Bunchland

Recently, Boing Boing contributor and dad Mark Frauenfelder posted about the lovefest between his family and the chickens they keep in their backyard (look, in the picture above there’s a little chair set up in the coop for his daughter to sit on while she’s visiting the hens). The chickens were purchased for practical purposes (eggs, fertilizer) but the Frauenfelders got attached. And they’re not alone.  Keeping chickens in urban backyards is on the rise and legal in many cities including New York and Chicago. In other cities, like Toronto and Vancouver, there are ordinances against the keeping of chickens. Those advocating for our fine feathered friends say that chicken keeping is clean and safe, provides them with food and makes them feel good. The chickens are funny and relaxing to watch and pretty darn delightful for the kids. Those against city fowl cite odour, noise and fear of disease as objections. Whether or not chickens should be allowed in urban yards has become a heated issue. To find out if you can have a pet that says bok and provides you with brunch in your neck of the woods, visit the very helpful City Chicken web-site.
Photo: Boing Boing

When we were kids a yard meant grass. Hank Hill grass. Turns out the White House approach to landscaping is actually a throw back to feudal times when a vast lawn let people know you had a lot of sheep. These days, kids and parents in cities around the world are trading their grass for greens and creating food-yielding mini-farms in yards, decks and rooftops.