Urban Farming: Sustainable City Living in Your Backyard, in Your Community, and in the World [Paperback]

Thomas Fox (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 26, 2011 | ISBN-10: 1933958936 | ISBN-13: 978-1933958934

It doesn't take a farm to have the heart of a farmer. Now, due to a burgeoning sustainable-living movement, you don't have to own acreage to fulfill your dream of raising your own food. Hobby Farms Urban Farming, from Hobby Farm Press and the same people who bring you Hobby Farms and Hobby Farm Home magazine, will walk every city and suburban dweller down the path of self sustainability. Urban Farming will introduce readers to the concepts of gardening and farming from a high-rise apartment, participating in a community garden, vertical farming, and converting terraces and other small city spaces into fruitful, vegetableful real estate. This comprehensive volume will answer every up and coming urban farmer's questions about how, what, where and why--a new green book for the dedicated citizen seeking to reduce his carbon footprint and grocery bill.

Winner of the 2012 Benjamin Franklin Award in Home & Garden from the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA).

Editorial Reviews

Review

...this book looks like a textbook and reads like a novel....  [T]the information in this book is spot-on, presented beautifully, and truly offers "something for everyone" in a way that's not overwhelming but still truly helpful.  If I were to teach a class on urban farming...this is the book I'd use. - Pattie Baker, foodshedplanet.com

"...a new encyclopedic guide to urban food growing. It contains practical lists of how to build urban gardens as well as growing advice." - Jennifer Cockrall-King, Food and the City: Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution.

"Many people know about our farm, Beekman 1802; but we hot our start growing heirloom vegetables on a rooftop in Manhattan...Urban Farming would have made our transition from city to country living much easier. A great guide for urban Farmers everywhere!" - Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge, stars of The Fabulous Beekman Boys (Planet Green)

"Covering everything from soil to bees, Urban Farming provides both practical advice and inspiration. Whether you've got a rooftop or a big suburban yard, you'll be motived to get out your shovel." - Erik Knutzen, co-author (with is wife Kelly Coyne) of The Urban Homestead and Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World

"Urban Farming is a fantastic resource...Its detailed, readable text and beautiful photographs will make it an indispensable asset to the Urban Farming movement." - Scott Kellogg and Stacy Pettigrew, authors of Toolbox for Sustainable City Living.

Kirkus Reviews' Gardening Blog... "Fortunately, Thomas J. Fox’s Urban Farming: Sustainable City Living in Your Backyard, in Your Community, and in the World is written for grown-ups. It considers politics and history as well as how-to, and informs me that as late as 1860 there were 50,000 hogs in Manhattan. And Fox actually sounds like an urban sophisticate. Before offering advice on fruit tree diseases, he advises, “Get yourself a drink and sit down.”

About the Author

Thomas Fox is a graduate of Fordham University and Fordham University School of Law. An early experience working at Hargrave Vineyard (now Castello di Borghese), Long Island's pioneer winery, awakened in him an appreciation of the shared health of plants, animals, humans, and ecosystems. A former research editor at Reader's Digest, Fox has been published in The Washington Post, Wine Enthusiast, The Christian Science Monitor, and elsewhere. Fox lives with his family in New Jersey, where he is a passionate gardener and sometime urban farmer.

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Hobby Farm Press (April 26, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933958936
• ISBN-13: 978-1933958934
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #552,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and Inspiring April 27, 2011

By Pat O'Rourke

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I think the pictures were the first things to astonish me -- varied, helpful and beautiful. I love the combination of history of the urban farming movement and the practical applications for both the beginner and the experienced gardener. Finally Tom Fox's writing is delightful -- clear, with an easy flow and with just the right humor. I've given this book to several friends.

Pat O'Rourke

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Urban Farming- Thomas Fox April 25, 2011

By Malcolm

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a fellow gardener with passion for gardening around my house, this book is just sensatonal with great ideas, pictures, and gardening tricks, especially about vegetables and fruits.

It is quite obvious that Tom Fox knows what's he's writing about, and most important, for the reader and gardener, easy to understand.

If you want to create a mini farm around your house, or simply want to grow a few vegetables, this book will be your bible.
Malcolm Stogo,
West Orange, New Jersey

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected December 25, 2011

By Karen

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I love the magazine but didn't love the book. There was less hands-on guidance (like the magazine has) and far more urban history than I expected. There's not a lot of in-depth information for the few parts that are hands-on. I'll continue to subscribe to the magazine but the book will not remain in my collection. I've gotten far more from the few issues of the magazine I have received than the book.