Urban Chickens and Lead

From the One More Thing To Worry About department, the New York Times has an article on lead levels in eggs laid by urban chickens “Worries About Lead for New York City’s Garden-Fresh Eggs.” According to the article, the lead levels found in New York City’s home grown eggs ranged from none to over a 100 parts per billion. Since the FDA does not have an acceptable lead level in eggs it’s difficult to interpret the results. And I have to wonder what unknown problems lurk in industrial eggs.

It’s a reminder that those of us who live in older cities and grow food need to confront the lead problem. Personally, I’d also like to see the Real Estate industry come clean on this issue beyond boiler plate disclosures buried in sales documents. But I’m not holding my breath.

Want to Make Bread? Get a Scale

Liquid measuring cup on left, dry on right. Get a scale for baking.

The current issue of Cooks Illustrated Magazine has an interesting test of the accuracy of liquid versus dry measuring cups. When measuring flour, the dry measuring cup was up to 13% off when compared to a scale. The liquid measuring cup was even worse–26% off.  When baking bread, even 13% could be the difference between a decent loaf and a hockey puck.

Surprisingly, measuring water wasn’t much better, even with the liquid cup, which was 10% off. The dry measuring cup was 23% off when measuring water. I’ve always felt a bit silly scaling water, but now I can see its importance.

For bread baking, I’ve been using an electronic scale for many years now and have had reasonably consistent results. Scaling helps me be consistent. Now if only our kitchen didn’t swing between broiling hot and drafty…
 

Picture Sundays: Your Livestock Can Survive Fallout from Nuclear Attack

The US Department of Agriculture published this handy pamplett circa 1962. The USDA’s main recommendation? Get yourself a “two-story, basement-type barn with a hay-filled loft,  to “reduce radiation exposure [to your animals by] as much as 80 percent.”

Thanks to the interwebs you can download your own copy here.

And, something for the kids. There’s a film version–featuring marionettes!

Saturday Linkages: Tiny Houses and Succulent Suprises

Gardening
Sunflower sutra | Garden Rant http://gardenrant.com/2012/10/sunflower-sutra.html 

Succulent Surprise http://www.dudecraft.com/2012/09/succulent-surprise.html 

DIY
Build-It-Solar Blog: DIY Insulating Window or Door Shutters Using Astrofoil: http://www.builditsolarblog.com/2012/09/diy-insulating-window-or-door-shutters.html?spref=tw 

Bikes
Cargo cyclists replace truck drivers on European city streets: http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2012/09/jobs-of-the-future-cargo-cyclist.html 

Tiny Houses
Tiny Dogtrot House http://lloydkahn-ongoing.blogspot.com/2012/10/tiny-dogtrot-house.html#.UHA0ZpxF7Vk.twitter  

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Three Mules in Los Angeles

UPDATE 01/21/13: We’ve been informed via the comments that a volunteer has set up a Facebook page for the Mule Man–and with his approval. It’s called 3 Mules. So if you Facebook you can go there for more info., or to post pictures or stories. There’s even video interviews.

Of course, you are very welcome to continue post your sightings or thoughts here, too–especially those of you who don’t do Facebook. We’ve been touched by having some small role to play in passing on his story and giving people a place to gather and share their own stories. The truth is, we really like getting Mule Sightings in our inbox every day! So we’ll keep this open. If you have a picture you want to post here, you can send to our email address and we’ll start collecting them at the bottom of the post.

Last weekend, Kelly and I were treated to one of the most surreal scenes I’ve ever witnessed in Los Angeles: three pack mules being lead down busy Sunset Boulevard. On the side of one of the packs was a hand painted sign reading, “3mules.com“. As is fitting for a man leading three mules across the US, 3mules.com is just one page, managed by someone else. On that page is the following poetic statement:

To answer the most asked questions: Who are we? Where are we from? and Where are we going?  We are mules. We are from the outside. We live outside all day, every day. Where are we going? Nowhere, we’re here- the outside, the web of life- a beautiful  place like no other.We have come to this place-a place of golden sparkling light, a place for anybody and everybody. If your faithful of energy to this place at which time you connect to it and you’ll see the magic and endless possibility of infinity. As you walk in this place with these mules you spread the awareness that this beautiful earth like no other can only be protected by the way we live one day at a time.

Amen to that.