Backyard Roots: Lessons on Living Local from 35 Urban Farmers

Eanes, a San Francisco-based photographer, jumps onto the urban farming bandwagon and ventures into writing to give readers glimpses of what it's like to harvest veggies from the roof, transform sidewalk trees into orchards, fight town hall to keep chickens in your urban lot, take your goats for a walk through your city neighborhood, go cold turkey on grocery shopping, or forage for your breakfast, lunch, and dinner. These are just a few of the author's agricultural adventures in travels up the west coast from San Francisco to Vancouver, B.C., photographing and interviewing an assortment of farmers in unconventional locales. Readers new to this phenomenon may be amazed and possibly unrealistically inspired by these stories and the charming photos that illustrate them, both of which, in their rosy, occasionally bland, glow, may reflect Eanes's experience as a food photographer. The how-to advice that accompanies each profile is intriguing but often minimal. Readers with any knowledge of urban farming will likely be familiar with the activities, if not the individuals, some of whom have written books of their own. 200 color photos. (May)