Twitter Updates

Chicken smells

After I posted this chicken smell post, I’ve gotten a lot of hits to the blog from it. Again, if it smells, throw it out. If it’s in date, take it back to the store for a refund.

Searches:

chicken that smells bad
bad chicken smell bad chicken bacteria
chicken fresh but smells a bit
chicken from store smelled bad returned
chicken in date smells
chicken in date smells bad
chicken is in date but smells
chicken looks good smells bad
chicken looks ok but smells
chicken smell bad
chicken smell food poisoning
chicken smells bad
chicken smells funny but still in date
chicken smells is it bad to eat
chicken that smells like skunk
chicken yard odors
if the chicken smells bad is it bad
is chicken bad if it smells
is chicken safe if it smells
my chicken smells bad
what if chicken smells bad
when chicken smells bad

Other “chicken searches” that turned up my blog:

bad smell from chicken coop
can i raise chickens in salem oregon
chicken in city limit of salem oregon

chicken noodle soup leftover chicken
chicken yard odors
neighbors chicken coop smells
salem chickens
salem oregon organic chicken
taco del mar chicken recipe

We’re in the process of trying to convince the Salem government to allow chickens. The whole thing is classist and rediculous. I’m ashamed to have such ignorant people running our city and I will never be voting for the 5 councilors who voted no for the chickens (information taken from the Salem chickens group):

Bennett – voted no (as did his neighborhood associations)
Rogers – voted no (despite the fact that his neighborhoods want chickens)
Clem – voted no (despite the fact that his neighborhood wants chickens and most of our supporters live in his ward).
Sullivan – voted no (will only support chickens if there is a $100 permit, registration, and annual inspection).
Cannon – This one’s interesting. He does not object to chickens. In fact, he thinks we should be able to do whatever we want on our own property without ANY restrictions. Of course, nobody is going to support this (I’m not even sure I would). But he will only support the proposal if it’s a “permitted pet issue” rather than a “land use issue”. The city attorney says this is not possible and even if it were, the city’s definition of livestock would first have to be changed (which is a land use issue). In other words, Cannon is standing in his own way, so to speak, because his refusal to support a land use change prevents us from having chickens, which he ultimately supports. He was the deciding vote. Go figure.

The 4 that did approve: Mayor, Nanke, Tesler, Dickey :thumb

What next? In two weeks the staff should come back with a resolution summarizing what happened at the advisory public hearing and officially referring it to the Planning Commission. The staff’s recommendation will be forwarded, as is, except Brad will try to allow for the possible definition of livestock change. If that change is not part of this original referral and they decide it is a necessary step later, it would require another 45-day waiting period, so it’s best to do it all at once. Once the livestock definition is changed, if the Planning Commission agrees, we will have the option of take this out of the land use arena, which is what Cannon wants. Thus, we could potentially win his vote down the road. I know, it’s complicated, but hopeful.

Tomato seeds; heat (unrelated)

I am very glad I bought those tomato plants because *none* of the seeds I planted on Mother’s Day sprouted. They’ve had plenty of water, but not too much, and it’s been nice and warm, so I don’t know what the deal is with them. Yay for Winco…hopefully I’ll have enough to make salsa again this summer. Mmmmmmm.

It’s not getting as hot as it did last year at this time, but it still managed to hit 81 today and I am not liking it!!!

Canning season

I hope everyone is having a good Memorial Day (and weekend)!

We ran out of homemade jam early May and I could not find storebought that didn’t have HFCS (we have corn allergies) or red food dye (sensitivities). So on the 18th I picked up some strawberries and made a batch for everyone else (I’m allergic to strawberries). Everyone was going through that batch quickly so I picked up more strawberries and found frozen blackberries on sale, so I grabbed enough for a batch. Yesterday, I canned. 4 pints strawberry jam, 2 quarts blackberry jam, and a quart of blackberry-strawberry syrup with the leftover fruit (2.5 cups fruit, 3.5 cups sugar and 1.25 T pectin). Now we’re all happy munching away at peanut butter and jam sandwiches and not getting rashes, migraines or hyper from the store bought crap.

Once berry season really gets going (and I can get local fresh berries instead of store bought/frozen), I’ll be making lots more. Lots more.

What I’ve been up to (w/pictures)

I got more work in the garden done on Mother’s Day. We went out looking for tomato plants but no one (really, no one) had any roma or cherry varieties. So I got seeds and direct sowed those. No growth yet (5 days later), but I’m holding out hope. Not so much hope however, that I passed up the tomato plants I found at Winco today. Roma and 2 types of cherry tomatoes, plus pickling and slicing cucumbers. And I think I might go back for more.

Here’s how the garden looks. I know it’s not bad (though still very weedy), but its so far less then I wanted to accomplish this year. Ah well, hopefully by the time we start harvesting I’ll get over it!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Alternate/Virtual Farming

I’m having WAY too much fun with this.

Facebook (which I despise) has a game called Farm Town. Sign up for Facebook if you haven’t and add me as a friend and neighbor – amy_e_williams(at)hotmail(dot)com (replacing, of course, the (at) with @ and (dot) with .)

I’m addicted. My farm (right now) has Sunflowers, Corn, Grapes, Coffee, Potatoes and a variety of trees and animals. The crops grow fast – 4 hours to 3 days. It keeps sucking me in. I have enough money and am 1/2 a level away from buying a bigger farm plot and a house :lol

ft