Weekly Roundup
Here are some quick links for the week:
Disappointingly, the Salem City Council rejected ordinances that would have allowed chickens within city limits. I wonder if the opponents of the plan have ever actually visited any normal backyard chicken coops. Their arguments seem to be based heavily on fear-mongering.
Wine Country Thanksgiving –More than 140 wineries and tasting rooms in the Willamette Valley will be open during Thanksgiving Weekend (most open 11am-5pm, November 27-29, but hours may vary, so call ahead). Meet winemakers, experience special tastings and enjoy specialty food and live entertainment. Click here for a complete list of participating wineries and tasting rooms.
I made sweet roasted rosemary acorn squash this week, and it was fabulous. You should try it immediately. Go ahead, I’ll wait here…
Heavenly Harvest Farm in Corvallis is having their Harvest Festival through Saturday.
The College of Agricultural Sciences at OSU is once again hosting the Food for Thought lecture series, beginning Tuesday, November 3rd at 7pm. These free public lectures are held in the LaSells Stewart Center’s Construction & Engineering Hall on the OSU campus. Lectures include time for audience discussion and refreshments are provided.
Check out this special issue of Oregon’s Agricultural Progress: Food in Oregon.
That’s all for this week — I’m going to try to make this a regular feature of the blog, so please stay tuned!
(photo credit: “Cristom Vineyards” by pete4ducks)
As a Salem resident & someone who grew up in the country (so far out near the coast range we couldn’t even see anyone else’s lights at night…), I’m familiar with chickens. I have no bias against keeping chickens, but rather than “fear mongering,” my objection to keeping chickens within the Salem city limits is my experience with irresponsible pet owners and people who see animals as a whim or as a way to save money (ie: if I have chickens I won’t have to buy eggs) without wanting to put in the time, effort & money to make sure the chickens are well taken care of, don’t disturb the neighbors & don’t cause unpleasant sights & smells. I have neighbors who can’t manage to keep their dogs from barking continuously and who don’t care that their cats are killing all the songbirds in my garden & depositing waste in my yard.
Of course there ARE a lot of responsible chicken people out there, but a lot of the people who would exercise their “right to keep chickens” are not experienced or motivated to do it correctly. Who is going to monitor this? It’s already difficult in Salem to find someone to come out & tag junked cars on the street or fix potholes, in this economy is the city going to hire a “Chicken Enforcement Officer” to make sure the chickens aren’t being mistreated, housed improperly, or bothering the neighbors?
I live in a suburban neighborhood because I do NOT want to keep chickens, goats, ponies or any other farm animals. Chickens have a specific smell (especially when the coop/area is not cleaned often or is not big enough) which I don’t care for. Also, even though roosters would probably not be allowed, hens are a bit noisy from time to time and NOT always just during the day. While my home is on a larger lot, most of the houses around me are newer & built on smaller lots not conducive to “farming.” That’s just the nature of recent building trends.
I have friends just out of the city limits who keep chickens but they have larger properties, don’t live “cheek by jowl” with their neighbors and inhabit a more “country” atmosphere. I’m happy to have these friends and am thrilled to get eggs from them from time to time. I do not think chickens belong within the city limits even though it seems an unpopular opinion at this time.
Thank you for the long comment, Sherry. I appreciate your visit and your time spent sharing your POV.
I’m working on another post about this issue. Not sure when it will go up, but hope you’ll come back to check it out.