Michigan Thread - all are welcome!
- Thread starter Wynette
- Start date
The Right to Farm act doesn't mean what you think -- or what it sounds like -- it means. It's to protect farmers.
People move next to farm land, and then complain about the smell when the farmer spreads manure. Or the dust. Or the noise. Ya moved next to a farm, and that is what it's like. No, you can't make the farmer stop farming. You should have done your homework before you moved next to a farm.
Unfortunately, if your zoning laws say "no chickens," you probably are out of luck. Are you in some sort of HOA?
Good Afternoon,
Thank you for the reply. I am not in an HOA. I am looking to have a backyard coop with 4ish chickens. Plan was to sell excess eggs at the mail box. This would move me into the "commercial farm" category. I feel like the township guy just thinks it is a bad idea and not necessarily illegal. I'm not looking to keep this poultry as pets.
Thank you for the reply. I am not in an HOA. I am looking to have a backyard coop with 4ish chickens. Plan was to sell excess eggs at the mail box. This would move me into the "commercial farm" category. I feel like the township guy just thinks it is a bad idea and not necessarily illegal. I'm not looking to keep this poultry as pets.
Wow, really? I didn't know that.
The Zone 4 category was the response of MDARD to several legal challenges by backyard farmers across the state. As a founding member of MSFC (Mich. Small Farm Council) we have been fighting this war for many years. Ultimately commercial farm operations and Township lobbyists pulled the strings of MDARD and wrote the "rules". Never mind that current GAAMPs violate state and US Constitutional law.
Delivery guy brought the new (refurbished) washer/dryer. Delivery guy was me. 
It's going to sit on the porch for a day or three before going in the house. I need to run a gas line for this unit that is replacing the old electric unit that is shot. I wasn't quite ready for the switch but the price was too good to pass on.
It's going to sit on the porch for a day or three before going in the house. I need to run a gas line for this unit that is replacing the old electric unit that is shot. I wasn't quite ready for the switch but the price was too good to pass on.
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Sigh. It was so beautiful yesterday evening. Perfect temperatures, perfect humidity with that golden light as afternoon fades to evening. The occasional bird was singing. The chickens were scratching around happily as I turned last fall's leaves into the garden soil. So peaceful.
I wanted to share it with Dh. I asked him bring a lawn chair out and just enjoy it.
That was disastrous. All he could see was last fall's leaves that I wouldn't let him burn. And (1/2" tall) grass growing along one walkway. And the mound from digging the potatoes last fall (bad because last summer the potatoes "were eaten by the bugs" and I haven't planted potatoes yet. And such.
It brought out a long string of our incompatibilities as far as yards and gardens go. He wants bare earth except the single preferred kind of lawn grass in the lawn or except for the vegetable plants in the garden. No mulch. No companion plants. Certainly not a single weed. Flowers are barely tolerable. He wants to kill every insect he sees. Spray to kill grubs, spray to insects, spray to kill weeds, spray to kill the moss. Water a bit at a time, basically get the surface wet. Not a single leaf on a single plant should have a bug bit in it.
His dad and at least two brothers have perfect lawns - super, super, super thick, not a single blade out of place much less a weed. His sister is deathly allergic to bees. His mother calls every flying thing in the house a hornet (or mosquito), shrieks, and won't rest until it is dead. Ants within 10 feet of the house are enemies because they might come in the house.
I've tried to explain why I want mulch and companion planting. I've tried to explain predator insects and pollinators. I've tried to explain healthy soil.
He "tried it my way." The mulch gets in the way of raking all the weeds out every day or two and the "watering" just sits on top of the mulch so it doesn't get to the plants. There were japanese beetles, asparagus bugs, and squash bugs, and something that "ate the potatoes" (I think it was virus, but I don't know).
I gave up fighting about it once last summer and let him spray. The "spray saved the garden" and "proved" his way is better. Well, spraying like that does work better for the first year anyway. That it ends up with less healthy soil and such is irrelevant to him because there are "bags of fertilizer right up the road at the store.".
This is our fourth year with the garden. Part of the problem is I have made some big mistakes and am still on the steep part of the learning curve. The main problem is my way is never going to look perfect (if artificial is what you think is perfect).
That and I can't convince him that I am not my parents. My parents had more weeds than grass in the "lawn" and the weeds totally took over the garden by August.
I wanted to share it with Dh. I asked him bring a lawn chair out and just enjoy it.
That was disastrous. All he could see was last fall's leaves that I wouldn't let him burn. And (1/2" tall) grass growing along one walkway. And the mound from digging the potatoes last fall (bad because last summer the potatoes "were eaten by the bugs" and I haven't planted potatoes yet. And such.
It brought out a long string of our incompatibilities as far as yards and gardens go. He wants bare earth except the single preferred kind of lawn grass in the lawn or except for the vegetable plants in the garden. No mulch. No companion plants. Certainly not a single weed. Flowers are barely tolerable. He wants to kill every insect he sees. Spray to kill grubs, spray to insects, spray to kill weeds, spray to kill the moss. Water a bit at a time, basically get the surface wet. Not a single leaf on a single plant should have a bug bit in it.
