Rained Out!

I was going to cut the grass, but it started raining, so I thought I'd make another entry here.

I found that ready ear, and it was wonderful! 22 rows of tiny kernels, and 9" long. Tasty! Nothing like fresh corn from your own garden. My fiance says that you don't really need the 4 rows like it says on the seed pack. You just have to have the rows close enough that the pollen from one plant's ear will fall on the pollen of anohter plant's ear. (he should know, as he's a real live farmer!) That's good news, as I had only two rows of 6 plants each.

I "fooled around" (read: had fun!) yesterday going to a Chicken Coop Tour. Usually I have 1 fun day on my weekends, and 1 work day. A couple lives in a normal suburban house. They had chickens (all hens) for 2 years, living under a swing set. Some neighbors either didn't know about the chickens, and others were fine with them. At any rate, things were going along swimmingly for 2 years, no problem. They recently decided to build a proper chicken coop, with inside digs and a nice big covered area outside, all properly fenced in and with double closures to keep raccoons out, insulated for winter complete with a red heat lamp for when it's really cold out. It really is a brilliant design, the Cadillac of coops by their own description (a description with which I heartily agree). Now they get a notice from the city that they have to get rid of the chickens by the 23rd of the month. They have decided to fight this legally. If they need me to support their cause in court, I am pretty sure I'll be there. It irks me that there are so many problems with drugs, murder, driving while drunk, you know, things that will really KILL people and SOMEHOW there is also time for law enforcement to conclude that chickens are BAD.

We had long discussions on this yesterday at the coop tour. We came to the conclusion that people think chickens are bad for 3 main reasons: 1) they are afraid of bird flu, 2) they think that chickens are stinky and noisy, and 3) having chickens gives the appearance of poverty. This third one really stuck in our craws. We believe that having chickens, and other things like knowing how to cook, having and using a clothesline, and such, all are self-sufficiency measures people can take that will give them a feeling of empowerment. We agree that many of the problems people have these days is that they are dependent on others for too much, and that leads to feelings of disillusionment with "the system", powerlessness, and depression. It's like the feeling of living in your parents' basement at age 34.

Well, the rain has stopped, though I still hear thunder. Think I will check out the scene outside and see if I can cut that grass!