Snapshot: Urban Farming

We live in Portland proper, but with the growing urban homesteading trend, you never know what you might find in the city. Everyone seems to have raised beds with veggies growing in their front yard. I'm hoping to make this happen this summer at my house. So far my progress amounts to:

(a) writing my intentions down on a list of things to do, and
(b) pinning instructions for building raised beds to my Pinterest.

Baby steps.

Chicken coops are a common sight around here, too, even in smaller yards. I'd estimate that about 40% of my friends have chickens in their yard. As tasty as fresh eggs are, I won't be jumping on this particular bandwagon unless scientists come up with a poopless chicken.

The photo below is of one of my favorite yards to walk past in my neighborhood. I like to play "spot the goat" in these folks' double lot. Often they're huddled in their little shelter, or tucked away in the shed under the trees at the back of the property. It's a happy day for me when they come to the fence for a visit.

This girl was in a visiting mood when Ben and I stopped at the fence to do our goat-spotting. She came trotting over to say hello. She had a lot of goat news to tell us (mostly, "Mehhhhh!"), and she let us pet her before smiling for the camera. What a sweetheart.

What I'm reading: I am just about finished (hooray!) with Lavinia, which I'm reading for Tuesday's book club. Evan and I finished The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and have moved on to Wildwood. This book is set in Portland, which makes it extra fun for us, but aside from that it is a really nicely written fantasy adventure story. Evan had told me he was tired of fantasy, but he was delighted when the coyote soldiers appeared in the Impassable Wilderness. Both of these books should qualify for Carl's Once Upon a Time challenge, Wildwood as fantasy, and Lavinia as mythology. I have a fairytale-based book on my pile, so all I need is something that qualifies as folklore and I will have completed Quest the Second. I'm a little stumped on the folklore bit, but I'm sure I'll come up with something.


Saturday Snapshot is hosted by At Home With Books. To participate, post a picture that was taken by you, a friend, or a family member, and add your link. 

Also, new this week! Chris at Stuff as Dreams are Made On has started a weekly Farmer's Market event--posts about gardens and local food can be linked up there.