County Officials Protecting You

From the farmer with the fruit stand.  Long story short, farmers in Ada County Idaho were selling produce and goods not from their own farms at their farmstands.  They ran amiss of county regulations banning selling produce from other farms, and the county wanted them to comply.  So they allowed themselves to be annexed by the town of Kuna, which had no problem with such free enterprise.  But that's not what got my attention.

Faced with an increased demand for more local products, Rice wanted to know, "Why can't they change the rules?"

"These requirements are all established with the intent to protect the safety of the public" said county spokeswoman Jessica Donald. "Beyond that, the county and development services staff have always been open to working with impacted groups to explore ways the code can be modified or enhanced to help provide for productive and safe environments."

Wow that's some impressive weasel-wording.

So buying local products from a local farmer who knows the other producers is somehow inherently less safe than going to the grocery store where my produce got flown in from South America?

What's worse is I actually think these people might actually believe their own bullshit, and that farmers are somehow out to poison their friends and neighbors.

Mel

Hard Freeze

So, the big news around here for the last few days, has been the huge north pacific storm beating us up (we got some wind gusts as high as 70mph), followed by four nights of hard freezes below 30 degrees.

Yeah, we're a few days from June, and it hit 26 in my yard last night. I got up and looked out at my yard, and it was entirely frost. Looked like I'd sprinkled the thing with white pepper.

Of course it's still mid-high 70s during the day, and it should be in the 80s in a week or two; it's not unpleasant at all during the day... but that doesnt stop people from complaining.

Oh and YAY it's not 105 here today... I DON'T miss Arizona whatsoever. 

The farmers and gardners, I'll grant, have a valid complaint. This is going to be a bad year for crops in north Idaho. But everybody else...

You know what a good hard freeze a few nights in a row means? All those bugs that lay eggs in standing water will be DRAMATICALLY reduced this summer.

I can live with a few cold nights, if it means way less skeeters in July and August.

Cross posted to We Few