Novella Carpenter Dumpster Dives for Gourmet Pig Feedbr Book Passage - Book Passagebr Novella Carpenter talks about Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer. Urban and rural collide in this inspiring memoir of a woman who turned a vacant lot in downtown Oakland into a thriving farm.If you have ever considered leaving it all behind to become a farmer, consider this both a cautionary tale and a full-throated call to action.