I am offering a copy of the urban farming book, Your Farm in the City by Lisa Taylor! This is a youth competition for ages 18 yrs and under. All you have to do is submit a written story about a memorable experience with food no later than 5PM, April 15th 2011 (Date extended to April 18th!). Email entries to esperanza at pluckandfeather dot com. The winning story will be featured on Pluck & Feather and the winner will receive a free copy of Your Farm in the City.

Rules for the contest:

Story must be related to the theme.

Story must be your original work.

Story cannot be more than 500 words.

Story must be non-fiction and follow the form of a diary, journal, memoir, or essay…real stories about real life.

Story must be written mostly in English.

No foul language or inappropriate material.

Include mailing address, name and age with your entry.

By entering this competition, you grant Pluck & Feather permission to post your work, name and age.

Stories will be judged on a combination of factors including style, content, length, originality, etc.

Winners will be announced by April 25th, 2011.

Next book up!

Your Farm in the City by Lisa Taylor and the Gardeners of Seattle Tilth

In bookstores now!

Your Farm in the City is a lovely book for people beginning to grow food and considering keeping animals. It has a Farmer’s Almanac type design with engaging formatting and great graphics. The techniques featured emphasize food production and small space gardening. The information provided on soil and soil health are excellent. I find it challenging to convey soil health in accessible language sometimes so I was impressed with Ms. Taylor’s great job. I teach an intern about soil and growing food and found the manner in which information is displayed in this book excellent for adults and youth. In fact, there are specific activities included to engage youth. Awesome!

There is a section on page 80 about the Dervaes family. I was not in love with that but then how was the author to know that the kooky Dervaes’ would attempt to lay claim to the age old practice of urban homesteading?

The section on irrigation is very descriptive and helpful. I liked the section on organic pest management. Actually this section of the book includes other “pests” such as mammals and birds with helpful suggestions to deter them. That is with the exception of the suggestions for rats. Good luck with the methods suggested. I have found city rats that  infiltrate due to my close proximity to food businesses a real battle. The chapter on weeds is also really helpful. The author has included not only how to best handle the invading plants but how perceived “weeds” can actually be useful.

The last chapter of the book is on urban farm animals. It is a brief section smartly prefaced with the advice to learn all you can about the animal before acquiring them. The information provided is cursory and meant only to give an idea of what might be required in terms of amount of space, basic care, benefits and some common problems- especially the sections on rabbits and goats.

In total, I think it is a great book for all ages! I am particularly impressed with the beautiful youth friendly formatting.

In fact, since the publisher sent me an extra copy, I am going to offer it via a youth writing competition. More on that later!

I’ve had the fortune to review a couple of urban farm & homesteading books about to hit the market. First up!

Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living by Rachel Kaplan with K. Ruby Blume.

Due on the market April 10th, 2011.

This book is a thorough how-to on creating an urban homestead. There is much to love about this book. What I appreciate most about it is that it provides an excellent context for how the personal act of homesteading is part of a larger effort to create sustainable communities and address critical issues affecting our health and environment. The “Start Where You Are” section is beautifully done.

The book provides full cycle information for the various levels of implementing a homestead, emphasizing starting simple and small. This is a personal mantra of mine so I love that they have the awareness to share the need for this approach. Since the authors’ approach is simple to more complex they also provide detailed information on how to get started and how to progress into layered systems that are energy efficient, cost reducing and healthy. Since I have been working on my Pluck & Feather project for the last seven years, I find the information well suited to both beginners and intermediate folks like myself. There are a few details that I really value in Urban Homesteading, these include transition timelines, the discussion about livestock, seasonal photos of an edible landscape, and the extensive bibliography.

The transition timelines are brilliant little gems of wisdom that help you gauge the amount of time it may take to transition into certain habits. Creating an urban homestead is not an overnight process. It takes time to build up the skills. For each new system you implement for your household there can be significant lifestyle change. That is the whole point. Yet, it takes time to transition into new habits. The transition timelines provide a bird’s eye view of the timeframe you are committing to. Love it!

The discussion on livestock is grounding and helpful. I feel very rewarded by my own experiences (good and bad) with the animals I keep. However, I would advise anyone thinking about it to consider the full spectrum of what it means to keep these farm animals- health issues, clean up, behavior and life cycle, potentially tough topics. I appreciate that the authors address this.

The seasonal photos are also great as they depict what you can expect your space to look like if you convert it to primarily food production. This helps prepare a person for the winter look which can be rather stark…but full of promise. I also love that they provide a great bibliography. I personally like to verify information, learn more and know in general why certain practices work better than others. A bibliography also gives credit to great thinking where credit is due.

My only criticism of the book is where are all the brown people?! No brown people, no party.

