May 24, 2012

greetings from a teeny tiny farm.

i'm mo, and i live in chicago. been a du'er for almost 9 years. did a few terms as a mod back on 2. really busy these days trying to turn a weed infested junky city vacant lot into a pocket farm. but i spent a heck of a lot of time here during the bush years.
funny thinking back all that time and realizing how young my kids were. how many trials and travails my friends here helped my through.

i think du3 is a work of real genius. a little messy, like democracy is. but, like they say, better than all the other things that have been tried.

so, welcome newcomers. the drinks cabinet is on the back wall in the lounge.

May 24, 2012

i love these chickens!

i think they are a stitch. i have 7 that are about a month old. mostly feathered, running around acting like chickens. they were a little over a week old when i got them, and seem to have grown a million fold. but i picked up the backordered 5 today, and they are only 2 days old. little balls of fuzzy air.
4 are araucanas, all different colors. and one more wyandott, as a certain god damned little terrier got one. boy i turned my back for one second. but she knows now, and wants nothing to do with the chicks.
bully pup is very interested in them. he isn't a hunter, but he does love to chase things. i have faith that he could not inflict anything on a creature able to move more than his usual 5 miles an hour or so. i think he is just curious, and has shown signs of feeling like he should guard them.
i think with a little time we will work it all out.

May 21, 2012

what chicago learned from '68

every demonstration/march that i have been to has had the kind of wall to wall cops that were out this weekend for the nato protesters. because what the cops learned was that when you are hugely outnumbered and things get a little out of hand, bad things happen. cops being cops, they panic and attack. that is what happened in '68. that was a long time ago. most of those that participated are old or dead. please stop tarring my city with it.

nothing like that has been allowed to happen since. the marches that we had around the iraq war were the same. one of the marches grew to the point where the protesters had sort of a mind of their own, and they left the route, and walked up and closed down streets. no one was hurt. because they were truly peaceful marchers.
yesterday thousands marched peacefully and went home unharmed. i watched some of the live stream, several friends watched all day. there were a few people trying to rile up police. i don't know what happened to lead to the thrashings that were dished out, but we all knew as soon as we saw it that that would be the story of the day.
and i come here this morning and see a post calling for my mayor, who was elected with 70% of the vote, to resign. because he presided over a week of demonstrations, some small, some huge, and a couple of people managed to cause enough of a scuffle to need some stitches.

well, guess what? i think they did a good job. the level of anger floating out there now is so high. it could have easily gone so badly. i don't think most people understand what "downtown chicago" really means as far as the amount of damage and casualties that would result from any level of violence. i have seen the good and the bad of chicago cops. imho, they did a great job.

and i'll keep my mayor, thanks. most of us that live in the real world of shades of grey like him fine. those that live in a world of black and white, maybe not so much. but it is my town, my mayor, and a handful of minor injuries is not enough to overturn democratic elections.

May 19, 2012

sigh. farming in the big city.

from my farms facebook page-
Stevo Wolfson
All of your neighbors, I have spoken to, thought it was great you bought and began gardening the empty lot on Touhy Ave., however, our goodwill was asphyxiated once we all became subjected to the overwhelming stench of cow manure emanating from your property.

Now, we can't enjoy the beautiful weather with our windows open or being outdoors with our families, because of your callous disregard for this neighborhood and where you live.

This is not farmland out in the country.

We are complaining to the city, our Alderman and we will be vocal in our decent to your getting a zoning change, due to your blatant disrespect of this community and law by proceeding before you had permission to do so.

I'm willing to bet all the folks who "Like" this don't live on our block!


it went on. why is there always one of these people everywhere i go?

May 17, 2012

what can you teach a chicken?

i am having a ball with my chicks. now that they are fledged out, i am letting them out more, and having fun with them. they already know "chick chick chick" means- food here. teaching them to step up on my hand so i can put them back in the cage.
next up will be teaching them to follow me. they will get to go forage in my yard soon, so i need them to follow me back in.
i am wondering if they can follow reliably enough to follow me over to the farm, about 35' down the alley.
but really just hoping to teach them a couple fun tricks. i know they are actually quite smart. fun little birds.

May 15, 2012

please like me on facebook.

a page about my little urban farm.
http://www.facebook.com/MoahsArk

May 15, 2012

please like me on facebook.

a page about my little urban farm.
http://www.facebook.com/MoahsArk

May 14, 2012

bug eggs on my plum tree

ok gardener friends. these little bug eggs are appearing on my beleaguered plum tree. i have had lots of ladybugs on this tree, but don't recall seeing these eggs. have had a lot of butterflies this year, don't have a clue if they would lay on a tree like this. if they are something bad, i would like to smite them now. but if they are something useful, i would like to buy them a drink.
anyone? clues, even?

May 14, 2012

dr handsome is pretty grown up

as big as his big sister, and about twice as wide now.



and mr biff looks more bully every day.

May 10, 2012

lol cats with a purpose.

ok, eta that the link is indeed screwed up, which is amazing to me, but....

so, please hit this link and look for the kitty videos. they are top right of the page. seriously, they are funny.

http://www.wbez.org/