The Farmer In The 'Hood

^{Novella Carpenter cuddles up with Bebe and Bilbo on an Oakland afternoon. Photo: Andy Isaacson}

Novella Carpenter starts every day with the same quiet ritual. She scoops up her goat, Bebe, places her on a stand in the laundry room of her house and gently (but firmly) milks her. Bebe waits patiently, munching on a bowl of grains while another goat, Bilbo, occasionally pokes his head in at the door.

Novella and her partner Bill rent a rambling apartment in a rundown part of Oakland one block from Interstate 980. Ten years ago, they began squatting the weed-ridden vacant lot next door and developed it into a mini farm that now blooms with raised vegetable beds, apple and plum trees, beehives, a hen house, one turkey and a few Nigerian dwarf goats.

The goats are a recent addition that Carpenter took on four months ago, signing herself up for a rapid, intense apprenticeship — milking, caring for hooves, birthing and dehorning. She’s mastered milking and can brew up a decent cappuccino from the two cups she gets daily from Bebe. Cheesemaking is next.

The child of back-to-the-landers, Carpenter thought she wanted to become a vet, but her life took a different turn. She studied English and biology in college, went on to earn a degree at Berkeley’s School of Journalism, where she studied with Michael Pollan, and now writes on urban farming and sustainable practices. In a sense though, she’s not far off from her original dream.

In the backyard, the turkey wanders, clucking to no one in particular. The goats munch fragrant sprays of hay and alfalfa trekked in from the nearest farm supply store (a hard thing to find in the inner city). An ailing lemon tree Carpenter rescued from a friend mends in some freshly dug soil, and on the front porch rabbits nibble lettuce and carrots, enjoying the harvest of one of Novella and Bill’s late-night dumpster dives.

Carpenter’s online diary is a vivid catalog of small daily acts undertaken with a strong desire to learn where her food comes from — where gleaning olives from the side of the road, grafting an apple tree or pondering the dilemma of raising two pigs for slaughter are literally food for thought. Her memoir about life as an urban farmer is due out next year from Penguin Press (novellacarpenter.com).