A Breath Of Fresh Air In Oakland

I liked this a lot and thought this article worthy of scarfing up and sharing with you all. I am especially intrigued by this neem oil, of which I have never heard. Must research it and most importantly, where to get it.

Urban farming in Oakland: Kosodate Farms

Yolanda Burrell is a farmer and beekeeper on Kosodate Farms, a half-acre urban family farm in Oakland, California. Yolanda has a long history with farming. She grew up on a one-acre farm about 60 miles north of Oakland in Santa Rosa, where her parents emphasized the importance of knowing the origin of one’s food. Though her parents farmed with chemicals, when she started Kosodate Farms, Yolanda chose to employ sustainable methods to grow vegetables, herbs and fruit.

Yolanda’s agroecological practices include grey water recycling, beekeeping, composting and a variety of pest management techniques, including mechanical traps and neem oil.

Her mechanical traps are colored or scented sticky papers placed on tree trunks or attached to stakes. The color or scent attracts the insects, and the sticky substance traps them. Neem oil is a naturally occurring pesticide from the seeds of the neem tree that can be sprayed on plants without harming them. Yolanda uses these techniques to manage unwanted insects at Kosodate, including scale insects (an order of insect that parasitizes plants and feeds on their sap) and citrus leaf miners (a moth that feeds on young leaves).

Yolanda maintains a vibrant homestead where she and her family produce much of their own food, all without the use of chemicals. She is also co-founder with master gardener Brigit Evans of Pollinate Farm & Garden, a general store in Oakland that offers supplies for and workshops on organic farming and gardening, beekeeping and small animal husbandry.

PHOTOS: LORI EANES | BACKYARDSROOTSBOOK.COM & YOLANDA BURELL

Look at that, this is a story from 2013… hmmm. Tried finding the url in the photo… gone. Oh well.

I think there should be a lot more of this sort of thing, what this lady is doing, I mean. It would solve so many problems and ease so much stress. Maybe even bring back a bit of more relaxed times.

But I am very sure that that is just not going to happen and the world will become ever more reliant on technology until it reaches a point where it just collapses under it’s own chaotic weight.

Time, as the cliche goes, will tell.

But, not to derail my own thread, but damn, arresting people for having a vegetable garden instead of grass – as some towns now do – is not only un-American in my view, it is downright asinine and those who advocate and enable it should perhaps be put in public stockades.

Wow, I am getting a bit … something … in my old age.

And my old age has only just begun.

peace