Today's blog post is a quite a bit different from my usual, but I am so angry that I have been chewing nails since I saw this article this morning
Does Michelle Obama know about this?
Then in Facebook I found other people sharing other articles about the same topic...
Oak Park woman faces 93 days in jail for planting vegetable garden
What the.....? Unbelieveable!
Anyone who has been following my writings for a few years has had to have read at least ONE of my articles on home edible gardens; home farming; about our country's history with Victory Gardens and self sustainability....(if you haven't, let me know and I will be more than happy to point you in the right direction... ;-)
Then I found that a page was started in Facebook with almost 9,000 people already "liking" it!
I sent this e-mail to ALL the addresses below. If you want to use it just use your own words for more impact.
City of Oak Park, Michigan
Is this how you want to be known?
Please stop this nonsense!
Lawns are a waste of space, fertilizer, chemicals, water, time mowing and do not contribute to minimizing our carbon footprint.
I've written many articles about home edible gardens. Even our federal government encouraged home edible gardens whether they were located in the front yard, the back yard, the side yards or an empty city lot!
I would think that instead of turning this issue into a negative for your city you should be encouraging more people to follow suit and grow their own edible gardens....regardless of what part of the yard they use.
Shame on Mr. Rulkowski and shame on all of you if you support him in this ridiculous stance!
I sent it to ALL the names below and signed with my name:
City of Oak Park, Michigan
Mayor Gerald E. Naftaly gnaftaly@att.net
Mayor Pro Tem Michael M. Seligson mmseligson@comcast.net
Council Angela Diggs adjack@comcast.net
Council Paul Levine paul4oakpark@yahoo.com
Council Emile Duplessis duplessis2@aol.com
City Manager Rick Fox rfox@ci.oak-park.mi.us
Director/City Planner Kevin Rulkowski krulkowski@ci.oak-park.mi.us
I also found that Julie Bass has a blog and signed up to receive updates
Julie Bass' Oak Park Hates Veggies Blog
Look at pictures of her front yard vegetable garden HERE and tell me if you would be against seeing one like it in your neighborhood!
Hey, Ryan....it was my son who came up with most of those.... ;-)
Posted by: Sonia | July 11, 2011 at 07:54 AM
BEET City Hall!
LETTUCE plant veggies!
PEAS in the Hood!
SQUASH the nonsense!
TURNIP in support of Julie!
LOL I love it! Thanks for the heads up about the post, Sonia!
Inadvertent Hippie :)
Posted by: Rakhi | July 11, 2011 at 07:42 AM
Clara, of course you're entitled to your opinion, but, I don't share it.
Her garden might not be the most aesthetically pleaseing garden, but the city planner could have said something along the lines of " Hey, let's make it more attractive " instead of turning it into this ridiculous case.... Today its city hall imposing their cookie cutter values over a garden....tomorrow you're a robot being told how to live.
I say:
BEET City Hall!
LETTUCE plant veggies!
PEAS in the Hood!
SQUASH the nonsense!
TURNIP in support of Julie!
Posted by: Sonia | July 11, 2011 at 07:20 AM
Then don't live in places with those regulations. She was told that she couldn't put in a veggie garden in the front, but chose to do it, anyway. And it isn't a civil rights violation, which I find hilarious! And she wants people to show up at the courthouse a la Casey Anthony to show support for her "plight." I sure compare a dead child to a mass of cucumbers.
Would I want what that looks like next to me? NO. There are beautifully maintained gardens and then there are ... er, gardens. It also isn't an issue about trying to save money. She paid a contractor to come build her garden verses spending some time at Home Depot and the sweat equity. If she wouldn't build it, will she maintain it? She grew PEAS? How many peas plants does she think it will take to serve her family of 8 for one meal? That's actually a waste of space. I don't see one case of canned tomatoes coming from that. Hers is HOBBY gardening, not real life self sustaining gardening, which is what most people seem to be making this into...
This is just something she wanted to do and she's getting pissy because she was told no.
Posted by: Clara Moorman | July 11, 2011 at 04:25 AM
People that impose their cookie cutter tastes on other people need to be brought up short, in my opinion.
Granted that Julie's veggie beds and yard could look a bit more attractive, but if the city wants to be involved, send a landscaper that can show her how to landscape better WITH edible plants and trees that produce fruits or nuts. There are many edible flowers and other plants that could screen out the veggies, if the city finds it unsightful.....
Mis dos centavos!
Posted by: Sonia | July 10, 2011 at 01:52 PM
Hi Sonia,
We don't live in any of those places but we can't have a garden in our front yard either. It's in the so called 'Rules and Regulations' of the Lake Shore Country Club District. No gardens, especially vegetable, are permitted where they can be seen from the road. Unfortunately that's the only place our yard gets enough sun for a vegetable garden. You have to maintain a 'park like' setting with a lawn, shrubs, flowers, etc. If we'd known about all the rules and regulations before we moved here, we would have looked elsewhere. I would love to be able to have a garden like we had at our beach home. I don't know what they'd do if someone did plant a garden here except fine us. With all of us being on fixed incomes, I don't want to find out. GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!
Posted by: Donna | July 10, 2011 at 01:33 PM
I know....it is so ludicrous that will so many things going on in the world the city of Oak Park is worried about a veggie garden in someone's front yard!
Posted by: Sonia | July 10, 2011 at 07:16 AM
Wow, that's really crazy. I hope the public pressure will put a stop to this nonsense.
Posted by: Louise | July 10, 2011 at 06:35 AM