In the latest example of government gone amok, Jill Bass of Oak Park, Michigan faces up to 93 days in jail for planting a beautifully maintained vegetable garden in her front yard. Ms. Bass has already been issued a ticket and now faces misdemeanor charges for her industriousness.
The cash strapped Oak Park, which should arguably spend its dwindling financial resources and efforts on more serious municipal matters, contends that Ms. Bass’ garden violates city code which requires front yards to consist of “suitable live plant material”.
Huh?
Last time I checked, vegetables growing in a garden are indeed alive! With regards to “suitable”, a plant that can be consumed by the people tending it does seem to qualify, don’t you think?
It seems the City of Oak Park considers pesticide and chemically fertilized grass to be more “suitable” front yard greenery than a humble vegetable garden.
Such foolishness reminds me of the stories I used to hear back in my Cold War school days when our Civics teacher would tell a roomful of wide-eyed and incredulous children about Russian peasants being hauled off to jail for growing their own food!  In Communist societies, no one “owns” anything .. any vegetables that were grown had to be commissioned and approved by the State.
Nothing like that could ever happen in the good ‘ole US of A, right?
One can only hope that Ms. Bass’ neighbors and the community of Oak Park will flood the city phone lines with complaints about such over the top harassment. Imagine that tax dollars are actually being used to pay for this outrage.
Take a look at a picture of Ms. Bass’ vegetable garden and how beautifully it is maintained by clicking here.
She can come and plant a garden in my front yard anytime! Fortunately, my community allows it!
Ridiculous. One should be able to grow their on food on their own property. We live in a rural community but in a nicer neighborhood and a lot of people haul out tillers in the spring (we have a raised garden) and plow through their yards to plant food. I’ll bet the Founding Fathers wuld roll i their graves if they knew people were being arrested for providing themselves food.
Are you kidding me? http://fb.me/18P9mfqTR
how stupid can you get. waste water on lawn but dont grow a garden?
Sign the petition ! http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/oak-park-hates-veggies/
Have you read the other articles stating why veggie gardens on a front lawn do not qualify as “suitable”? Apparently, the genuis city planner said that “suitable” means “common”, and that front yard veggie gardens aren’t common, they are not suitable. Um, no, “suitable” does not mean “common”. There are many things that are “common” that are not “suitable”. Someone needs to buy this Rhode’s Scholar a dictionary.
I would hope that a judge would be able to realize that “suitable” does not mean “common”. However, if a prosecutor actually thinks they can win this, I really have to wonder about the IQ of folks in Oak Park, Michigan.
Of course, if a bunch of people in the city started planting front yard veggie gardens, his argument would be totally shut down.
this angers me. and everyone complains about people going hungry?! UGH!! personally i think those veggies look beautiful <3
Welcome improvement! Lawns can be pretty but gardens are useful AND pretty!!
Pathetic! Authorities need to concentrate on the real criminals!
Gee I wish my garden looked that trim and manicured. Her boxes are nicely sized and spaced and the bark mulch looks really nice around it. I find it quite attractive. I understand not all people would though. Maybe if she would have planted the front ones with flowers and perennials, the people taking issue would not have had so much to complain about. But even the First Lady had some of the White house lawn tilled up for a garden. Why aren’t more cities taking a cue from that? Maybe some sympathetic neighbors should plant some “Victory gardens” in support. What a great way to “reduce the pressure on the public food supply”. The whole thing is really a ridiculous misuse of taxpayer money.
One point though – I would not personally plant a vegetable garden in my front yard for the main reason that I don’t want automobile exhaust fumes contaminating (and dog walkers “watering”) my veggies!
You have to wonder if maybe this lady does not have a back yard? Certainly a front yard garden is not ideal but we all have to work with what we have.
There is a huge movement afoot in North America to turn environmentally unfriendly grassed front yards into food producing gardens. Anyone who’s been paying attention to food issues over the last couple of years would have seen the stories popping up all over. I believe Vancouver Canada recently started a program to encourage just this kind of thing. In our area there is an urban farmer who rents peoples front and back yards and pays for the rent with produce. It’s a brilliant scheme.
This particular woman decided to put the gardens in after a sewage repair left her in need of re-sodding the yard. She opted to make it a useful space. And, with 6 kids, I imagine she prefers her back yard to be as spacious as possible for the children.
Sarah,
I live in Michigan about a 1/2 hr from this woman and seen this on the news. It is wrong and crazy for a cash strapped city to harass a person over her vegetables, but she has several gardens boxed in with wood from the lumber store and it is not a garden just cut out of dirt. It is comparable to a person parking their car on the front lawn. It is very unattractive and I even have my own veggie garden, and support having them, but I believe she is grand standing. She should be able to have a veggie garden but it should have been done in a more appealing (more blendable, attractive) way. She should share some of her veggies with the neighbors who are taking up and issue and the city enforcemnet people. Who can refuse yummy (nothing like it) fresh veggies. Please don’t miss understand me, our government at the highest to the lowest levels need to stay out of our lives. I just think she should have thought things out better.
I respectfully disagree Heather. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What may seem comparable to someone “parking their car on the front lawn” to some is a beautiful, life giving vegetable garden presented functionally and personally on an individual’s private property to others.
When the government gets involved in this manner, and is allowed by the people to continue, our freedom is that much closer to the communist state Sarah referred to in her article. Sharing “some of her veggies with the neighbors who are taking up and issue and the city enforcemnet people” is simply a form of bribery for what should already be Ms. Bass’s fundamental right.
Wasting tax payer dollars and time on this is foolishness. I hope one day common sense will once again prevail in these United States.
heather,
i too live in michigan, and due to the looming growing season i would recommend that is this notoriously cold state you too start a raised crop garden. there is a purpose for it, it prolongs our already short growing season and with greenhouse structures placed over top it can extend the season into the winter. for the record michelle obama’s garden is in raised beds as well…would you consider her’s to be ugly? you can see the article detailing mrs. obama’s garden and info. on raised beds in the current issue of mother earth news. yes i am aware that this is an old issue for us, but just thought you might apreciate the info.