Michigan woman faces 93 days in jail for planting a vegetable garden
By Michael Smith (Veshengro)
What precisely is wrong with this? There are even flowers in those beds.
I do not think that it can get any more ridiculous than this and this runs about along the same lines as making collecting rainwater and hanging out washing on a line in your yard.
However, many areas in the United States do have laws and ordinances against those activities as well and jail terms for violation of those statutes. I always thought it was the land of the free and the home of the brave but seem to be neither (anymore).
Julie Bass of Oak Park, Michigan – a mother of 6, law-abiding citizen, and keen gardener – is facing 93 days in jail after being charged with a misdemeanor.
So, what precisely was her heinous crime? Planting a vegetable garden in the front yard, that was it.
Bass says that she planted the garden after her front yard was torn up for some sewer repairs. Rather than wasting the opportunity to start with a clean slate by planting a lawn, she decided to really put the area to use, and plant a vegetable garden.
Her garden consists of 5 raised beds, where she grows a mix of squashes, corn, tomatoes, flowers, and other veggies. Bass received a warning from the city telling her to remove the vegetable garden, because it doesn't adhere to city ordinances.
When Mrs Bass refused, she was ticketed and charged with a misdemeanor. Her trial, before a jury, is set to begin on July 26th. If she is found guilty, she can be sentenced to up to 93 days in jail.
Supposedly, Julie Bass is in noncompliance with a city ordinance that states that only "suitable" plant material is allowed on the lawn area of residences. When local media asked city planner Kevin Rulkowski what that meant, he said suitable means "common:" lawn, nice shrubs, and flowers. However, the city ordinance does not specifically state that those are the only allowed plant materials.
Oak Park is not, as some might now think, some gated community with HOA regulations. It is an ordinary, working class neighborhood in Oakland County, Michigan.
Like nearly every other city in the state of Michigan right now, Oak Park is facing financial issues and people are amazed that a cash-strapped city has the resources to investigate, charge, and prosecute a resident for something as innocuous as planting a vegetable garden.
The question one must ask also as to WHY? Mrs Bass has planted a vegetable garden instead of the “normal” useless lawn, flowers and trees/shrubs and, seeing from the fact that the city ordinances do not actually specify the “common” plants exactly to the species the city could very well lose this court case and then have to pay costs and, possibly, could be counter-sued by the defendant.
This story is gaining traction all over the web currently and there are Facebook pages devoted to supporting Mrs. Bass and her family during this ordeal. Will social media help change the city's mind? That's what many of us are hoping. I have “liked” the relevant page(s) on Facebook and hopefully the city will listen.
Maybe local residents should make their anger felt and let the phones ring off the hook at the government offices and flood their email accounts with complaints. That is one way they listen for it is their jobs that could be on the line if enough votes come out against it.
If you want to help support a gardener's right to grow food for her family – even if it is – shock, horror – in the front yard – there are several things you can do, and do right now:
1. Email or call officials for the city of Oak Park. Mrs. Bass has listed contact information for the mayor, city manager, and other city officials in the sidebar of her Blog.
2. "Like" the Oak Park Hates Veggies Facebook Page.
3. Spread the word via Facebook and Twitter. By gaining attention to this particular issue, with this particular homeowner, the hope is that other cities will reconsider before they harass another homeowner for something like this and, maybe, just maybe, such stupid statutes will be removed from the books.
A front yard vegetable garden should not be a crime; it should be permitted, acceptable and become the norm.
© 2011