All in all, I highly recommend this book. Its well done, greatly informative, and very affordable. Great job Rachel and Ruby!

I decided to try my hand at quails. I love the little eggs and well…I like quail as well. My Metwest intern, JH, helped in preparations.

We used scrap materials I had in the yard to build a hutch.This was actually a lab sink I found about a block away on the street. I rolled it home knowing I’d one day have a use for it. I removed the counter top, covered the quail side with poultry wire and attached a roof. We had the roofing around from previous bird shelter. It is still in need of a door to protect the food storage area. JH and I recently scored a door for $3 at our local scrap shop, Urban Ore. Once the rain subsides, the top portion of the door barrier will come off for additional cooling and ventilation.

Quail, being so small don’t need a huge amount of space, ~1 sq ft per bird.

The tiny feeder and waterer bottoms came from Concord Feed & Pet Supply. I supplied my own jars. I suggest appropriate size containers to avoid waste and additional mess. Dang they are messy! You’d think cute little birds would be tidy. For bedding I’m using this recycled stuff a friend gave me. Its Carefresh brand- described as “virgin reclaimed” cardboard (an oxymoron if you ask me).

I’ve already gotten some awesome little eggs. One of the quails came to me a bit sick (fluffy bird with droopy eyes). Sadly, she didn’t make it. I would like to have more females laying. So since there is a male in the flock, I have fertile eggs that I am going to incubate. Apparently, they have a 17 day incubation cycle. This should be interesting.

Quail Start up costs:
Birds: $2/per (4)
Feed: $1.50/lb (2lbs)
Waterer: $1.99
Feeder: $3
Cabinet door: $3
All other supplies were recycled from previous projects and incubator will be on loan.

Total: $19 plus some tax so like $20. Going rate for one dozen quail eggs: $6. I saw some mention of the unbelievable health benefits of eating quail eggs but I am a skeptic. I looked for even one recent scholarly article supporting the claims but found none after a a cursory search. I’ll poke around some more but I think maybe an egg is an egg, which is a beautiful thing in itself.

After trying my hand at a Queso Asadero, which is supposed to be similar to mozzarella in texture (but came out a queso blanco) I realized I needed to know a bit more before attempting a harder cheese that takes time to develop. I did not want to risk wasting precious goat’s milk. So I attended a cheese party at Pineheaven Farm. This was definitely helpful. Thus, I tried a Mexican cheese called Cotija. This cheese is a very salty cheese crumbled atop tacos, beans, enchiladas, corn, soups. Pretty much sprinkle it on anything you want to accent with a salty creamy garnish. Cotija is traditionally made with cows milk. It was created  in Cotija, Michoacán in Central Mexico.

Difficulty
Moderately Challenging

Things you’ll need
- 1 gallon milk
- Large cooking pot
- Cooking thermometer
- 1/2 ml calcium chloride
- 1 thermophilic bacteria culture tablet
- Electric mixer
- 1/2 cup salt
- 1 rennet tablet (or 1/4 tsp rennet liquid in 1/4 c. water)
- 3 to 4 tbsp. cool water
- Cheesecloth
- Cheese press
- 1 1/2 cups salt
- 1 qt. warm water

Instructions

Warm the milk in the cooking pot to 100 F. Once the milk is warmed, add the calcium chloride and bacteria culture tablet. Keep the mixture at a constant temperature of 100 F through the end of Step 3.

Stir the mixture for 20 minutes by hand or at medium speed using your mixer. After 20 minutes, add 1/2 cup salt.

Dissolve the rennet tablet in the cool water. Slowly add this to the milk mixture, allowing the mixer to stir the milk mixture for another 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the mixture from heat.

Allow the mixture to rest for 45 to 90 minutes. After resting, the mixture will have solidified to a soft curd. Break the mixture into smaller curds, about 1-inch cubes, using your hands, a knife, a spoon, or whatever works for you. Let the curds rest for another 10 minutes.

Pour the mixture through a cheesecloth to remove the whey (the watery mixture in which the curds are floating).

Place the drained cheese into a cheese press, and press for 30 minutes. Then, flip the cheese in the press, and press for another 12 hours. This removes any excess moisture and allows the cheese to harden.

It shrank more and I placed it in a 48 oz tub that I had skewered lots of holes in. I placed the tub atop a rack and in a pan to collect the whey.

When the curds shrank more in the tub, I added a weight to press. It worked but did not give an even shape.

Prepare a brine solution of 1 1/2 cups salt in 1 quart of warm water. Allow the solution to cool to room temperature.

Carefully remove the cheese from the press (it will still be soft). Soak the cheese in the brine for 30 hours, flipping the cheese every 10 hours to encourage rind development. The rind is the hard coating on the outside of cheese.

