Friday, April 5, 2013

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.

23 comments:

  1. Awww, what a cute face at the fence! I will have lots of veggies growing in my yard but my town won't let us have chickens or goats.

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  2. What a cutie :) I think I officially neet to move to Portland :p Sounds like my kind of place!

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  3. I just visited a post with cows, now this adorable goat, and I've got my beagle up. If only we could talk to the animals!

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  4. Goats always look so friendly.

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  5. Wow, I had no idea that Portland had become an "urban homesteading" place. It does sound intriguing....thanks for sharing your neighbors! lol

    Here's MY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT POST

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  6. Wow, the people there are more tolerant than they are here. I don't think I'd want chickens either - I imagine they make a lot of noise in the mornings.

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  7. Haha, look at that sweet face -- great pictures :-)

    Here is my SATURDAY SNAPSHOT post!

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  8. Awww, officially in love with the goat. :)

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  9. Aww, I love goats!! Such cuties. What fun you live somewhere that you can visit with them.

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  10. What an unusual neighborhood you live in. Happy reading.

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  11. Too cute! I live in a much too citified manner to have goats as neighbours...this one is adorable :)

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  12. That looks like a lot of goats in the yard. How many goats does a person need? I could see chickens. I mean, you go out and pick up the eggs and cook them for breakfast. Are people just drinking the milk straight from the goats? I love goat milk cheese, but I bet it's a lot of work to make. (Sorry for the mini rant! I had as much to say as the goat did. Mehhh) Here's Mine

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  13. Also coming back to tell you that this is an absolutely PERFECT post for Saturday Farmers Market :D I wanted it to be not just about gardening and veggies, but about sustainability, farming, urban farming, etc. So thanks for participating Ali!!

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  14. What a lovely neighborhood to take a walk in. I have my veggie garden in our front yard, and am planning on graduating to raised beds this year. I'm too old to bend over so much! LOL However, goats are against city ordinances...so they are not around here. We have wild antelope and deer that roam our front yard, but they don't pay much attention to rules!!!

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  15. love the goat !! also loved Edward Trulane and Wildwood, both of which I have read (some time ago)..it sounds like you've been having a good run on reading!!

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  16. I love goats, as long as they are fenced ... they can do such a number on shrubs and flower beds! I'll take chickens any day! Hurray for urban farming!

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  17. What a sweet-looking goat! We found out our neighbor in our townhouse/duplex is in agriculture at the university here, and he asked if we minded him planting veggies on our side of the yard for all to share. We were thrilled! :)

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  18. Goats! I love the goats! I want a goat SO VERY BAD.

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  19. What a cute goat! Some people in Cambridge have chickens but I haven't heard of anyone keeping goats here, but you never know!

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  20. Good luck with your urban farming....that goat looks like quite a character ♫ My SS: http://lore-eleven.blogspot.com/2013/03/moonball-caught-in-tree.html

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  21. I want to live in your neighborhood!

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  22. Sweet goat and nice that you can see this in your neighborhood. Best luck with your farming!

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