraged to write generation.
..,*,
She showed photos of about her urban farming exEducation. '
While the event attracted
Following the presenta- the two pigs' heads after the periences and had a piece
tion, Carpenter said she's animals went to the slaugh- published on Salon.com baby boomers, it also drew
found that it was the younger terhouse. With the help of about killing turkeys for her from the wider community,
people in their teens and 20s a Berkeley chef, the bodies Thanksgiving meal. From including students from
who were most enthusiastic were used to make prosciutto there, she was approached Chabot College, who are readabout urban gardening and and the heads were boiled by agents to write the book, ing the book in a language
farming.
"They're the
most
psyched," she said. "It's their
issue, I always feel old next to
and used to make sopressata,
a type of headcheese.
Showing a slide of a federal
which was published in 2009.
Some 50 Amazon.com
buyers have given the book
government advertisement five stars, lauding it for its
from the 1940s that encour- humor as well as the conCarpenter said she got aged people to grow food at trast'between the farm and
involved in urban farming home, Carpenter pointed out the gritty urban life that surthem."
arts class, Thomas said.
"People really like this
idea of the action part, the
community part," Thomas
said, "and we feel very happy
to facilitate that role in the
community."