Fabbrication

Pops Naple sent us a newspaper clipping with this story about front yard food gardens. There is a trend where people grow a vegetable garden in their front yard in the city.

We recently did this, but we removed an extra car-width of concrete (which was poorly built anyhow), and used it to build a retaining wall to hold soil for a garden. The spot we chose was the sunniest part of our yard, and our vegetables have been loving it.



See more pictures of our garden.

We also have a couple of urban chickens which roam around the backyard.




All of this means that we can generate a good portion of our food without driving to the store and spending money. Seeds are cheap, and they turn into all the carrots, beets, tomatoes, and squash you can eat.

The story talks about how some neighbors, and even some local laws, were against vegetables in front yards. This is hard to believe living in Portland, Oregon, where many people have not only front yard gardens, but some chickens strolling around as well. Here is the original story from AP:

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Front-yard gardens make food, friends; annoy some
Monday, August 13, 2007
By ELLEN SIMON
Associated Press, NEW YORK

A dedicated group of vegetable gardeners is ripping out their front lawns and planting dinner.

Their front-yard kitchen gardens, with everything from vegetables to herbs and salad greens, are a source of food, a topic of conversation with the neighbors and a political statement.

Leigh Anders, who tore up about half her front lawn four years ago and planted vegetables, said her garden sends a message that anyone can grow at least some of their food. That task should shift from agribusiness back to individuals and their communities, said Anders, of Viroqua, Wisc.

"This movement can start with simply one tomato plant growing in one's yard," she said.

While people have been growing food in their backyards forever, front-yard vegetable gardens are a growing outlet for people whose back yards are too shady or too small, as well as those who want to spread their beliefs one tomato at a time.

Many hope their gardens will revive the notion of victory gardens, which by some estimates provided 40 percent of America's vegetables during World War II.

Link to full story, or keep reading below.

Here's a silly story, hot off the wire, of a woman who assaulted a man during his karoke performance of a Coldplay song. I'd like to know, why would you go to a karoke bar if you couldn't tolerate a bad performance or two?

Woman attacks karaoke singer during Coldplay song
Posted by The Associated Press August 10, 2007 14:37PM

SEATTLE -- Perhaps it was the lyric "I jumped across for you, oh what a thing to do," that inspired a Seattle woman to attack a man belting out Coldplay's song "Yellow" in a bar.

Read full story here.

Employees at Changes Bar and Grill in the city's Wallingford neighborhood said the woman leaped at the karaoke singer when she heard the song Thursday night, telling the man that he "sucked" before she pushed and punched him to make him stop singing.

"It took three or four of us to hold her down," bartender Robert Willmette told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

When she was escorted outside, the 21-year-old woman "went crazy" Willmette said, throwing punches at him and others, including an off-duty police officer.

Patrol officers and Gang Unit detectives then arrived at the neighborhood bar and blocked off the street, which inflamed the woman's rage even more, a police report said. Before police could handcuff the woman she headbutted the off-duty officer at least two times.

The off-duty officer was treated for several cuts, scrapes and bruises.

After treatment for injuries, the woman was booked into the King County Jail for investigation of assault. She was also held on a warrant issued for a previous theft charge.

According to bartender notes, she only had a single shot of Jagermeister.