Meet the farmer next door in San Francisco

Esperanza Pallana raises chickens and bees and grows seasonal plants at her 5,000-square-foot Oakland property. Photo by Russell Yip / The Chronicle.

“Even just in the last year, I think there have been a lot more people who are venturing to convert their space more intensively to grow food and keep animals.”

By Lauren Reed-Guy,
San Francisco Chronicle
June 12, 2011

Excerpt:

In 2008, Ruby Blume founded the Institute of Urban Homesteading, which offers classes in everything from beekeeping to cheese making to herbal medicine taught by local experts.

Next Sunday, the institute will offer tours of five backyard farms of varying sizes to demonstrate various sides of urban sustainability and show people how they can use the land they have, said Blume, co-author of “Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living” (Skyhorse Publishing), written with Rachel Kaplan and released earlier this year.

Blume’s own backyard – Beegrrl Gardens – will be among the destinations on the tour, which will also stop at Esperanza Pallana’s Pluck and Feather Farm, Kitty Sharkey’s Havenscourt Homestead, Jeannie McKenzie’s PineHeaven Farm, and Chris Shein’s Permaculture Institute of the East Bay in Berkeley.

Urban agriculture is a trend that has picked up considerable momentum in recent years. Still, the wave isn’t without controversy as cities struggle to balance the needs of growers, animal-rights advocates and residents not keen on feathery neighbors.

Read the complete article here.