Description
Farming in cities and small spaces is becoming increasingly popular, but it has its challenges. City Farming addresses the problems the urban farmer might face and turns them into creative solutions. It assists the new grower to gain expert understanding of how to create a production urban farm, as well as helping established farmers to troubleshoot and discover new ways to bring their space into greater harmony and production. From the perspective of a holistic gardener, growing plants and raising livestock are covered as well as integrated approaches, which bring together the whole farming system in a small space to produce high yields with minimal energy and effort.
The content is organised by themes of importance to urban farmers‚ sun and heat, water usage, seasonal production, spatial planning, soil quality and usage, propagation and breeding, pests and diseases, farming under time constraints, sustainability and community initiatives. These are all discussed within the context of urban farming and include common issues and strategies like microclimates in built-up areas, natural and organic approaches, water harvesting, toxic land, roof gardening, converting ornamental gardens to productive edible gardens, municipal regulations, vertical gardening, aquaponics, composting methods, livestock suitability in limited space, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) schemes, permaculture in small spaces, community gardens and trade & barter schemes.
Each chapter unfolds a piece the story of The Micro Farm Project that provides an overview of the theme, and then discusses the crop and livestock considerations relating to the theme of the chapter in the form of the challenges they present and practical solutions to the problems such as lack of space, high population density, poor soil quality, planning restrictions etc. Case studies giving examples of different methods used within urban farming from different regions throughout the world are included.
City Farming is a beautifully illustrated source that can be valuable to both beginners and more experienced urban farmers.
Kari Spencer is a Master Gardener volunteer and a popular international gardening & homesteading speaker. She teaches a sustainability and permaculture course in the Urban Farming department at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, and has written curricula related to growing crops and agribusiness. Her family operates The Micro Farm Project, Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Learn more about her and about urban farming at CityFarmingBook.com.
Edible Phoenix review –
‘Kari Spencer is going to change the way you see your backyard, and maybe how you see yourself, too. What might seem like a small, empty stretch of land is actually a canvas of potential, waiting to be painted with vegetable patches and chicken coops. While you may consider yourself a gardening hobbyist, you are in fact an urban farmer in the making. City Farming is an empowering guide to converting small urban spaces into productive food hubs. Filled with both practical advice and heartfelt anecdotes, this book will help you become the next backyard food revolutionary, one plant or pasture at a time.’ – Edible Phoenix
Rozie Apps –
Kari’s writing style is easy going and friendly, making this a relaxing and enjoyable read. She’s packed quite a lot of advice in, and areas where she only has room to mention certain ideas, she has included website links to further resources – you’ll be kept busy for months with all the additional resources – Rozie Apps, Assistant Editor at Permaculture Magazine