Farm the City: A Toolkit for Setting Up a Successful Urban Farm

Organic farmer and first-time author Ableman translates his experience as cofounder and director of Vancouver’s Sole Food Street Farms into a useful manual for anyone interested in turning the concrete jungle green. His first steps include taking on a farming apprenticeship (with an actual farmer who’s successfully yielded crops for more than 10 years); establishing a strategy for raising capital; purchasing or leasing vacant lots sufficient for establishing a small but commercially viable farm (in cities with lower property values, he points out, more land might be available); and, last but not least, making friends with the neighbors, for whom “the crow of roosters [and] the smell of compost” may well be new, not to say unwelcome. Once these hurdles are overcome and a clear mission has been established, the rest is execution, for which the book also serves as a reliable guide. Whether addressing how to create fertile soil in urban areas, determine a farming plan for limited space (his own enterprise occupies four acres), or figure out crop rotation, Ableman offers guidance from season’s start to end. Beyond the agriculture itself, Ableman addresses selling produce and value-added products. This book is a must-have for any urban dweller serious about farming. (Apr.)