This past weekend I toured a very cool urban farm in Vallejo, Dog Island Farm owned by Tom, Rachel and Paul. They call is Dog Island as all their neighbors have dogs, as do they which has deterred raccoons from coming into the space. The Dog Island folks moved from land in Napa and found a sweet spot in Vallejo which offered an ample backyard. Their original intention was to only cultivate a small portion but as is often the case, once they got started the garden took on a life of its own and transformed into a farm. You can learn more about Dog Island Farm from Rachel’s blog, Dog Island Farm.  I also just discovered that she and her family are eating from the garden for the next year! She is writing about it here. These are obviously my kind o’ folks.

At Dog Island, Rachel and Tom converted their double lot into verdant rows of squash, corn  with pole beans wrapped on the stalks, at least four varieties of chilis, onions and a lovely orchard of fruit trees.

The bunny hutch houses four breed stock rabbits, two Californians and two New Zealanders. The middle compartment is for the babies to grow. The impressive hutch was home constructed. The chicken and goats are kept in a large coop and run. I continue to be impressed with the home carpentry skills of many of these urban farmer I have met.

The goat pen houses two female African Pygmies. We discussed the benefits of African Pygmies, Nigerian and Oberhasli. They chose African Pygmies for their size, the fact that they can breed and produce milk year round and for meat. Dipak has taken a greater interest in urban farming recently and went to check out the goats. He looks like a natural if you ask me.

Though the goats are well fed, the younger of the two, Daisy, likes to munch.

There were several patches of very large pumpkins which were apparently volunteers (seeds that grew on their own). As I have mentioned before, I have a farm dream of growing one very large pumpkin, sticking wheels on it and give pumpkin rides the kids in my neighborhood. Which is why I am coveting the below pictured pumpkin. The trick to huge pumpkins, I was told,  is to plant from seeds of a plant that had huge fruit to begin with. I have experimented with Botanical Interests Big Max and Wyatt’s Wonder pumpkins but have ended up with misshapen blobby medium pumpkins that aren’t good to eat.

The farm is complete with a defiant farm cat, named Jack, that collects warmth where he pleases.