THE CHICKENS FINALLY COME HOME TO ROOST IN VANCOUVER

Vancouver city council recently voted unanimously in favour of scratching out an old bylaw that prevented the rearing of chickens in residential neighbourhoods. This act reflects an urban trend that is currently in full flight in North American towns and cities. With varying conditions in all the many jurisdictions, it's legal to keep flocks in Victoria, Burnaby, New Westminster, New York, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Denver, Atlanta, Nashville, San Jose, Houston, San Francisco and countless other urban and suburban roosts. But until a couple of days ago, Vancouver chicken cops were ready to pluck any outlaw hens from residences.

So why have so many city councils been brooding over this issue recently? Is it because the downturn in the economy has led people to scratch a living from their formerly ornamental gardens? Is it because so many urbanites see commercial, battery chicken farms as inhumane? Therefore some people think that they can lay claim to part of the free run, free range, organic, healthy living, anti-big business, anti-food importing attitude that is popular in certain circles, just by practicing a little backyard animal husbandry? I think the answer to the latter question is yes.

Backyard chicken flocks are a staple part of family meals for countless millions the world over and not for trendy reasons as is the case in rich North America. Where ever land is available and money is scarce people don't stew about issues such as whether or not the chickens can run free in the sun. Chickens are simply kept for food.

Here in Vancouver, a dozen eggs from a commercial farm costs around three dollars. Free run/range eggs cost a dollar or two more. These prices are hardly high enough to ruffle the feathers of locals, all of which count their incomes in the thousands of dollars. I recently bought a whole, fresh, three pound, fryer chicken at No Frills, a local grocery store, for a dollar a pound! I regularly lay more than that on the bar at Dix for a beer!

Although the repealing of this local bylaw might egg on a few dozen city dwellers to try their hands at raising chickens, I hardly think that we'll see hens cooped up on thousands of apartment balconies in Yaletown nor will we be hearing many cock-a-doodle-doos in the gardens of Kerrisdale mansions. Having said that, people do love their pets and hens make engaging pets. There are countless thousands of dogs and cats living in Vancouver apartments and they are all defecating in boxes and city parks. Adding a few layers to the list of pets isn't going to turn the city into a barnyard. But if a couple of rich celebrity chicks are seen on Robson street with hens' heads peeking out of their purses, old and young alike may pick up the trend of keeping chickens as pet companions. The next thing of course will be pet accessories and services for urban chicks. Diamond leg bands, feather dusters and hen parties will be all the rage this season, I predict. Empty nesters who are missing their children will start keeping exotic breeds for their distinct personalities. We'll probably have to stop eating chicken wings in bars because it will be seen as cruelty toward animals. No doubt Petcetera and PetSmart will start selling fancy, canned and organic chicken feed that' s advertised on TV. And of course, vegetarians will raise vegetarian chickens while carnivores will feed their chickens slugs and bugs. Local veterinarians will flock to refresher courses on chickens. Some conscientious new pet chicken owners will accompany their hens to obedience schools and focus groups but many will just wing it.

Since the change in the by-law was announced, inevitably there has been some clucking from people in various interest groups. Perhaps some of the few locals who farm vegetables in their urban gardens will take a gander at adding chicken coops to their urban home steads. After all, is a chicken in a cockamamie back yard cage any different than a cockatoo or a cockatiel in a gilded cage?...Well chicken eggs are bigger and size does matter which breeds another question. What about getting some ostrich sized eggs hatching in our backyards? This isn't just a little chicken shit! Having a few seven foot tall, three hundred pound birds scratching under the fence could really get the neighbours squawking. An owner would likely have to deal with less foul play from resident coyotes and hawks however.

Some have voiced concerns that aging layers will end up as home grown cockaleekie in city cock pots. Slaughtering a guinea hen in the garage is one thing, but slaughtering ostriches would certainly get people running around the neighbourhoods like chickens with their heads cut off! But giant African chickens will likely never come home to roost and I don't see this change to Vancouver's pet by-law as much to crow about.

JulianOnePlanet Publications Copyright 2009

VANCOUVER'S LAST HOP VINE?

http://www.camravancouver.ca/
In 1905 the neighbourhood of Mt Pleasant was a logged off area with only a few structures off Main or Broadway. One of them was a Vancouver Breweries building at the corner of what is now 280 E 6^th Ave. at Scotia. The brick and stone building is a heritage one now and is an artist's live work studio complex.

The brewery was sited there because of the creek that flowed there and the water turned the grist mill and of course provided water for the beer. Brewery Creek still flows but it's underground now. It flows as it almost always has down to False Creek flats at E.1^st Ave and Scotia. In fact the Artech building has pumps underground to keep the parkade from flooding. Across the street from Artech there's a large hop vine growing wild in the blackberry brambles. I can't prove it but it's reasonable to suppose that spent hops and grains dumped outside the brewery found their way via stream or wind or birds downstream to where what now could be Vancouver's last hop vine's current location.

False Creek was filled in to eliminate Mt. Pleasant's waterfront and Brewery Creek long since sent underground but the hops are still here...barely.

Recently, a City of Vancouver “Greenway” project has a bicycle path planned that will bulldoze the vine's location on the boulevard. Currently, the two pronged approach of the path has brought the east end from Main st. to within a few yards of the vine. The westerly extension is at Great Northern Way and Brunswick, also within a half a block of the vine. I'm surprised there's been a mature crop this year. I figured the machines would have sent the vine to oblivion weeks ago.

As the nights cool in the dying days of summer 2008 the last crop this old vine will produce has reached its prime.

I've brewed with these hops, sold them on Ebay and given them away over the years. This is the last hurrah.

I've taken samples of the hops to Derrick at Dix and he has said that he's interested in brewing a fresh hopped beer but he will not be able to fit it into his schedule until the 3^rd week in September. The hops MIGHT still be there but annailation is imminent.

The vine's located on the north side of 336 E. 1.st Ave. opposite the little park. Anyone interested in taking rhisome cuttings or hops will need pruners and gloves to clip away the blackberry brambles.

The vine is large so it will be possible to harvest a bunch big enough to brew anything from a basic 5 gallon homebrew on up to craft brew sizes.

Cheers,

JulianOnePlanet Publications copyright 2008

“relax, have a homebrew” Charlie Papazian