Dear Theresa and all of Seward!
Stefan here with Growing Lots Urban Farm.. first off, thank you all for your
support in this trying process. We are talking with different people to try
to resolve the ongoing issue we are having around our chickens...
A bit of backstory.. this started about a week ago, when we witnessed a
group of kids trying to rip through the fencing of our chicken coop one
evening. We approached them and decided to take a positive and proactive
approach to the situation.. inviting them into the coop, letting them hold
the chickens, talk about their place and importance in the farm, and
importance of respecting them... even gave them some eggs to take home to
their parents and cook up for them..
Well, the next night they returned while we were not around, and wreaked
havoc on the coop, stealing 9 dozen eggs and smashing them along the bike
path bridge over Hiawatha. We know it was them, because concerned neighbors
took pictures of them while asking them to leave...
We have had continuous reports for the past week of the kids returning, and
we have attempted to approach and talk with them, but to no avail.. Then on
Thursday night they left the gate wide open, leading to chickens all over
the streets.. which of course brought animal control into the equation.
Now, we did sort of pickle ourselves around the city involvement, because to
be honest we went through the permitting process in the spring, animal
control said it would be fine, we got all of our neighbors permission, but
then had to process application through Zoning (which we were not aware of
at the time or we would have talked with them first). Unfortunately, Zoning
came back and informed us since there is nothing either for or against
chickens on Industrially zoned land, they denied our application.
Unfortunately, since we were assured by Animal Control there was no problem,
we had already gotten our chickens.. sooooooo, we decided to do what every
pioneering enterprise has to do at some time or another.. we decided to fly
under the radar. Which was going swell until recent events put our little
girls in the limelight.
At this point we are waiting to hear back from city on our timeline, but are
anticipating the girls will have to move on.. and we have been in touch with
other urban farmers who may be interested in taking some on...
This certainly brings to light an important issue around urban agriculture..
because to be honest, we here at Growing Lots have been absolutely
astonished at the interest in the chicken flock.. people are stopping by
constantly to watch the chickens, take pictures, ask questions, bring their
little children in to touch and pet them.. and despite the fact it makes
getting work done very hard at times.. WE LOVE IT!! This is the great
strength of urban farming.. helping people connect to their food source on a
very real level..
However, even if the chickens have to go this year, we are working to expand
our operation onto a semi-permanent site this fall, where we will expand the
educational focus of the operation.. and you had better believe we will
fight to have chickens on site... while at the same time designing a more
tamper proof system.
We will keep the community informed on how all of this works out.. and
again.. thanks to each and every one of you for your support!!!!
Blessings from Growing Lots,
d'Farmers
Stefan & Jake
On Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 1:07 PM, theresa nelson
Rest of post
<<email obscured>>wrote:
>
> Last night (Monday, July 18 at 8
> p.m.) I thought I'd drive by the garden/ chickens to check on them,
> after reading about the issues on this forum. I found a
> group of people in with the chickens. There was a women in her twenties
> with about six children ranging from 7-12. When I approached them they
> ran over the ped bridge at 24th St. I drove over to Cedar (where the ped
> bridg
> connects to Cedar) and saw them go into Little Earth, the section closest
> to
> 55. I didn't follow them any further. I went back to the chickens and
> put the fence back up. I'll drive/walk by whenever I can, but it
> seems some form of patrol would be good.
>
>
>
> > To: mpls-seward@forums.e-democracy.org
> > Subject: Re: [Seward] Growing Lots Farm - problems with kids and city
> > From: <email obscured>
> > Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2011 11:01:57 -0400
> >
> >
> > I'm responding to a rather old posting.
> > Maybe not everyone knows that this urban farm is right where E. 24th
> St. deadends at the lightrail passage. We can all try to keep our eyes on
> it; many bicyclists pass by each day.
> > Also Seward has a citizen patrol called Seward Walkers which could make
> checks on it.
> >
> >
> > Clem Engen
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Seward Profile <<email obscured>>
> > To: mpls-seward <mpls-seward@forums.e-democracy.org>
> > Sent: Sun, Jul 17, 2011 7:21 am
> > Subject: [Seward] Growing Lots Farm - problems with kids and city
> >
> >
> > Growing Lots Urban Farm had this on their Facebook page. The link is
> > below where you can also read comments. (You don't need to be a member
> > of Facebook to see the post and comments.)
> >
> > Hey friends, members, and community alike, we have recently been
> > having some troubling issues with the kids destroying the chicken
> > coop, stealing eggs, letting chickens loose, and well as the city
> > getting on us now. We will need your support and let you know, soon,
> > on what you can do to help us. If we want urban agriculture and local
> > foods, we must all take a stand.
> >
> > http://goo.gl/rldsd
> >
> > --
> > What's happening in Seward? Check the calendar!
> > http://bit.ly/sewardcal
> >
> > Peter Fleck
> > Editor, Seward Profile Online News
> > http://sewardprofile.posterous.com/
> > http://twitter.com/sewardtweets
> > Co-Manager, Seward Neighbors Forum (with Becca Vargo Daggett)
> > http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/mpls-seward
> >
> > My Blog: http://www.pfhyper.com/blog
> > My Twitter: http://twitter.com/pfhyper
> > <email obscured>
> >
> > Peter Fleck
> > Seward
> > About Peter Fleck: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/1AINKNE5NG6o5EcBF8bXE
> >
> > View full topic, share on Facebook and more:
> > http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/1V0Wypv7BDPrGIFczq0Zc
> >
> > Special presentation - learn about neighbor/neighbour forums:
> > http://blog.e-democracy.org/posts/1215
> >
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> > Clem Engen
> > mpls-seward
> > About Clem Engen: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/clemengen
> >
> > View full topic, share on Facebook and more:
> > http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/6zNL9FA3FjpV7L0LcXAcCt
> >
> > Special presentation - learn about neighbor/neighbour forums:
> > http://blog.e-democracy.org/posts/1215
> >
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> Theresa Nelson
> Seward, Minneapolis
> About Theresa Nelson:
> http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/4YAMAK03Vun9K7he8hXOGm
>
> View full topic, share on Facebook and more:
> http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/5w9SMfA3GmEgsJIifrMGtu
>
> Special presentation - learn about neighbor/neighbour forums:
> http://blog.e-democracy.org/posts/1215
>
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--
"Those who make peaceful evolution impossible make violent revolution
inevitable..." JFK