Remove the cheese from the brine, and place in your refrigerator for 2 weeks to allow it to ripen. Check the cheese for mold. If any mold grows on the rind simply wipe it away with a paper towel or cloth. Do not wrap the cheese while it ripens or it will not ripen properly.

Store the cheese in an airtight container once it has ripened.

Results: The texture is more smooth and creamy and less crumbly. However, we did get it to crumble on food. While the flavor of Cotija normally has a pungent saltiness, this batch is saltier than I’d prefer. Edible but very salty. This is likely due to the fact that I used Morton table salt instead of kosher salt. So the grains are finer and the quantity more concentrated. I did cut back on some of the salt anticipating this but I could have cut back even more…or just use kosher. Though I think the brine could be 1 c. of salt only. Lastly, the shape was funky. I need a cheese press. All in all, I like it and am more confident in my cheese making. However, as I mentioned Cotija is traditionally a cow’s milk cheese. To be most correct with the Mexican goat’s milk cheeses, my next attempt will be with an Añejo.

I did the Pluck & Feather urban farm resource table this Saturday at the Grand Lake Farmers Market. It is usually quite pleasant. I have a great exchange with market goers and they have lots of questions. This Saturday, I had an angry woman stop by to tell me I did not have the right to use the word “farm” for what she believed was just a backyard garden. She believed farms are only for commercial operations. I did offer that subsistence farms and learning farms exists but she felt strongly that to use the word “farm” without sales production is not a farm. To still use the word is to be jumping on the bandwagon.

This got me thinking about a few things. For instance, are global farming practices predominantly commercial or subsistence? What is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s definition of farm? And do you have to be licensed to call yourself a farm?

The USDA definition
A farm is defined as any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the year. Since the definition allows for farms to be included even if they did not have at least $1,000 in sales, but normally would have, a system is developed by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service for determining when a farm normally would have. These are called point farms. If a place does not have $1,000 in sales, a “point system” assigns dollar values for acres of various crops and head of various livestock species to estimate a normal level of sales. Point farms are farms with fewer than $1,000 in sales but have points worth at least $1,000. Point farms tend to be very small. Some, however, may normally have large sales, but experience low sales in a particular year due to bad weather, disease, changes in marketing strategies, or other factors. For farms with production contracts, the value of the commodities produced is used, not the amount of the fees they receive….More than one-quarter of farms have no sales in a typical year, and at least another 30 percent have positive sales of less than $10,000.

Interestingly, when it comes to family farm loans, the Farm Service Agency is much more specific in their definition. One criteria is that the farm will provide enough agricultural income by itself, including rented land, or together with any other dependable income, to enable the borrower to pay necessary family and operating expenses. From a 2009 Economic Research Service report on Farm Household Economics, it would seem most family farms may not be eligible for loans with such limited value of production. However, they are still considered farms by the USDA.

Do You Have to be Registered?
You do not have to register anywhere to call your land a farm. When it comes to sales, the laws for sales and agricultural practices vary from city to city. In Oakland, if you want to sell raw agricultural products and other items from your home, you are required to have proper permits like, a permit to operate a business at home, a sellers permit and a registered tax ID number if you will be selling taxable goods. Currently, you do not even have to have a Certified Producers License. The scale of your operation is limited by other abutting laws (don’t create traffic jams, sanitation, etc.). If you want to incorporate your business, you will have to register a business name in your state. You do also have the option to register your business name as a farm in California, see here. Doing so allows you to trademark your farm name in the state of California. However, you are not required to do so. You an still call your operation (commercial or non-commercial) a farm.

If You Want to Sell Off Site
This is where permitting gets tricky. Selling offsite varies from city to city. In California, to sell off site at a Farmers Market for instance, you need a Certified Producer License (see CA code of regulations) and your land would be inspected by your county agricultural commission. I am in the process of finding out what criteria Alameda County uses when they inspect. I suspect this will take some time but I’ll post again when I have more information.

Agricultural Practices: Commercial vs. Non-commercial
I’d like to know the rate of commercial and non-commercial farming internationally. To answer this will require much more research but its a great question. Anyone have any information on this?

About the Bandwagon
Is the current rise in urban agriculture a trend or actual change? What are the impacts of this shift in behavior? I asked the farm owner, Tom, from Feather River Farm what he thought of the increase in urban farms? He said 1) there is no competition with larger commercial farms as you cannot produce enough food for the city to eat through urban agriculture alone; 2) he appreciates the practice as it tends to shift peoples thinking about food and they tend to go to the farmer’s markets more. So, it sounds like practicing and sharing urban farming shifts food behavior. I guess the questions I have are will this have a lasting impact? Is it enough to shift food system demand on the public level? If so, that is quite some wagon.

