Going green

Perhaps it's the brilliantly orange nasturtiums scrambling up fences. It could be the infant formula tins that have been painted with bright flowers and butterflies, hanging from an old washing line. Maybe it's the circular garden plots, some dotted with the magenta stems of bolting silverbeet. Likely it has something to do with Julia Milne, statuesque and ethereal in her gumboots and sunhat.

Whatever it is, the garden at Great Start Taita feels like a magical place. Next door, kids from St Michael's School sitting on the monkey bars call out to Milne, the volunteer behind the garden. She's been nominated for NZ Gardener magazine's gardener of the year and has an impressive number of gardening and community-building projects under her supervision in Taita. She sings back "hello" to the monkeys and guides us around the garden. Monarch butterflies glide by. Milne has been here just over a year, turning the formerly empty grounds of Great Start Taita into a model of sustainability, and starting up gardening workshops for children and adults.

One of the most amazing things about the garden Milne and her band have created is how little money it's cost. You won't find stacks of compost bags or soil improvers here; instead there are compost heaps bursting with grass clippings and kitchen scraps, a 40-gallon drum with comfrey leaves and water steeping into a nutrient-laden plant tonic. She keeps a bucket of rotted sheep pellets, seaweed and grass clippings in water as a fertiliser that locals can get a bottle of to take home, "because a lot of our locals don't have compost ready to go". Mulch comes from the council, and gardens are manured with horse poo, bought for only a few dollars.

As we stroll, she throws out gardening tips - how to deal with clay soil, where to get the best seaweed. She won't let us leave empty handed and digs up a comfrey root for us to take home. "You need tomatoes?" she asks.

Companion plants light up the garden with wild flowers, and children from the gardening club Milne started up have their own little plots in stacks of tyres. There are plots dedicated to Maori vegetables, another called the gifting garden, where the produce is given away. Various people have their own plots at the back. Dotted here and there are more nasturtiums, daisies and comfrey. It's the antithesis of the orderly rows you might find in suburban vege patches and gardening magazines. But not every crop is a roaring success. Milne says her last leeks were so thin, a friend cheekily referred to them as "impotent".

Chatfield couple buys Old Vasa Children's Home

The Old Vasa Children's Home, a historic property built in 1899, was recently sold to Scott Hanson and Denise Conway, a Chatfield couple. Reported price of the sale was $925,000.

Hanson says they have always liked the area and that the property is a nice place for Conway and him to host their kids and grandkids.

The couple was honored by the city council in Chatfield for the work they have done in restoring and preserving a number of old homes in that city.

Hanson says they have bought, fixed up and sold about nine old homes, mainly Victorians. He calls the work a hobby, but adds that they have done all right with some of the sales.

The Old Children's Home is in good shape and will need very little work, said Hanson.

Dedicated in December of 1899, the Children's Home was originally an orphanage built and run by the Swedish Lutheran Church. Pioneer Pastor Eric Norelius and his wife, who came to the area in 1855, took care of children out of the basement of the Vasa Lutheran Church and a few other structures before eventually building in 1899 on a property just a little bit west and north of the church, beyond the cemetery. The property is quiet and secluded; located on a dead-end gravel road, and not visible from Hwys. 19 or 7.

The Children's Home housed up to 80 residents before it was closed in 1926 and relocated to Red Wing near the intersection of Hwys. 61 and 19. Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota operates it today as a 24-bed facility that supports children and young adults, 7-22 years of age, with a wide range of developmental, physical, psychological, social or behavioral delays.

According to histories compiled by real estate agents, the Old Children's Home in Vasa sat empty from 1926 until 1968, reportedly even used for grain storage at some point in that period. Richard and Marianne Bushbaum acquired the property (294 acres at that point) and began an extensive remodel and renovation.

One of the Bushbaum daughters, now a minister in the Twin Cities, had tried to raise money to purchase the property in recent years with hopes to have it run as a retreat center.

In 1974, the renovated home and buildings and the remaining 34 acres of land were sold to George and Rita Richcreek. The Richcreeks continued with improvements, including extensive gardens, orchard work and other landscaping. A chicken coop became a guest cottage. A heated garage was built. A bunk house became an artist's studio. Another garage and guest apartment were added.

Rita Richcreek passed away in 2007. Her husband preceded her in death in 2004. The property was passed on to her daughters, Twin Cities residents, who were the recent sellers.

The main home is now a three level, with the finished attic a very nice space that the grandkids really enjoy, said Hanson. The house features plenty of woodwork, a multi-windowed garden room and a neat mix of old features and modern amenities. Finished square footage is about 5,150.

The house and property had been listed at $1.2 million.

County could expand chicken-coop policy

You may be surprised to learn there are chickens tucked away across backyards all over city neighborhoods.

Don’t be surprised to possibly see more coming.