His dad and at least two brothers have perfect lawns - super, super, super thick, not a single blade out of place much less a weed. His sister is deathly allergic to bees. His mother calls every flying thing in the house a hornet (or mosquito), shrieks, and won't rest until it is dead. Ants within 10 feet of the house are enemies because they might come in the house.
I've tried to explain why I want mulch and companion planting. I've tried to explain predator insects and pollinators. I've tried to explain healthy soil.
He "tried it my way." The mulch gets in the way of raking all the weeds out every day or two and the "watering" just sits on top of the mulch so it doesn't get to the plants. There were japanese beetles, asparagus bugs, and squash bugs, and something that "ate the potatoes" (I think it was virus, but I don't know).
I gave up fighting about it once last summer and let him spray. The "spray saved the garden" and "proved" his way is better. Well, spraying like that does work better for the first year anyway. That it ends up with less healthy soil and such is irrelevant to him because there are "bags of fertilizer right up the road at the store.".
This is our fourth year with the garden. Part of the problem is I have made some big mistakes and am still on the steep part of the learning curve. The main problem is my way is never going to look perfect (if artificial is what you think is perfect).
That and I can't convince him that I am not my parents. My parents had more weeds than grass in the "lawn" and the weeds totally took over the garden by August.
Dreamzchaser
Crowing
Happy Saturday everyone! I missed you all and thank you for your concerns. It has been very hectick in my neck of the woods. Cannpt use cell for BYC nor FB. Had to use my niece computer and apparently left it on. Thank you Sally for letting me know. My niece has been posying on FB as if it was me. My sister is not very happy because they are not allowed to be on social media. Yes, she is 22 nut since she lives in their home, they must go by their rules.
Have no clue on how to start. I guess that I am getting better little bit at a time. Needless to say, I am way behind in so many things. My planting has not been done but Sally's onions are coming out. Warm enough that the plastic cover came down from the animals. However, it's Michigan. Snow predicted for Monday,lol
Jardiance really did a number on me. Still fighting with Ann Arbor because my feet keep getting swollen almost every day. Low on Potassium and calcium. Funny, I read about it around here. My thoat hurts constantly and eating is a pain. I should not eat but it is so darn good to eat,lol
Was able to get a McIntosh apple tree and a peach and plum tree. But hub pull the labels and now I have no clue which one is which. Just yesterday began planting seeds of sweet corn, tomatoes and peppers. They are inside over a heating mat. I am hoping to be able to grow a bit more than last summer.
Critters are doing good. Just Pitbul;l and LoveChild are giving me a headache. LoveChild runs poor Pitbull all over the yard. So they are both on their own little space with a hen each. So the ladies are all alone again. Pitbull is too rough on them and LoveChild all he wants is to just mate, mate, mate. The Cuban is hard on the ladies and the little kid must be Puertorican because he knows not the enough is enough,lol Quackies are huge. Love their eggs. Too many for just me but the chickens will eat the duck eggs too,lol
I think that the only good news that I have is that day before yesterday, got the generator installed. 8.7K and the whole house gets power. And that so far, I am planning to be there in June. Need to text Rose to ask about the electric set up.
I might do the roast pork and the Puertorican rice if possible for this year. ( Troyer might get his wish,lol)
Love you all.
The one in the picture is my firstborn.
Have no clue on how to start. I guess that I am getting better little bit at a time. Needless to say, I am way behind in so many things. My planting has not been done but Sally's onions are coming out. Warm enough that the plastic cover came down from the animals. However, it's Michigan. Snow predicted for Monday,lol
Jardiance really did a number on me. Still fighting with Ann Arbor because my feet keep getting swollen almost every day. Low on Potassium and calcium. Funny, I read about it around here. My thoat hurts constantly and eating is a pain. I should not eat but it is so darn good to eat,lol
Was able to get a McIntosh apple tree and a peach and plum tree. But hub pull the labels and now I have no clue which one is which. Just yesterday began planting seeds of sweet corn, tomatoes and peppers. They are inside over a heating mat. I am hoping to be able to grow a bit more than last summer.
Critters are doing good. Just Pitbul;l and LoveChild are giving me a headache. LoveChild runs poor Pitbull all over the yard. So they are both on their own little space with a hen each. So the ladies are all alone again. Pitbull is too rough on them and LoveChild all he wants is to just mate, mate, mate. The Cuban is hard on the ladies and the little kid must be Puertorican because he knows not the enough is enough,lol Quackies are huge. Love their eggs. Too many for just me but the chickens will eat the duck eggs too,lol
I think that the only good news that I have is that day before yesterday, got the generator installed. 8.7K and the whole house gets power. And that so far, I am planning to be there in June. Need to text Rose to ask about the electric set up.
I might do the roast pork and the Puertorican rice if possible for this year. ( Troyer might get his wish,lol)
Love you all.
The one in the picture is my firstborn.
Man oh man. I don't even know what to say here. Thank goodness DH and I are on the same page as far as gardening/lawn/pesticides go.
@Dreamzchaser, good to hear from you! Take care, feel better, girl!
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