Farm City Audiolibro Por Novella Carpenter arte de portada

Farm City

The Education of an Urban Farmer

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Farm City

De: Novella Carpenter
Narrado por: Karen White
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Novella Carpenter loves cities - the culture, the crowds, the energy. At the same time, she can't shake the fact that she is the daughter of two back-to-the-land hippies who taught her to love nature and eat vegetables.

Ambivalent about repeating her parents' disastrous mistakes, yet drawn to the idea of backyard self-sufficiency, Carpenter decided that it might be possible to have it both ways: a homegrown vegetable plot as well as museums, bars, concerts, and a 24-hour convenience mart mere minutes away - especially when she moved to a ramshackle house in inner-city Oakland and discovered a weed-choked, garbage-strewn abandoned lot next door. She closed her eyes and pictured heirloom tomatoes, a beehive, and a chicken coop. What started out as a few egg-laying chickens led to turkeys, geese, and ducks. Soon, some rabbits joined the fun, then two 300-pound pigs. And no, these charming and eccentric animals weren't pets; she was a farmer, not a zookeeper. Novella was raising these animals for dinner.

Novella Carpenter's corner of downtown Oakland is populated by unforgettable characters. Lana (anal spelled backward, she reminds us) runs a speakeasy across the street and refuses to hurt even a fly, let alone condone raising turkeys for Thanksgiving. Bobby, the homeless man who collects cars and car parts just outside the farm, is an invaluable neighborhood concierge. The turkeys, Harold and Maude, tend to escape on a daily basis to cavort with the prostitutes hanging around just off the highway nearby.

Every day on this strange and beautiful farm, urban meets rural in the most surprising ways. For anyone who has ever grown herbs on their windowsill or tomatoes on their fire escape, or who has obsessed over the offerings at the local farmers' market, Carpenter's story will capture your heart.

©2009 Novella Carpenter (P)2009 Tantor Ciencia Ciencias Alimentaria y Agrícola Divertido Ingenioso Inspirador Sincero Farm City

Reseñas editoriales

When Novella Carpenter and her boyfriend decide to move to an apartment at the end of a street in a rough neighborhood in Oakland, California, they base their choice on the large and vacant lot next door. Already experienced with raising chickens, gardening, and keeping bees, Carpenter wants to take on a larger challenge: creating an urban farm. Farm City is a memoir chronicling her development of the vacant lot, the acquisition of livestock, and the rich and diverse characters that populate her new neighborhood.

Carpenter's voice comes through Karen White's narration as having matter-of-fact sensibility, dotted throughout the book with dry humor and a healthy sense of irony. Carpenter is constantly planning to take the operations of her farm a step further than the season before, starting with raising ducks and turkeys in addition to her chickens; but as much as she plans, something unexpected is always around the corner. White's narration at once reflects Carpenter's excitement and frustration at setbacks, as every project turns out to be something slightly other than what she bargained for.

As the narrative of Farm City unfolds, Carpenter routinely reflects on herself in relation to the tradition of farming, and it is clear she sees herself in line with both the people of the past who farmed out of necessity and writers and scholars who have written about man's connection with earth as an intellectual exercise. Instead of trying to obtain a novel and unique experience, Carpenter wants to see herself as part of a very human tradition, and White's voice commands authority when she quotes the people who have inspired Carpenter. As Carpenter describes her rationale for deciding to raise livestock for meat and the daunting task of butchering the animals herself; White is unflinching. She conveys a confidence that what may seem brutal about killing her livestock has been a mere fact of life for human beings up until recent decades, and her candid descriptions and frank tone force the listener to wonder why it's the idea of having one's own farm that seems strange, and not the fact that so few of us has any connection at all with what we eat every day. Erin Ikeler

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Utterly enchanting.... The juxtaposition of the farming life with inner-city grit...elevates it to the realm of the magical." ( Publishers Weekly)
Entertaining Narrative • Inspirational Farming Journey • Compassionate Animal Lover • Humorous Anecdotes • Great Intonation
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I got this book because I love gardening, have bees, raise chickens for eggs and meat, and like the idea of being self sufficient. Listening to someone SQUAT on another's land, use their station wagon (tarped the inside, are you serious?) to haul manure, and use the F word wasn't in my plan.

While the book does offer some insight into a way of living I don't understand (daily shootings, sirens, punk kids with no adult supervision) and the gardening of a city dweller with country roots, I didn't like the book. If a person is living in the city and doesn't mind their station wagon having poop in the back then this book is for you.

If you want to read a book with better inspiration of living closer to YOUR land, raising your own food, and gardening for a purpose, then read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

Because some people find humor in the F word, and wouldn't consider a truck as a vital vehicle, I gave this book a 3. If you were my closest friend, I would take the book out of your hand and put it back on the book store shelf.

Hmmm.

