A chicken ordinance was passed in Ann Arbor in 2008, allowing residents to keep up to four hens in their backyards for the first time. Happily, residents of Ann Arbor began building coops and transforming their backyards into a haven for their chickens. The popularity of backyard chickens has continued to grow. As of December 2016, 22 permits for backyard chickens had been issued, already rising above the 14 that were issued in 2015. Early in 2015, the number of chickens allowed went from four to six, delighting those who already had them and instilling curiosity in many who have never had chickens.
Posts filed under Farms
Michigan Flower Growers’ Cooperative Brings Local Flowers to the Table
In the middle of the growing season in 2017, something brand new sprouted in Ann Arbor. Grown with care, the Michigan Flower Growers’ Cooperative was founded on July 5, 2017, and ran through the rest of the growing season with great success. Now, they’re approaching their second year of bringing locally-sourced flowers to southeast Michigan, serving everyone from local flower shops to DIY brides to individual consumers with beautiful blooms.
The State of Bees
Imagine a living thing that has an effect on almost every food you eat. It also plays a role in the trees you see, the weeds you pull, and the coffee you drink each morning. Our entire ecosystem would be radically changed if these beings were to disappear. Bees are the tiny, hard working, often pesky pollinators that so graciously play a part in maintaining the delicate ecosystem we share. We need them, desperately, to be able to do their job: pollinate.
A Family Firmly Planted: HillTop Greenhouse and Farms
On a bitter cold and rainy day in late April, my husband and I were inspired to do our annual trek to HillTop Greenhouse and Farms to plot this year’s garden and bask in the warmth and stunning visuals contained within the expansive space.
A Day in the Life of a Farmer — Kris Hanna of Old Pine Farm
This past summer I was privileged to visit Old Pine Farm in bucolic Manchester, Michigan, where a variety of breeds are raised to produce high quality beef, pork, chicken, and lamb. I found my host, farmer Kris Hanna, wrenching a piece of equipment when I pulled into the driveway by her charming yet modest farmhouse. I noticed she had little by way of “garden or landscaping,” which she later explained is not her area of expertise. Her son did a fine job of perennial plantings in the area surrounding her homes’ entrance as a Mother’s Day gift. The iconic Midwest red barn with silo stands proud among several smaller barns and paddocks, dappled by a background of rolling green fields.
Raising EMMA
Husband and wife team, Mark Skowronski and Michelle Kahlenberg, own and operate a small sustainable farm, called EMMA Acres, west of Ann Arbor proper in the beautiful farming community of Manchester. They raise primarily heritage breed livestock in a sustainable and humane way. Their organic practices are inspired by the likes of Joel Salatin.
Fluffy Bottom Farms — A Buddhist-inspired Dairy Farm Begins its Life in Chelsea
“It’s definitely a time game,” Kelli Conlin says, sitting across from me. She is a woman with a kind face, working hands, and an indescribable amount of caring energy emitting from her heart. From our conversation, I gathered that Kelli was referring to the amount of time and care it takes to run a farm like Fluffy Bottom, one where treating animals with kindness and compassion and providing products that are fresh and delicious are top priorities.
