A child of back-to-the-land hippies, I grew up in rural Idaho and Washington State. I went to University of Washington in Seattle where I majored in Biology and English. I’ve had many odd jobs including: assassin bug handler, book editor, media projectionist, hamster oocyte collector, and most recently, free-lance journalist.
I studied under Michael Pollan at Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism for two years. My journalistic work reflects my interests–in farming, food, the environment, and culture. In a nutshell, I like to tell stories about people who follow unconventional paths.
As for the urban farmer in me, I’ve been cultivating the city for over ten years now, and my neighbors still think I’m crazy. It all started with a few chickens, then some bees, until I had a full-blown farm near downtown Oakland. My memoir about this farm was publishing by the Penguin Press June 11, 2009, and is available at most bookstores. If it’s not at your favorite shop–just ask them to order a few copies.
20 responses so far ↓
Goats are Better than Diamonds… « somewhere between a handshake and two kisses // February 14, 2009 at 9:00 pm
[...] This is Novella Carpenter. [...]
Seeds, Glorious Seeds! @ Angel Investing for Start-Up Companies // March 18, 2009 at 10:21 pm
[...] people “going back to the land” in other parts of the country besides Miami… Ghost Town Farm From Beverly Hills to Hillbilly Farm Thriving [...]
Learning To Eat » Archivio » Simple. // May 1, 2009 at 8:53 am
[...] track of your accounts. Thoreau is, in fact, in some ways, the spiritual grandfather of the urban farming movement, which has a lot of lessons to teach us, even if you’re not ready to raise chickens [...]
Wil // June 17, 2009 at 9:25 pm
I read your story in SFGate and found it fascinating that you are able to do so much farming near downtown Oakland. Are you doing all of tis on a city lot ?…I was involved eith the Farallones Institute’s Integral Urban House back in the seventies, but it sounds like you are accomplishing so much more in the way of agriculture. I am a part time San Franciscan now that I left the city, and moved to British Columbia for country living and raising children. If you got your hands on enough land you would probably do very well.
Ariane Trelaun // June 18, 2009 at 6:14 am
Wow, I just read the piece in the Chronicle, and can’t wait to read the book. I am going to try to come to July 2nd reading – would love to meet you, come see your operation. I’m a beginning beekeeper who’s always wanted to have goats, and am so inspired by your example!
Ariane
Amber // June 18, 2009 at 11:33 am
Wow–I just read the piece in the Chronicle as well, and I can’t wait to read the book either. I love Michael Pollan’s work as well & you are a lucky duck to have gotten to learn from him! I work just up the hill from North Gate at EECS and am a Berkeley alum–unfortunately without a yard at this point (I live in SF). Eventually I plan to start down this path myself, when the husband and I can move somewhere with a yard–so I am trying to absorb as much as I can while I am still in the planning stages!
novella // June 18, 2009 at 3:26 pm
hey wil: please email me. i really want to track down alums of the integral urban house! novellacarpenter at gmail
ariane: cool! see you there.
amber: thanks!
Barb // June 30, 2009 at 8:08 am
Just found your blog and love it. Do you send out blog updates or do we need to bookmark you and check ourselves?
Looking forward to reading your book.
Therese // July 2, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Have you seen this 1976 article about the IUH?
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-Community/1976-11-01/The-Integral-Urban-House.aspx
Carola // July 21, 2009 at 7:02 am
Novella, I just finished your book. I enjoyed it so much that I allowed myself only a chapter a night and I was so sorry for it to end.
I had to jump online and find out if Ghost Town Farm still exists… or is it replaced with condos?
My heart aches to think of such a thing.
We’ll be seeing you this Thursday night at the L.A. central library for the Aloud program. Thank you for the wonderful gift that is your inspiring story well told.
Noelle Robbins // July 24, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Interview Request for Oakland Magazine & The Monthly
Hi Novella,
Tried sending an email message to your contact email and it bounced back, so I thought I would try this route. I am enjoying reading your book.
I am a freelance writer here in the East Bay and write frequently for Oakland Magazine and The Monthly, among other publications. Have you been contacted by either of these two magazines regarding an interview? If not, I would like to chat about pitching your story to the editors.
