Spinach or the slammer? Defiant front-yard gardener faces jail time
Julie Bass of Oak Park, Mich., battles officials over her decision to grow vegetables in her front yard, a space that, according to city ordinances, is reserved for 'suitable' things like trees, grass and shrubbery.
Photo: Snapshot from MyFoxDetroit video 
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Comments
"Common" is not among the definitions of 'suitable'... The official is either lying or is rankly ignorant, at least of the meanings of common words, and probably both.
I grow a lot of produce in my front yard, but I had to be a bit creative so that no one would complain.
First, I built a bunch of very LARGE gardens for flowers and shrubs. I cultivated the garden for a couple of years before I started peppering vegetable and herb plants throughout the display. An eggplant growing here, some jalapenos growing there, parsley and oregano hidden in another spot...
After a while I wanted more room to plant food, so I set up 3 separate dedicated.... More
I am surprised the reporter did not do some basic fact checking. My Webster's "New Collegiate Dictionary" defines suitable as "suited to one's needs, wishes or conditions". The word "common" is not used anywhere in the definition.
Hi there Blue Ridge Boy,
To clarify, the word "suitable" came up in language established by the city of Oak Park describing how they think front yards should appear -- filled with "suitable live plant material." Thanks for reading!
It is well kept, looks nice and it is here property, these people need to get a life. Hope the jury will see it the same way.
Right or appropriate for a particular person, purpose, or situation.
I meant to say her property not here property.
HOA's are the very reason that I have chosen to live outside of city or village limits for the past 20 years. Volountarily giving some group of snobs the right to tell me what I can and cannot plant on my property, what color I can or cannot paint my house or whether I can keep my motorhome or boat parked in my driveway isn't what I consider to be part of the American way. HOA's could all take it and shove it where the sun don't shine as far as I'm concerned. Some of you probably think I'm.... More
"Idiots Rule". That's a title of a Jane's Addiction song and boy, does it fit here! I bet Mrs. Obama would have something to say about this situation. Perhaps a letter to her couldn't hurt. I, too, wish this woman were my neighbor. And I'd also be doing the same thing if I could. Ya got massive support from Jersey here!!!!!!!
If suitable = common, then I would encourage all their neighbors to start their own gardens. What could the city do then, if that were the common theme for that area??
Down with City Hall!!! LOL
Glad the charges were dropped. I defy most people to identify the vegetable plants that I grow in my flower beds unless they get close enough to actually see the vegetables. Pepper plants are beautiful plants. Sage will go to flower and produce large spikes with beautiful purple flowers on it. Cucumbers make great ground cover in gardens. Bush green beans grow nicely in large flower pot, so do the Pepper plants and you can easily add a few flowering plants in the same pot. Red Leaf.... More
What is the deal with grass anyway. It consumes with no product. I have a yard full of trees that keep my land 10 degrees cooler then next door. I think that the city should be spending resources on educating, wait they don't want that. People might decide that they should vote in a new mayor who's not going to be wasting their tax dollars.
Grass is so wasteful. You water and fertilize just to cut it down. What is the point?
When I lived in the country we let out goats browse on our lawn once a week. It saved us from needing to mow and fertilize, as well as helping the goats milk production. Unfortunately the city we live in frowns on keeping goats.
Grass prevents erosion, is drought resistant, and absorbs carbon dioxide.
The deal with grass is low maintenance. Apart from a weekly trim - less often during the height of summer - it doesn't need much attention. No weeding, no mulching, no dividing, no dead-heading or staking. And it really doesn't need fertilizer or water when grown in the proper climate, although applications of both will certainly green it up more. Gardening is fun and rewarding, but it's considerably more labor intensive than the same square footage of lawn.
It also takes foot traffic.... More
Comestibles, maintained in a neat, orderly fashion, should have immunity from zoning harrassments like this. . In fact, those who WOULD harrass should be the ones drawing potential jail time. . On the other hand, corn should NOT be considered appropriate in a small front yard. . It is never too late to apply reason and common sense to ANY situation.
In 50 years when there are 16 billion people on the planet and 3/4 of them are starving, this is going to look pretty silly.....
Well to tell you the truth ... it looks kinda Ghetto .. if she gets away with this now... whos to say that some loon would start a corn field in the front lawn with a scare crow on the roof .. just sayin'
It is no secret that Kevin Rulkowski is an idiot who is using Republican tactics of fear mongering and intimidation in Oak Park. His goal is to get as much publicity as he can so he further his own career on the backs of citizens.