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When you choose a book like this you expect to read something that's a little more educational than entertaining. In other words, informative but not as liesurely a read as maybe a Stephanie Plum novel. However, this one surprised me. It WAS educational in some ways, and definitely autobiographical, but it was also quite entertaining. I was very pleased by this book, and by the end of it I wished I had a neighbor with a secret restaurant in her basement and a pair of turkeys in my back yard. I would almost consider this story to be the Eat-Pray-Love of urban farming except Novella Carpenter's final revelation doesn't have quite the umph of Elizabeth Gilbert's. Still, the story has a similar feel and was worth my time & credits. I would recommend it to others (in fact, I am) most certainly.

Unexpected

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A great adventure in farming in the worst part of Oakland, CA. The adventures and misadventures of Nouvella Carpenter, hippy farmer are by turns touching and hilarious. Dumpster-diving to feed her pigs, hauling horse manure from farms outside the city, losing her geese and ducks to an opossum - all told from a singular point of view. Even if you're not as big a bleeding heart as Nouvella (and I'm not), there's lots of food for thought, along with stories of food for her neighbors.

Nouvella's more than just a latter-day hippie farmer, though - along with lots of references to to the literature on farming, self-sufficiency, ecology and environmentalism, I caught mentions of Icarus and Nobel Prize laureate Maurice Maeterlinck.

I'm a complete city-slicker, with more a black thumb than a green thumb, but this book is making me rethink a bit of how I live my life - and certainly making me change what I plan to read next. And to think I only got it on a whim, as $4.95 members-only special!

Fantastic story, lots of great info!

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First, for those upset because this woman is a "squatter," maybe should read/listen closer. She has permission to have a garden on that lot and says so at around the 45 minute spot. She just likes to call herself that because she was for about a week. Then met the owner and got permission.


This book does not give you directions so much as tell an entertaining story though you will hear tips on urban farming here and there. If hearing the four letter word for excretion rather than a more polite term for it upsets you, then move on. If the idea of putting well-rotted, composted horse manure in your car (at this point it's just a really rich soil - horse stuff is just plants ground up pretty much anyway) upsets your sensibilities then you'll hear things that will upset you. Being a former horse owner and long-time organic gardener, none of this upsets me in the least. I was jealous of her for being able to get so much of it.


For me, this was a very entertaining book and I enjoyed it a lot. Giving 4 rather than 5 stars though as I reserve 5 for only the greatest. Again, I enjoyed this book very much.

Not an instruction book but a fun read

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The fact that it's mostly true was neat. The narration was excellent. I'm just sorry there's not a sequel.

Really enjoyed the story

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What did you love best about Farm City?

I loved how real it was. The author seemed like a regular person, making her very relatable. I appreciated her honesty with her interests, struggles, triumphs, and learnings. She didn't filter unnecessarily- she described things as they were, with a healthy balance of humor, reality, and gratitude.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Farm City?

How the author related to us her realizations of a greater connectedness and cycle with living things, communities, and herself. You could tell she had a healthy respect for what she was doing and how it impacted the world around her.

Have you listened to any of Karen White’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not; this was an excellent first.

Funny, educational, relatable

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Although not someone I would normally choose to listen to, the story of Novella in Oakland, what animals she went though had me at times in tears of laughter and I learnt a great deal from her story! Before this story, I had considered keeping a Pig but no-way now! Bees are still a possibility.

Karen's Oratory was superbly on target, it just had an air of authenticity that I've only ever heard from Bill Wallis, really made the trials and successes a joy to listen to!

One of the best of this genre of audio books I have heard.

Superbly interesting story

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Would you consider the audio edition of Farm City to be better than the print version?

Yes.

What did you like best about this story?

The humor and joy mixed with the grit.

What does Karen White bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She gives a real feel of being in the story.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

There may be "no there, there" but They're There and living the dream (my dream, anyway)

Any additional comments?

Might there be a "further adventures" coming out?

I've already listened to it twice!

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Would you consider the audio edition of Farm City to be better than the print version?

can listen better than can read these days

What was one of the most memorable moments of Farm City?

the bee keeping parts

Which scene was your favorite?

the bee keeping parts

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Any additional comments?

enjoyable . educational

have listened to entire book twice so far

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What made the experience of listening to Farm City the most enjoyable?

I LOVE how Novella and her partner made use of materials that would've otherwise been tossed, and in doing so created something out of nothing. For some reason I find that quite exciting and really enjoyed this book. I also very much appreciated the revelation of her mistakes as well as her successes.

What other book might you compare Farm City to and why?

You can't help but compare it to Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral." I found this to be much less preachy, much more fun and in the end, a better learning experience. Much better narrated, too.

Have you listened to any of Karen White’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I don't believe I've heard any of Karen White's performances before this, but she did a pretty good job.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

The only quibble I had with the author was her interaction with Sheila. Novella ignored so many obvious signals, and then proceeded to blame Sheila for doing what she clearly indicated she would do, no matter what Novella had requested.

More enjoyable than Kingsolver's take on the topic

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