Home Egg Delivery

Not long ago I was delivering some eggs to one of our regular customers in my wife's four door Honda sedan and the woman commented about how nice it was to have home delivery. This reminded me of two other egg-men I have known over the years, both of whom have interesting stories.

When we first moved to Ann Arbor in the mid-1970s we got connected somehow with Harold Sias, a long-time local farmer who lived west of town and used to come around with the trunk of his Ford full of eggs. We bought his eggs for years and were also invited out to his place occasionally to slaughter his hens who had stopped laying. I remember doing about a hundred one day and taking thirty or forty home to put in the freezer. I also bought a lamb from him one year for our Easter dinner which he dispatched with a 22 and I then butchered. He lived there with his wife Margaret, also from an old local farming family. She had grown up on a farm in northeast Ann Arbor which was eventually bought up by a developer but the family had retained ownership of the homestead itself. Harold and I went there one day to make some roof repairs and it struck me as very odd that this old farmhouse was surrounded by a modern subdivision.

Walking into the house was like stepping back a hundred years in time. The kitchen had a cistern in it that received all the water collected by the eave troughs via a series of pipes, and the old pie safe in the cellar still held mason jars of canned foods even though no one had lived there for years. Lots of other personal effects were still there; it was as if they all just left everything right where it was and moved out as soon as they got the check from the title company.

Another egg-man I knew was a gentleman farmer and his wife who lived outside of Asbury Park, New Jersey. My mother grew up in Asbury and, according to family legend, one day Henry Clay Folger II, heir to the Standard Oil fortune showed up peddling eggs from the back of his Rolls Royce and soon became a friend and benefactor. When I was still quite small, I was astonished when they came by my aunt's house and took me for a ride in what seemed like an impossibly luxurious automobile. How was it possible that my parents knew these people I asked?

How do you get your eggs?

The Need for a Local Farming Revolution

I get email from people around the country who are interested in urban and small farming questions. Here is one from a woman in northern Oakland County Michigan. I think that it shows quite clearly that there are more issues at stake here than just farming in the city for subsistence or for commercial reasons. The idea that you just need to move out "to the country" to do what we are doing just doesn't hold water anymore if we allow townships to do what is happening all over. Restrictions are being placed on land use everywhere which, in effect, pushes people to buy into the industrial farming system instead of raising food for themselves and their neighbors on small local farms:

Dear Peter,
I have been reading your story on the blog – your struggles with your neighbor (Daniel), and now about your recent citation to appear in court. I just want you to know that you are in our thoughts and prayers and we support what you are fighting for. We will continue to monitor your situation and share with others locally, what they too must be prepared to fight for.

Our township (in North Oakland County) is in the process of attempting to greatly reduce our ability to own chickens. They will at least allow (1) chicken per acre – isn’t that thoughtful of them? They unfortunately, passed the ordinance already (with no one’s awareness, of course) and it is due to go into effect the end of June (08) with a grandfather clause for those who already owned chickens exceeding this number. We just found out about this yesterday. The township planning meeting is this coming Tuesday, of which we will certainly be attending. We are at a loss as to why they have done this, since most of the township is a rural setting. There is a village within the township, but a very small one – at that. There are however, automotive executives (with much political clout) who have their country ‘estates’ here --- and my suspicious mind is a bit inflamed, I admit.

We wish you well in your battle. It would just seem as if there should be something they (your city) can do --- some sort of adjustment that can be made, to accommodate their need to satisfy the concern for '...if we let YOU do it, then we'll have to let OTHERS do it' dilemma. Perhaps some sort of local committee of volunteers can form to monitor any others' attempt at this, and to assure that GAAMP is satisfied, if so.

Economically - our society simply cannot continue with 'business as usual' ... but of course, the difficulty is in convincing others of that - isn't it? If there are any shreds of wisdom that you can toss our way – please do so. Thank you for your vigilance, and God bless…
Debra

Chickens in Ann Arbor

Congratulations to Steve K and the City of Ann Arbor for approving their new ordinance. I hope things go well. Ironically, the same day the ordinance was approved in Ann Arbor I got a citation to appear in court within ten days regarding our urban farm flock of 44 chickens and our herd of 6 dairy goats.

While doing some research recently, I found this quintessentially American quote attributed to the late urban legend Benchicken Franklin former president of the FRA:

"They can take away my chickens and goats when they can pry them out of my dead, cold fingers."

It was allegedly spoken as he was addressing a convention of the FRA while holding a chicken above his head and was met with wild cheers from his fellow members.