Alameda County residents might be interested in a 2009 paper the Urban Agriculture in Alameda County, CA:
Characteristics, Challenges and Opportunities for Assistance.

I recently spoke at an Oxfam event for International Women’s Day. In describing my initial motivation in growing food and keeping animals on a larger scale, I mentioned how my increased understanding of animals has also helped me understand some of the metaphors in my culture. Mexicans use a lot of animals references in their slang.

I recently discovered a delightful example of this. The word cabrón/cabrona means something like a**hole. While it can definitely be used as an insult (severity depends on context), it can also be less harsh and used as a form of jocular slang. It literally means large goat. Getting to know the large dairy goats I work with, who are not “sweet” to me, I am often surprised by how uncooperative they can be. I recently deemed one La Cabra Cabrona without realizing I was merely becoming acquainted with the origin of the word.

I now have a much deeper and more humored appreciation of this word. It is a perfect metaphor.

The goat apprenticeship is going very well. Each day I go to milk the goats, I am presented with new challenges. Goats in heat, with mastitis, with chapped udders, dietary changes, in need of hoof clipping, escaping from the yard, and many other variables. While this is day to day care that I can appreciate, I do find their change in mood more work than I anticipated (is there any connection to Aries and moodiness?). Some days an individual goat will be cooperative and even affectionate- the next, she won’t walk in a direction if she even suspects I might want her to go that way. Good grief.

No matter what happens, I have a well spring of patience and enthusiasm. This is because in the end, I am going to get milk! I have in the last couple of months been greatly enjoying the wonders of goat milk products. The most recent being cajeta. Cajeta is a goat milk caramel said to come from Guanajuato  though some towns in Jalisco also make it traditionally. My family being from Jalisco and all, I feel I can lay some claim to this divine confection. Simple to make, hard to moderate consumption. Here is the recipe I used:

Ingredients

3 quarts goat’s milk

3 c. sugar

2 Tbs cornstarch

1/4 tsp baking soda

Directions

1) Dissolve starch and soda in 1 c. of the milk

2) In a pot, combine this mixture to the remaining milk and sugar.

3) Boil at low temperature, stirring constantly until a drop of liquid on a plate holds a soft ball shape. This took me about 4.5 hours.

Variations: some recipes I saw suggested placing an opened vanilla bean into the mixture. I did not have this so I added a few drops of natural extract. It was divine. I also saw a Rick Bayless recipe that called for cinnamon, but I’ve never had this.

I had the fabulous opportunity to hand deliver some of this treasure to Gustavo Arellano, one of my favorite satirical writers. His new book on the history of Mexican food in the U.S. is due out next year. He’s also been covering the story of the Dervaes debacle. His response to my gift was that “goats and their many food products are underrated.” I know! I know.

I’d like to wish all the fabulous women out there a Happy International Women’s Day! Today is an important day to consider that advancements that have been made by women. It is also a day to recognize we still fight for our rights as women. This is especially poignant when you consider food sovereignty.

According to a United National Development report, 70% of those living in poverty around the world are women. The World Bank reports 70% of the world’s poor depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.

The women who are working in agriculture are often in developing countries that export their food. The women farmers cannot even afford the food they grow. They often go hungry.

As Raj Patel points out, food should not be treated like a commodity. The U.S. plays a significant hand in commodifying food with our market branding of food, trading it, our supermarkets selling it, fast food companies, and our government allowing a food system that is unsustainable. A fine example of how this system currently works can be seen with fast food companies. Currently, for every dollar spent on promoting healthy food to kids, $500 is spent for unhealthy food. This is why I have taken such a strong position against fast food companies, like McDonalds.

Women are key actors in overcoming the problems faced by poor and marginalized communities – they are at the center of efforts to increase food production, ensure good nutrition for their family, and adapt to the impacts of climate change on agricultural and pastoral systems.

I write this to remind us that our urban farms and homesteads are more than quirky places of adventure and discovery. They are symbols and resources for feeding our cities and changing our food system. Engage others in this important conversation. We have the ability to change the food habits of our families, our communities and our nation.

This Tuesday I have the fortune of being part of a panel discussion with Rucha Chitnis, India Director at Women’s Earth Alliance and Oakland Food Policy Council’s Alethea Harper. Come join us!!

March 8th, 2011 marks the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day. Around the world, organizations and individuals will be celebrating this exciting historic landmark. From coast to coast, Oxfam America supporters will organize 100 events in 100 days, and you’re invited! Join the Bay Area Oxfam Action Corps at a very special event called “Ending Hunger Starts with Women.”