The Pinellas County Commission held a public hearing on whether to loosen rules on backyard chickens. The official vote won't come until Dec. 20, but there's a lot of support right now in Pinellas County to make backyard coops legal across the county.

The Bates family is in support.

"It's more about the education of it,” Kelli Bates said. "It's also about the health of it that we are taking care of our food.”

They don't live on a farm. These are backyard animals living the city life in St Petersburg.

"They are very easy to take care of,” Bates said. “They don't take a lot of tender love and care.”

In fact, their chicken coup takes up about the same amount of space as a swing set would.

"We get really great, just fresh eggs laid right there that day," Bates added.

The chickens could have free range of a backyard, but they are going to lay the eggs right inside their coup. In the spring and summer, the Bates’ 19 hens lay up to 20 eggs per day.

It's legal at their home in St Petersburg, but some chickens have been hiding out in garages – in sections of Pinellas County where raising them at home is against the law. Well, at least for now.

According to the county’s 4H extension agent, there's a lot of interest in at-home coops.

Of course, that can also bring clucking, which is a noise your neighbors might not be fond of. There's the issue of that smell, too. Those are the two biggest concerns against backyard coops.

Bates said she hasn't had any problems with her neighbors. One reason may be her old-fashioned hospitality.

"We've actually gone door to door asking our neighbors, ‘Do you mind if we have chickens?’ Here are some fresh eggs," she said.

There seems to be a lot of support for this within the county commission. A lot of residents are curious what it takes to get started.

The basics are a fence and some chicken wire for containment and some wood to build a nesting box.

The Bates family said they use fresh soil that's raked frequently to keep the smell down.

Vandals hit preschool

Many of our town’s youngest residents have been left frightened and angry after being the victims of senseless vandals.

Last Friday night the Narromine Pre-School and Kindergarten’s chicken coop was broken into and a prize hen was stolen.

Jo O’Brien from the preschool said the much-loved hen, affectionately known as Mrs Chook, was a favourite amongst the children.

“The children love and care for the chooks here so it makes us really sad that this has happened,” Mrs O’Brien said.

“Early this week some of the kids noticed Mrs Chook was missing and after we told them what happened, they were definitely upset.

“I don’t understand why they did this? Why would someone break into the preschool and steal one of the kids’ chooks? It breaks your heart because you don’t know what they are doing with the chook either,” Mrs O’Brien said.

This is not the first time the chicken coop at the preschool has been the target of a malicious act.

“They got into the chooks another couple of times before this so this would probably be the third time in two years it has happened,” Mrs O’Brien said.

“After it happened before we had the coop reinforced with mesh and a padlock, but this time they wrecked the door just to get in. The wire was ripped off the coop and they also destroyed the worm farm.”

Mrs Chook’s theft has been reported to the police but those at the preschool are urging anyone with any information to come forward.

“She was an English Sussex - a white hen with black on her,” Mrs O’Brien said.

“She was very pretty and kind to the children, and we want to know who did this and what happened to her,” she concluded.

Chickens May Roost in Coronado

The days of clandestine chicken coops in Coronado may soon be over.

At 3 p.m. Tuesday the City Council will reconsider its ban on backyard chickens. If it elects to lift the ban, Rachel Hurst, the city's community development director, has recommended guidelines.

Because “Coronado is essentially an urban community with small lots, and little space between houses,” Hurst suggested that the city allow no more than three chickens per household and that coops are kept in backyards, well away from neighboring properties.

She noted that some cities restrict chickens to coops, but proposed “setbacks and quantity restrictions made this unnecessary.”

Chicken coops would not be allowed in commercial zones or in multi-family residential zones, such as the Coronado Shores.

Keeping hens has become more popular in recent years. Some credit the farm-to-table movement, while other point to the risk of salmonella from commercially produced eggs.

The ban has not stopped residents from keeping chickens. In September, one of them, Leslie Crawford, asked the council to lift the restriction. She is pleased with Hurst’s recommendations.

“They sound fair and reasonable to me,” she said. “All I ever wanted was for chickens to be treated the same way we treat other animals that live in our community.”

Local resident hopes chicken ban doesn't fly

Esther Weddell loves to look out of her window and see her three chickens happily running around her yard.

“I enjoy just seeing them,” she said. “I find them pleasant.”

The chickens provide fresh eggs and eat destructive grubs from the lawn, among other benefits, she said.

So Weddell is dismayed that Farmington may amend its animal ordinance to prohibit residents from keeping the birds.

Planning commissioners recently approved revising its animal ordinance to specifically prohibit chickens, following a request by city officials to firm up its ordinance. The City Council will next vote on the change.

“I do not object to the city imposing reasonable restrictions on the backyard chicken keeper,” said Weddell. “But I think an outright ban is overreaching.”

