Tag Archives: urban farm

Farm Saeturn

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Farm Saeturn got her start in urban farming a little differently than most people. Born in the mountains of Laos, to the ancient Mien tribe, she and her family were subsistence farmers and they grew everything they ate.  She came to United States as a refugee and brought her traditional skills with her. I told her story in Backyard Roots and was able to photograph her in three seasons for the book: summer, fall and winter. So when I was in Seattle on my last visit I had to see what she was up to in the spring. Farm has always had vegetable plots with the P-Patch program, a Seattle program that has 82 community gardens around Seattle. Farm still had a P Patch plot, but it was a new one, closer to her home in South Seattle. When I visited she was working with her husband, weeding, and getting the ground ready for planting.

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Jeannie McKenzie and her Oberhasli goats

Jeanne McKenzie  with her Oberhalsi goats in her Montclair backyard.

What’s unusual about Jeannie McKenzie’s Oakland urban farm is the breed of goats she chooses to keep-her Oberhasli  goats are not minis and they’re not the usual urban variety I found most people keeping when I visited the farms in Backyard Roots. The very old breed, originally came from Switzerland is a hardy variety; the goats are known for their sweet disposition and their excellent milk production.   Jeannie’s  half acre lot in the Montclair district in the hills of Oakland is a little bigger than most city yards so she has the room for this larger variety and her three adult females produce around three gallons a day during peak production. What does she do with all that milk? Lot’s of cheese: Brie, mozzarella, chevre and feta. Here goats, like all dairy goats need to be milked twice a day, every day when they are in production. To help out she has enlisted friends on certain days to help out, who are willing to work for goat milk. Read more about  goat keeping in Backyard Roots and in this article, Going to the Goats by Susan Davis that just has come out in Oakland Magazine.

Jeanne McKenzie's Oberhalsi goats in her Montclair backyard.

Jeanne McKenzie's Oberhalsi goats in her Montclair backyard.

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Cheesemaking