East Bay Urban Farm Tours

Last weekend, I had a mini-breakthrough in my life-long relationship to the Bay Area. Having grown up here, there are times when it can feel old, like: yep, been there, done that, worked in that building, lived in that neighborhood, celebrated a birthday in that park/restaurant/bar, went to school there, there and there. So, I'm always looking for ways to keep it fresh. Luckily, the Bay Area seldom fails to deliver, and last Saturday was one of those days when I peeled back a new layer of Oakland and Berkeley by going on the Urban Farm Tours, sponsored by the Institute of Urban Homesteading (IUH).

The tour included farms of all sizes, each with its own distinct approach to using space and resources wisely. There were seven farms total, and I made it to four. Here are some glimpses of the farms, from small to large!

Small: Tiny Berkeley Garden

This little Berkeley garden really maximized space, using the front and sides of the house, as well as the back, to grow veggies, herbs, berries and fruit.

This is the house before, overgrown with shrubs...

...and after.

 And the side of the house...

before...

and after.

In the back were more veggies and some chickens, which lived alongside bunnies.

These rabbit cages were hung inside the chicken coop, again to
maximize space. Apparently everyone gets along just fine, and
sometimes the chickens hang out in the rabbit cages, and the
rabbits nest below in the straw. 

This garden was co-designed by Planting Justice, an organization that constructs permaculture gardens in private homes, economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and schools, and at San Quentin State Prison. They state that, "Every three full-paying clients (like the one above) enables Planting Justice to do one garden for free for a low-income household or community." So if you're looking to hire a permaculture team to come in and revamp your space, there are some real benefits to hiring these guys! (End plug.)

Small #2: Shattuck Farms

The second small farm that I visited was Shattuck Farms, the latest project of Willow Rosenthal, founder of City Slicker Farms. If the first farm was more of an edible garden than a farm, this small space served as a working food supply for neighbors in North Berkeley. Much like a larger scale CSA farm, neighbors here share the cost of maintaining this garden and also the yields. These 650 square feet of actual growing space, "provide enough food for 5 families, 44 weeks of the year." A creative way to farm and eat "hyper-locally." And I have to say, the aesthetics of this garden were some of the nicest of the tour, mixing different sized containers with raised beds.

Willow talking to the group.

This bed was left to go to seed, in order to provide flowers for
the bees and to capture seeds for future plantings.

This just makes me want to eat salad. 

And kale.

More beautiful lettuce.

A flourishing beet bed was planted alongside
a path, to maximize growing space.

Trellises were placed in the middle of beds for vine crops, which
 then create a "living wall" and shade for one side of the bed.

Potatoes were grown inside coffee bags for easy harvesting.
Just rip open the sack, and you're done!

And of course: more chicks.

My sense is that this neighborhood CSA is trying to pioneer a model of urban community farming, using people's backyards (as opposed to public community gardens or growing food individually) to reduce costs, increase yields, and also create a job niche for professional urban farmers. (Hooray!) Right now there are hurdles, since the city won't allow private/home farmers to sell food. But the owner of this farm, Sophie Hann, is running for Berkeley City Council, and my guess is she is going to try and change that. 

Willow shares her extensive experience as an urban farmer in a book by the (mostly) same name, which she co-author with fellow Oakland urban farmer, Novella Carpenter. I've been making my way through it this spring. These two have a ridiculous amount of knowledge to share.

Medium: Beegrrl Gardens

This medium-sized farm/garden was at the house of Ruby Blume, founder of the Institute for Urban Homesteading, the organization that sponsored the tour.

 Ruby's garden had edibles, flowers and critters tucked into every space possible.

Veggies grew alongside bee-friendly flowers.

She kept rabbits for poop/fertilizer and meat....

...had two full hives of bees...

...and quail stashed underneath the stairs, for eggs. (Not the state bird variety.)

This greywater system captured laundry water and redistributed it to different parts of the garden.

This was a fun bog garden, planted in an old bathtub filled with cat litter and lava rocks.

Ruby has been developing her garden for 8 years, and, like Willow, is a huge source of knowledge. For those interested in her expertise, she also has co-authored a book, appropriately named, Urban Homesteading.

Large: Algarden and Da Terra Food Forest

The final stop that I made was at the Algarden and DaTerra Food Forest, in West Berkeley, a four-year-old converted empty lot and "permaculture wonderland." The farm was formed by permaculture designer, Giancarlo Muscardini and landscape designer, Patricia Algara.

On the left is what the lot used to look like. On the right is
after conversion.

The ground was revived through sheet mulching, which involves putting down a layer of cardboard and covering it with dirt or straw, and then letting the worms mix it all together to aerate the dirt.

The garden included logs to grow shitake mushrooms, which are cultivated by plugging the mushrooms into holes in the logs. (Ok, it's probably more complicated than that.)

The base of this fruit tree was surrounded by deep-rooted plants like comfrey, which help "mine" nutrients from compacted dirt below to feed the tree! A great example of how permaculture works.

 The garden also had lots of bees in pretty hives...

...and this tree house, constructed in the Food Forest of edibles.

This farm is a great example of how the neighborhood got together to create a vegetative oasis. The land belongs to the owner on one side, another neighbor provides water, and others provide manual labor. Like the Shattuck Garden, this was a creative model of what communities can organize when working together.


I left the Urban Farm Tours feeling pretty darn inspired. For a lot of years now, I've been focusing most of my spare, creative time on writing, and in the process have said no to lots of people and projects in order to stay focused and try and finish a novel. This spring has been the complete opposite. I haven't written much, and instead have said yes to just about any opportunity that relates to gardening/farming. The result? Some guilt around the writing for sure, but also a strong sense of connection, pride and excitement about the place where I live and have called home for so many years. How cool is it to be in a place where a movement around food and growing it sustainably it is so visceral, and to see, firsthand, that your (extended) neighbors are this enthusiastic about it?

I'll get back to my book eventually. But not when the weather's this good, and nature's banging down the door like it is. The other day, this bird found its way into the kitchen.

Right now, it just seems impossible to say no.