Chickens are shut in the coop at night and haven't had problems with dogs or cats. "Links of London as far as I know, there are no foxes in the area," Baricos said. He said his neighbor at home has backyard chickens that sometimes get loose, "but they're bigger than cats, who steer clear of them." Hollygrove Market and Farm, which opened in late 2008, is a non-profit store, selling produce from its site and South Louisiana farms. The RosaMary Foundation, based in New Orleans, provided a grant to renovate the building and grounds. Partners in the project include the Trinity Christian Community Center, New Orleans Food and Farm Network, LSU AgCenter, Tulane City Center and CarrolltonHollygrove Community Links of London Bunny Pink Charm Corp. Daniel Etheridge, associate director at the Tulane City Center, said "raising poultry is an appropriate urban activity when people have the right training and experience. The projects that we support develop the appropriate infrastructure and understand the maintenance required." He noted that city dwellers across the country keep backyard chickens. New Orleans ordinances allow "an unspecified number of chickens with written permission of property owners within 300 feet. Chickens are to be treated humanely and kept in clean, sturdy structures." In the 1800s and earlier, many city residences had laying hens and vegetable gardens, while bigger houses raised citrus, sugarcane and cash crops - like tobacco and indigo. Ariel Dorfman, urban agriculturalist at non-profit New Links of London Black And Gold Friendship Bracelet Food and Farm Network, said "victory gardens abounded in the 1940s, but city farming waned in the 50s. We've seen a recent resurgence because people want access to fresh, healthy food and enjoy gardening as a past time. It's in fashion now." To avoid sun, bugs and anything lurking in city soils, however, Dorfman advises wearing a long-sleeved shirt and long pants when tending to plants. After Katrina, Vietnamese Americans in New Orleans East were among the first residents to return to a town without food, and quickly replanted their vegetable gardens. Next year many of those plots will be consolidated at Viet Village, where growers will share the costs of seeds, fertilizer, insecticides and water. Almost 40 years ago, [Joe Logsdon] conducted a series of Links of London Bee Charm with A.R Tureaud. At the time, Logsdon was a new professor at a new university in a strange new town.
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