A SPECIAL REPORT: AGRICULTURE

EAU DE POULET: Farms and homes in Orange County exist side by side--but the two don’t always mix. . . . Strawberry and tomato grower Paul Murai, who farms the hills on the south side of the San Diego Freeway in Irvine, says a freeway driver recently reported him to authorities after she smelled what she thought was a toxic chemical. “She said she got sick from it, nausea and stinging eyes,” Murai says. “She thought it was toxic.” . . . Turns out, it was chicken manure being used as fertilizer.