. what more do you need? Well, according to some members of the city council and some people who have complained in the press, we also need to prevent our "itinerant population" (students) from raising them and to address the supposed problem that they're going to be abandoned en masse without care, and that they're going to bug neighbors and lower property values. Just because their complaints are unrealistic doesn't mean we don't have to deal with them :( I'm just concerned about what we've seen from the council so far. Of the 7-member council: ------------- Correia I don't know. My sister lived in a small town in Illinois and her neighbors across the street had chickens and they were kind of friendly, but I don't really see it in Iowa City. I'm sorry O'Donnell No. Champion I don't know. (several talking) ... Lombardo Where do you stop? What regulations, I mean, in terms of just legislating how to keep them(several talking) Wright The fact that it's relatively common, I think there are plenty of models that could be used out there. Um ------------- Then, from one of our local papers... Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey who said her grandmother owned chickens said she was not interested in supporting such a move because supporting local business leads to a more dynamic economy, but she is interested in hearing what others have to say regarding the matter. We have a weak mayor system, so Mayor Bailey is basically just another vote on the city council. The other two members of the council haven't really said anything that we've been able to track down that indicates his views. We have Wright seeemingly in favor; Correia, Bailey, and O'Donnell seemingly opposed; and Wilburn, Champion, and Hayek unknown (Lombardo was the city manager). That's not a good starting point, and we don't get to "negotiate" with them (at best, we'll get to speak our peace in front of them the session before the vote). Then they'll either vote it up or down. So, in our position, what would you do? It might not hurt to have educational workshops at your County Ag Extension office Hey, that's a good idea. We should give the ag extension a call and see if they'd be interested in that. I think that'd go over better than just requiring that applicants read a pamphlet.

Good seeing you here RiverNymph...impressive list, hope we can trade, if you'd check my list and let me know. Btw, very first post in Seed Exchange : Sticky:Read before Posting by GWTamara has links to basics such as where to edit Members Page and Seed Exchange list, besides these are among other helpful sites at the bottom of the page. Happy trades, Bea

Sorry for the late response. Well my little mango seedling didn't do well lately. Actually, it didn"t grow since the last picture of last july, it pushed some leaves but the internodal space is almost 0 inches. some new leaves were just piling up against the old one. I suspect it is a runt seedling, since i removed the two other ones randomly. 3 weeks ago the leaves started yellowing and drying (may be i was light on watering or overfertilizing with sheep manure), i had to cut all the canopy, but i don"t expect too much since it is not thick enough to response to a pug i think. But he managed to pass the winter without any protection by the way,which is a good news for me (climate hardiness speaking), as i got a grafted kent tree since then which is doing well. A good experience even if the seedling's fate is sealed. Here is a pic of it last month at he beginning of the drying out

I've been having trouble getting into "my next book." I checked four books out of the library the other day and rejected them one-by-one after reading just a few pages of each. Last night I scanned my own bookshelves and selected A Patchwork Planet thinking, "Maybe Anne Tyler can get me out of my funk." As I started reading, the book seemed vaguely familiar and yet I had no idea what was coming next. This morning, I checked my book journal to see if I'd read it before. I had to laugh at what I had written: I was disappointed in this book. While entertaining, it's pretty forgettable. Forgettable indeed!