Civil Disobedience and the Right to Garden

[Southern Gardener]

I see absolutely nothing wrong with the vegetable plot - I think it is very cute and maintained! I'm seriously thinking about digging up my front yard and planting okra.

 

[seedcorn]

I just don't freakin' get this country. I will shoot whoever walks in my yard and takes my food. PERIOD!

I am so tired of this crap in this nation.... its one giant homeowners association. Last I checked, we own our land, work our land, are taxed as hell on our land I will do as I please ON MY LAND. If you don't want to look at it, build a fence around YOUR house and stare at that awhile and you'll probably change your mind about my tomatoes!

Wow, bad day? No need to shoot, we come in peace............

 

[Smiles Jr.]

C'mon my fellow gardeners. Let's look at this with some common sense. The article says that there is a city ordinance against this type of front yard. There must have been some kind of reason, regardless how ridiculous it may be, for a law to be made against it. If you lived on a street that had a speed limit of 5 MPH do you think you should drive at 50 MPH just because you want to? Change the law, don't break it. We're supposed to be a civil society with rules to make it acceptable for everyone.

I agree that it's a silly thing to make someone get rid of their front yard garden but the home owner should have checked the laws first. Heck, there are some of those terrible home owner's associations that only allow two colors to paint your house and then they have to vote on the shade of those two colors before you can use it. The human being is a very strange creature.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[Nyboy]

My Italian grandmother grew tomatos in her front yard, thats where she had the most sun. She would stake them with broom handle and hockey sticks it was a interesting sight. She livied in a small city where she raised and fed 13 children during the depression. Every inch of the small city yard was used to grow food food. God how I miss her.

 

[OldGuy43]

Amazing how not so long ago it was V for Victory and everybody was encouraged to grow a garden to help the cause. With the cost of food going up, the economy lurching along and people trying to save a couple dollars others all the sudden quote policies and expect conformity.

The big difference is that in the days of the "Victory Garden" folks bought homes to live in for the rest of their lives. Today, they buy houses as an investment to sell.

Just goes to show you; it's easier to oppose the enactment of a law than to change it.

 

[seedcorn]

C'mon my fellow gardeners. Let's look at this with some common sense. The article says that there is a city ordinance against this type of front yard. There must have been some kind of reason, regardless how ridiculous it may be, for a law to be made against it. If you lived on a street that had a speed limit of 5 MPH do you think you should drive at 50 MPH just because you want to? Change the law, don't break it. We're supposed to be a civil society with rules to make it acceptable for everyone.

I agree that it's a silly thing to make someone get rid of their front yard garden but the home owner should have checked the laws first. Heck, there are some of those terrible home owner's associations that only allow two colors to paint your house and then they have to vote on the shade of those two colors before you can use it. The human being is a very strange creature.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

You are correct. Don't like it but you are correct.....

 

[Jared77]

That's true Oldguy. I don't get that mentality. My parents raised 4 boys and my grandfather lived with us when I was 7 or so and he got a medical retirement and couldn't support himself on what he was getting in a 3 bedroom ranch with a full basement in a subdivision. House was maybe 1300sq ft. My parents still live there today. Granted its just the 2 of them but hey its theirs.

So there was 8 of us in that house with 1.5 bathrooms, and we made it work just fine. Guess cause we didn't know any different?

What I don't get is how the heck are you supposed to get out from under your mortgage if you keep buying houses? And what do you do with all the extra rooms? Have areas you never use but still pay to heat and pay taxes on? I just don't get it.

Anyway as far as the articles concerned under the current law technically he's wrong. However if the garden is not maintained and it grows wild then in my opinion you have a complaint. But if its maintained, mulched, weeded etc then its really not much of an issue. Who knows maybe his neighbor has a room full of venomous reptiles and snakes. Who wants to live next to a house full of cobras, vipers, and pythons? Or the guy who does his own reloads is that considered a danger since he has stores of blackpowder in his house? Or the homebrewer since we live in a neighborhood not a brewery!?! What if he kept pigeons? He has thousands of dollars in racing homers or what if ran a business out of his home but there was increased traffic on the street as people stopped by? Those all could potentially turn off a buyer, so where does it end?

And how does someone judge how much the property value goes down because they don't have a beautiful manicured lawn with elegant landscaping?. So if I had a house I wanted to sell can I go to the city and complain and threaten legal action against him because he has white gravel along the front of his house? No landscaping what so ever, but the grass is cut. Is he pulling my property values down? Or do I have to wait 30 days since my house hasn't sold to actually pursue legal action against him?

Sorry but people really need to get over their bad selves. Honestly Id see if I could put up a chain link fence with grapes on it to serve as a "visual barrier" and then say I'm within my legal rights plus you've got grapes to boot!

 

[hoodat]

Personally I would never buy a house that required me to sign a homeowners association agreement. Those associations almost always end up being run by people on a power trip.

 

[thistlebloom]

When we sold our house we were told that the landscaping is insignificant to the homes value.
Nice landscaping just helps it sell more quickly.

 

[catjac1975]

My daughter rents a house in Florida in a neighborhood that looks similar to the one from the article. Her neighbor has couches, repair projects, cars, boats, motors all over the yard, driveway and open garage. She doesn't care because she is renting and the people are nice. I would think neighbors would be more concerned about such an eyesore rather than edible plants in a front yard. It doesn't look exactly like a million dollar property. The thing that really devalues a property is renting it out. I think the garden looks beautiful. Would uncut, unkempt grass be against the rules? I think some people thrive on creating discord. I would like the gardeners as neighbors.