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35th out of 115 books
—
46 voters
City Farmer: Adventures in Urban Food Growing
City Farmer celebrates the new ways that urban dwellers are getting closer to their food. Not only are backyard vegetable plots popping up in places long reserved for lawns, but some renegades are even planting their front yards with food. People in apartments are filling their balconies with pots of tomatoes, beans, and basil, while others are gazing skyward and ""greenin...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
May 3rd 2010
by Greystone Books
(first published April 30th 2010)
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Sep 05, 2012
AnandaTashie
added it
I'm not going to give this a star rating because I haven't read it fully. I checked it out from the library and simply read a couple pieces and skimmed some others. I think the author's voice is very approachable. The book's focus is: local, utilizing space effectively (vertical, roofs, balconies, front yards, etc), guerrilla gardening, community lots, changing how we view food, reconnecting.
Though it's certainly nothing "new", I wanted to remind myself of this method as I prep my yard this aut...more
Though it's certainly nothing "new", I wanted to remind myself of this method as I prep my yard this aut...more
City Farmer
Adventures in Growing Our Own Food
By Lorraine Johnson
Greystone Books, 242 pages, $20
Locavore
From Farmers' Fields to Rooftop Gardens --
How Canadians Are Changing the Way We Eat
By Sarah Elton
HarperCollins, 229 pages, $30
By now, words like locavore and food miles have become a part of the modern lexicon.
Food-related books like Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation have topped bestseller lists, been made into movies and permeated food culture.
Their...more
Adventures in Growing Our Own Food
By Lorraine Johnson
Greystone Books, 242 pages, $20
Locavore
From Farmers' Fields to Rooftop Gardens --
How Canadians Are Changing the Way We Eat
By Sarah Elton
HarperCollins, 229 pages, $30
By now, words like locavore and food miles have become a part of the modern lexicon.
Food-related books like Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation have topped bestseller lists, been made into movies and permeated food culture.
Their...more
An excellent reminder that you can't rely on the wisdom of the [goodreads] masses. I hesitated grabbing this book twice from the library because of lukewarm reviews. It turned out to be delightful. The variety of urban gardening, farming and foraging covered got me thinking outside the traditional garden box. An added bonus is the healthy amount of resources, recommended readings and websites for further info. Quick, enjoyable and informative read.
Favorite passage:
"What exactly is vacant land e...more
Favorite passage:
"What exactly is vacant land e...more
I was not overly impressed with this book. I've read some similar things and I expected it to be more of a personal story. The author covers a lot of aspects of city farming and how it can be done in almost any setting on any scale. She does include personal stories, but it was more of a collection of facts and statistics. Also, it was mostly about Canada which didn't really apply to me as a reader in the US. It was just a harder read because it wasn't a story and was bogged down with so many fi...more
I thought this was a fantastic read. Johnson clearly has done her homework, citing various North American (not just Canadian) examples of urban agriculture at its finest. The appendix alone is worth a read through. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in growing their own food, even if it's just a couple of tomato plants on your balcony.
I took this one a little slower than the rest just to grasp and absorb the information within this book. the stories contained within and well as the information make this an all around great book. Not just for gardening but to build community gardens, learn about composting and more. If gardening interests you and you want to learn more then be sure to give this book a read.
It was a bit different from what I expected from the book, but it was interesting. The author lives in Canada and probably half of the info there was about the way things in Canada, but I liked it enough to read through. I may plant Kale in my front yard this fall....
I really didn't read the whole thing-just skimmed it. It's not what I was expecting. It's great for someone starting off in the whole self-sustainable journey and trying to figure out the whys of it. I'm a bit beyond that point, so a memoir type farming book is not really my speed.
She seemed surprisingly conservative, especially compared to other authors in this popular genre. A great collection about all of the various gardening efforts that are happening in urban areas; it almost read more like a newspaper than a book, which I enjoyed.
I likes thid book, but it was academic and not easy to read. I was "on fire" about urban farming, and this book took the fire right out of me with it's long explanations and ceaseless quoting of statistics.
Great overview of urban farming ideas and survey of community gardening efforts. I really enjoyed it, but I'd be interested to see an updated version.
These book had some neat, inspring ideas and some interesting statistics, but overall nothing new to me, really. The best part was the project ideas at the end and the links to all the community gardens and urban farms!
May 04, 2011
Cherie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Venessa, Wanda
Shelves:
gardening,
non-fiction
B Some interesting stuff, but I wish there was more practical growing advice. Still, great for the urban gardener activist!
so bloody fantastic.
maybe a little heavy on the American examples sometimes but perhaps this couldn't be helped.
maybe a little heavy on the American examples sometimes but perhaps this couldn't be helped.
http://www.dmpibooks.com/book/city-fa...
Canadian, not yet published in U.S.
Canadian, not yet published in U.S.
Love this book. Full of facts and figures about urban agriculture.
couldn't even finish it, very dry.
Wonderful!!
Lots of good stuff and more. The book is probably twice as long as it needs to be to hold the author's self-indulgent ramblings, but there really is some good guidance on encouraging and developing urban farming. A useful reference.
A wonderful read on the possibilities and potential of farming in the city! It provide an inspiration to follow her journey through different types of gardening and the chickens she raised in her yard.
This is a great guide to urban agriculture! Lots of practical resources mixed with some history as well as how and why growing food in cities can improve our lives.
Manque d'exemples pratiques pour les néophytes dans mon genre, mais bien motivant! une belle bouffée d'optimisme!
Some good tips on being a "city farmer", and encouraging neighbours to farm with you.
Easy to read, with helpful tips. Would recommend for beginning urban gardener.
May 20, 2013
Rose
marked it as to-read
May 07, 2013
Melissa Amaral
marked it as to-read
May 06, 2013
Trinity
marked it as to-read
Apr 27, 2013
Kerry
marked it as to-read
Apr 26, 2013
Jenny
is currently reading it
Apr 16, 2013
Liz
marked it as to-read
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