San Francisco Mom’s Itty Bitty Farm Grows Vegetables, Chickens and Goats
Tired of the confusing and misleading labels on food in the supermarket? San Francisco mom Heidi Kooy started her own backyard farm, growing a variety of organic vegetables, and raising chickens and goats for their nourishing eggs and dairy.
Learning as they went along, Heidi and her daughter began with a 350 square foot garden where they grew vegetables, and eventually expanded their food-producing operations by adding two chickens to their farm – one named Sweet Pea, and the other, Cocoa Puff.
Once they became comfortable with managing these new additions, they added two miniature dwarf goats to their farm – Lucy, and Ethel. According to Heidi, each miniature dwarf goat requires only 135 square feet.
With limited space in their 1000 square foot backyard, Heidi’s neighbors have allowed the goats to graze in their backyards during the day. With this setup, everybody wins because the goats get their healthy grass to eat, and the neighbor’s get their lawns mowed for free.
Since a miniature dwarf goat is only about the size of a border collie, this mother daughter farming duo take their goats for walks around the city.
With their urban backyard farm, Heidi Kooy and her daughter feel more connected with nature and where food comes from. “We spend more time in the kitchen preparing meals that come directly from our backyard”, she reveals. “I think it’s really brought us closer together”.