I'm a grower in Providence, RI. I hope it's true that the charges were dropped! Where's the common sense here? Emails have been making the rounds here and we ALL think it's ridiculous! SUPPORT FROM PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND!
the charges have been dropped. according to local news reports, the city of Oak Park was bombarded with emails and phone calls which lead to the dropped charges.
Good to hear the charges have been dropped. Although it was probably on advice from the city attorney, who realized that the ordinance is hopelessly vague and unenforceable.
Frankly, it's astonishing that charges were brought in the first place.
It's a shame that in this economy We The People of the United States of America can't grow our own food. I went to my local supermarket to pay $4.00 for a red pepper. This is just another example of how this country is going to ****. They always tell us to plant trees and such, but now we can't grow edibles!! They should leave this lady alone and take care of the neighborhood meth lab. Considering they're in Cali, maybe they should grow pot in her front yard. Isn't that "SUITABLE for Cali?
Where's the link to write this college educated, city employee planner, Kevin Rulkowlski? You wanna jail this woman for growing veggies in her front yard instead of a lawn? Your a$$ needs to be fired, and any court that wouldn't throw this out should be abolished. I love the looks of her front yard and wish she was one of our neighbors! Get a LIFE!
Well I looked up "suitable" on onelook.com and none of the definitionsw I found said it meant "common". I'd print out 10 different definitions and bring them to court to show the judge that there is no real definition of "suitable" - it's one of those things, like beauty, that is purely in the eye of the beholder. You can''t make a law out of something so subjective.
Texas gardeners have your back. No City orrdinance or HOA gonna tell us what to do or where we can grow.
Watering a well kept, edible garden instead of watering a lawn, which is edible only to animals (bunnies), a toilet to dogs (probably owned by the complainant), and non-eco friendly to maintain.
Your veggie garden looks beautiful. Two of my neighbors grow veggies and often share their harvest with my family, not out of need, but out of being neighborly. Have you had a freshly grown salad lately? You have to try it; it tastes like nothing you've had in awhile. It tastes.... More
Mr Kulkowski is on the public dole and needs some looong time off.
You should have checked out the FINE PRINT before moving into a HOA neighborhood. Everyone has to conform to a certain look. So the neighborhood looks pleasing to new customers that want to buy a house. They CAN tell you what you can and can not have in your yard, what color you can't paint your house, or any other item you'd like to place on your house, or in your yard, and alot of other things. I knew of an elderly woman who couldn't put burglar bars on hers windows after being robbed. She.... More
And the solution is to never ever under any circumstances purchase property that is controlled by an HOA. An HOA is a liability, not an asset. They invariably devolve into micro poltics of personality and accomplish absolutely nothing.
you almost cannot buy a new house in Texas without an HOA. therefore no choice about the regs
Uh - this doesn't involve a HOA. The charges (which appear to have been dropped, BTW) are based on a city ordinance.
It says her neighbors approve. It doesn't say she is violating any HOA. It doesn't say she is even violating any city "rule." It's just one obnoxious overzealous city planner who has interpreted an ordnance to suit himself. Glad you aren't my neighbor.
This is a city ordinance not an HOA issue Sherlock.
This definitely holds true for HOA neighborhoods. In this case the woman in question ran into city ordinances, rather than HOA standards. Those would be the same city standards most places have where things like untended three foot grass and weeds get ticketed and pigs and goats can't live in the city limit.
This is a city ordinance issue, not an HOA issue. Your local HOA can do many things, but sentence you to jail time is not one of them.
When you "landscape" an area Especially an urban area You pretty much want to somewhat "conform" with the neighborhood
You can grow all that out front without that boxy ugly stuff (drop dead beautiful to me but keep boxes out back)
I have been gardening raised beds for decades and even out front too
Detroit, the birthplace of the urbanfarming movement...
Mr. Bass should be ashamed of himself. Makes me want to move back to the area and take up the cause in Oak Park by planting a front yard full of caster bean plants. buaahaahaahaa
haha! I have a front yard flower garden (huge) and I DO have Castor Beans.... heh heh....
Good luck finding castor bean seeds. Once common - and one of my favorite ornamentals - the seeds all but disappeared following 9/11 over fears that they would be used to manufacture poisons. You can get them through mail order, but several sites selling them state that purchases are monitored. I used to see them everywhere during the summer, but not for the last several years.
Malvina Reynolds sang it this way!
(copyright 1962 Schroder Music Company, renewed 1990).
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky,
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
And the people in the houses
All went to the university,
Where they were.... More
In my neighborhood in Eugene, Oregon, it is common to see front yards growing full of fruits and vegetables. I think it's wonderful, and much better than having a boring old lawn.
It would please me if everyone against this woman dies of starvation.