Look forward to hearing back soon.
Best,
Noelle Robbins
robbins50@gmail.com
510-523-6055
wwww.noellerobbins.com
Lindsey Lettvin // July 30, 2009 at 3:04 pm
I just started reading your book and I am glued! My ‘grandma’ Joy works with your mom in Shelton and she passed on the book (even before she finished it b/c she knew it was right up my alley) to me! I swore to send it right back to her when I am done
I have a suburban garden outside of Seattle in downtown Kirkland and expanded it this year by cutting half our front yard. It seems like more and more people are getting back to some family food production in and around the Seattle area. It is really neat to see vegetables and chicken coops sprouting up and I think your book will help inspire people to do more–goats, bees, and other ‘bigger’ projects. You are expanding the possibilities of farming in urban spaces by experimenting with growing meat–I think it would be fabulous if we saw more ‘Harolds’ roaming the streets around town.
Thanks for sharing your experiences–it is fun reading about someone else’s experiences in the garden and urban farm!
Cheers–
Lindsey
Rebecca // September 15, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Dear Miss Novella!
You are extraordinary. Farm City is a gift. A current undergrad student in St Louis, MO– your works and words inspire me to shovel, plant, share, dig, create and involve others. I would love to visit you, laugh and learn from you and your grass roots and sweet fruits of labor.
Mucha Paz, (peace!)
RL Gorley
4547 Gibson Ave.
St Louis, MO 63110
Lovica // October 3, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Novella,
I just finished reading your book, and made my husband read it too! We both really enjoyed it, and today we stopped by the farm to see how it was doing. Even though the book ended on a note of uncertainty, we knew it must still be around because we’ve eaten one of your goats, which were not mentioned in the book.
It’s inspiring to see someone living such a purposeful and respectful life. Sometimes we dream of having chickens and goats, but so far I’m just trying to keep my veggie garden maintained and productive.
I’ve often wished I could hire a farmer (not a gardener) to help me get the most out of our back yard. I’m sure there are others like me who have some means but not a lot of time to tend to a farm. Are you familiar with the MyFarm group from SF (myfarmsf.com)? Do you know of any urban farmers in Oakland who might be interested in such a thing? The concept of distributed urban farming seems so compelling.
Anyway, thanks for the great book and blog. We’re rooting for you over here in East Oakland.
Lovica
ghosttownfarm // October 5, 2009 at 9:01 am
thanks lovica!
there is a group in oakland/berkeley, called All Edibles. they install edible landscapes/raised beds, and harvest for you (if you want). i’ve only heard good things about them.
best,
nc
Wolf45 // October 23, 2009 at 3:46 am
For some background, I wrote this piece in the context of a disabilities studies class where we have been reading alot of material on pathalogies and the norm. ,
bobby // November 5, 2009 at 2:41 pm
i like how in your picture you’re snuggling up with these cute animals and then you turn around and slaughter them…weird disconnect
bobby // November 5, 2009 at 2:46 pm
I just want to apologize for that last comment. I was taking out some bad feelings from the day on your page. That was really stupid.
ghosttownfarm // November 5, 2009 at 5:43 pm
hey bobby:
it’s a weird world we live in. we snuggle up with cats, then blithely eat a pig without thinking about it at all. i do snuggle and love my farm animals–which are not pets, they are always clearly for the table–and then enjoy them when it comes time to harvest. this way they have the best life possible, and i get to enjoy the best meat possible. what’s wrong with that?
sorry you were having a bad day–if you read my book (available widely in libraries) it covers more of this paradox in detail.
thanks!
Wil // November 5, 2009 at 6:31 pm
We had lots of trouble with the issue of eating the animals with our daughter, when she was younger.It wasn’t that important to me so we ended up with a lot of pets at one point in time. The eagles, and a loose dog (not ours) killed the chickens , the ducks were also killed by a dog.The rabbits died of old age (very sad ). Finally the geese, and goats made it into meat. For PETA-types that isn’t the issue, but everyone has a right to be vegetarian, or not , as they wish. The PETA types are somewhat violent extremists.