No ruffled feathers

Weddell got her birds this spring, when they were small yellow chicks.

Before she did so, she researched city laws.

Farmington's ordinance on “raising and keeping of animals” reads: “No person shall keep an animal upon their property that creates a nuisance by means, such as, but not limited to, the annoyance, injury or endangerment of the safety, health or quiet enjoyment of persons upon public property or upon private property within reasonable proximity of the animal's place of keeping.”

Her birds don't conflict with that law, she said.

“I intentionally do not have a rooster which some people could find annoying,” she said. “I really don't think that my three hens endanger anyone's health, safety or quiet enjoyment.”

Her neighbors haven't complained, she said. And they seem to enjoy the fresh eggs that she shares with them as well as with friends and family.

“The kids in my neighborhood come over to see the chickens and look for eggs,” she said.

She wrote to council members to express her opinion and to invite them to see her chickens.

Reached for comment, Mayor Tom Buck said that he had not as yet seen the revised ordinance so couldn't comment on it. Buck said, however, that he appreciated the Weddells' letter.

“They sent a very informative e-mail to council, which I thought was very constructive and helpful and provided some good education on the topic,” he said. ”We will certainly take that into consideration in our deliberations.”

Friendly birds

Weddell, who until recently taught dance at Dancing Feats in downtown Farmington, spoke from her quiet neighborhood on Manning Street this week.

Upon going outside, the three birds came running up to eat the feed that she put in two bowls.

Although they have distinct maple colorings, they don't have names.

“I just call them chickees,” she said.

Picking one up, the other two ran off clucking.

“They like to be together,” she said. “They are really fascinating,” she added. “They are like dinosaurs. They have reptilian feet and they lay eggs like dinosaurs. They don't peck but they do scratch though, so you have to be careful.”

Weddell said her father used to keep chickens and was a beekeeper in Livonia, which got her thinking about having her own chickens.

With her two daughters, both Farmington High graduates, on their own now, she thought the time was right.

Her husband, Michael, helps her out, she said.

Even her dog likes them, she said.

The chicken coop is next to the yard. It's full of clean hay and is lightweight and mobile.

The birds have the run of the pesticide-free yard.

They are clean birds, she said. She pointed out a garden bed of dirt where they take “dust baths,” which smother any mites they may have, she said.

Her biggest problem has been that “when they were adolescents they got out of the yard through a gap,” in the enclosed yard.

“I always grabbed them or our neighbor across the street would bring them over.”

Many benefits

Weddell listed some of the benefits she's found from keeping the birds, including: “They are easy and inexpensive to maintain; produce fresh, great-tasting and nutritious eggs; they take care of bugs; they're good company; they're pretty; they provide the best fertilizer in the world, and it decomposes quickly; it's nice because kids want to visit; they are friendly.”

Weddell says that she'll comply should there be restrictions on the ordinance, such as limiting the number of birds based on the size of the yard.

She's prepared to give them away should it come to that. A farmer at the Farmington Farmers Market has agreed to take them in that instance, she said.

She hopes that doesn't happen.

“It's so funny that a city called Farmington would think about banning chickens,” she said.

Chickens and more to see during Tour de Coop

They're good for your garden, eat unwanted insects, and make a pretty good omelet. They are chickens, raised in your own back yard.

Hundreds of Valley residents will rise before the rooster this Saturday to join the third annual Tour De Coops, "A tour of the chicken coops in the City of Phoenix and surrounding areas," says Elaine Berlinger. She plans to join the tour to make a final decision on whether to set up a coop in her own backyard. "I am taking my time making sure that, not only myself, my husband, my children, they all need to participate."

Not everyone is as cautious about buying chickens as Berlinger, says Bryan White, a co-coordinator of this year's tour, "We have some people who go to the State Fair and have a few too many beers and end up with goats!" He says those who take the tour can visit 21 different coop locations across the Valley to see what it's like raising chickens in just about every scenario, "whether it's in a rental situation, someone who's been in the business for years, a school setting, or an upscale home in the center of Phoenix."

Caroline Van Slyke has a plush half acre in the Arcadia neighborhood where she raises French Poulet Rouge chickens direct from Pennsylvania Amish country. "They are prized by restaurants, but we're not selling any. We're keeping them in the freezer." For her toddler, David, it means no hormones, just fresh chicken at the end of the month. At the other end of their lot, the family collects fresh eggs from eight hens housed in a stylish, recycled barn. "I'm a commercial and residential interior designer, so form and function go through everything," says Van Slyke, who says the crystal chandelier and a brightly colored painting inside the hens' barn help set the mood, "Happy chickens lay better eggs."

Not only do they lay fresh eggs, White says the chickens, "Control insects, till the soil and deposit poop releasing rich minerals in the Arizona dirt for a healthy garden."