robinchartier

I read Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter yesterday. When I started it, I wasn’t sure if I would finish it or not because it started out talking more about Oakland and how she happened to move there than the actual Farming part. But as soon as she started talking about how she got into beekeeping, I was hooked.

Part of the magic of the novel is I actual grew up there, in Oakland. So when she hopes that her missing turkey flew off to Lake Merritt and didn’t end up as roadkill on the 880, I can picture it. And when she talks about biking down Durant Ave in Berkeley or visiting the Oakland Public Library . . . been there, done that. And then to picture her backyard farm in the middle of that? Wow. Crazy.

The only thing I wish the book had was a section with actual pictures. It makes me suspicious that there weren’t any. Was her ghetto garden not really as ghetto as she described? Or maybe she didn’t own a camera. It seems like someone would have taken pictures at some point though . . .

Anyway, this book is not for the faint of heart as she not only talks about her adventures in gardening, but also her experiences raising animals for meat. So there is quite a bit of bloodshed — a pit bull attacks and kills her turkey who flew over the fence into the neighbor’s yard; the other turkey she offs with a hatchet to the neck for thanksgiving. Some ducks and geese are killed by a pack of wild dogs, another goose she kills with pruners in her bathtub (so the other animals don’t see it and get upset). Bunnies are killed by breaking necks, then slitting their throats and pulling off their skin. The 3rd section of the book where she talks about raising pigs is the most fascinating part. Yes, she raises 2 pigs in the ghetto and feeds them exclusively from nightly dumpster diving excursions. Not only does her dumpster diving become more desperate (the pigs need protein so she has to resort to foraging for fish guts behind the fish markets), but as the pigs become bigger and more ravenous, she has to figure out what she’s going to do when it comes time to kill Big Boy and Little Girl. She meets an Italian chef (because he has the best dumpster in Berkeley, filled with whole chickens and baguettes) who is an expert in the art of preserving pork and turning pig into salami, prosciutto, and other dried Italian meats. She begs him to let her become his apprentice and over the next several months as her pigs are porking out, he teaches her all of his secrets. When the time comes to off the pigs she she turns Big Boy into all sorts of different deli meats and Little Girl fills her freezer with racks of ribs, tenderloins, hams, etc.

Crazy book. Great read. It made me realize how much work goes into a single chicken breast or a steak. It’s a little scary to think how cheap food is when you take into account what it *should* cost when animals are fed good food, cared for properly and killed humanely.

I wasn’t sure what to make for lunch so I started rummaging around in the fridge, freezer and pantry. This is what I came up with:

roasted turkey breast, cubed
2 cans of black beans, rinsed
bag of frozen corn
juice of 2 limes, plus zest of one lime
red pepper diced
kosher salt and pepper to taste
a swirl of olive oil
diced avocado

mix together, serve with tortilla chips on the side

I’m still defrosting the turkey breast. After I add it I will decide whether to add parsley, basil and diced tomatoes from the garden (any or all of them depending on how it tastes). I’ve made something similar before without the turkey, but with cilantro. Since there isn’t any cilantro in the garden at the moment (more of a winter herb) I might try the basil/tomato/italian flavor path instead.

at the moment is this new top that I got at the REI super clearance sale last week.

If I could, I would get one in every color because it is the most comfortable shirt I have ever worn. Built in bra, high cut armholes, cute vent in back. It makes me wish I were living in 29 Palms again. I can’t find an image of the back because they have completely sold out on REI’s website. I’m hoping they bring it back next season. I won’t wait until it goes on clearance next time!

ETA: Woo hoo! 3 more successes from my online Amazon orders! I found some awesome PrAna pants at REI, but they didn’t have my size. I found out that Amazon carries PrAna brand clothes and I ordered 3 pairs of capris (2 yoga style, one normal) and they all fit fabulously.
An added bonus, besides the comfort factor is that they were all ridiculously clearanced. These capris sell for $75, I got them for $17, including free 2-day shipping. (the other 2 pairs were only $14 each) Win, win, win!

I’m halfway through 206 Bones. So far, it’s pretty good. Better than the last one I read. Same formula, same clinical talk about bones and dead people — good times.

I just got The Time Traveler’s Wife from the library. I don’t know if I’ll actually read it, but with all the buzz about the movie, I thought I’d give it a go.

I’m tempted to read the last chapter like I did with the other movie/book this summer: My Sister’s Keeper. If it doesn’t grab me at the beginning, I’ll probably set it aside.

I haven’t posted about the books I’ve been reading lately. The last 2 I read were so fantastic and so much to think about that I haven’t written down my thoughts yet. (The Help and Crazy Love) AND, since those were so great, nothing else has really drawn me in lately. I am reading The Strictest School in the World sequel to the boys at night and we’re about 1/2 way through it. On my own I’m reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society (yes, that’s really the title) and that is holding its own against the previous giants of literature that I mentioned. It’s a novel written as a series of letters in post WW2 London/Channel Islands (not the Southern CA ones, the England ones. And no, I didn’t know there were England ones until I read this book.)

The premise is an author is looking for a new subject for a book, because she’s tired of writing about THE WAR as that has consumed every aspect of life for the past 5 years or so and she happens to meet via letter this group of individuals who lived through the German occupation of Guernsey. The literary society was started as a ruse to fool the Germans, and then they found that meeting together and discussing literature helped them forget about the war for a short time. So the author starts corresponding with these people and they have fascinating stories to tell that all end up weaving together.

One thing I like about it (and what I liked about The Help) is it seems to be written with historical accuracy and transports me to that time and place. I can’t imagine having to make a choice to send my children away to live with strangers in England, knowing the Germans were coming to occupy your town, having to hide pigs from the Germans in order to have a treat to eat, coming up with a recipe for potato peel pie because there was nothing else to eat — no butter, sugar or even salt.

The delivery of the information keeps me interested. Because it’s letter to letter, things are peeled away, like leaves on a head of lettuce. You get bits and pieces of the different characters and events until the entire puzzle starts to come together. The other difference is because it’s written in letter form, there are natural stopping points all the way through. I don’t feel like I have to consume the story in one sitting. I’m 1/2 way through and should finish tomorrow. In my library box I have a Bones novel waiting for me — one of the newer ones. I wonder how it will compare.