On Good Land: The Autobiography of an Urban Farm
by Sarah C. Rich
Category: Gardening

Urban Farms provides in-depth profiles of 16 innovative farms located in major metropolitan areas across the country, each operated by passionate individuals and communities committed to growing their own fruits and vegetables and raising animals. Included in these pages are some of the leaders in the movement, from Novella Carpenter’s farm in an empty lot in Oakland to Growing Power’s vast compound in Milwaukee. In addition to stories about the farms and their owners, sidebars provide basic how-to tips for such activities as composting, canning, beekeeping, and growing vegetables. A burgeoning movement that is fast catching on, urban farming taps into many touchstones of the zeitgeist, including environmental awareness, the foodie culture, localism, distrust of mass-production farming practices, and the DIY approach to life and living. Praise for Urban Farms: “Sarah C. Rich’s handsome, intelligent URBAN FARMS (Abrams, $30) chronicles a movement to bring kale to the people, an effort that stretches across the country, from Brooklyn to Oakland. . . . Benson’s spirited photographs capture the joy and beauty of urban farming’s bounty. No vase full of lush peonies from the grounds of an elegant estate could inspire such looks of eager joy as do the tomatoes harvested out of New York City’s Edible Schoolyard. These vegetable gardeners—and farmers—are working against such odds that there’s simply no excuse to let a comparatively lush suburban backyard lie fallow.” —New York Times Book Review