Woman Sues City of Tulsa For Cutting Down Her Edible Garden

reply to post by jude11


There is probably some misguided local code about lawns, etc., which should have been reviewed in court in response to a ticket written, where she should have then won and overturned the stupid code. I have a 10 x 6' garden right now, with far more to come in my backyard and both sides, once I get a rototiller. Last year I started it, and it took me about 20 hours of hand-digging for the initial 4'x6' garden. I'd rather have my tires slashed than my organic garden messed with.

When the sides of the house are complete and my backyard garden, I will have spent about $1500 on soil, peat, etc. (soil was terrible quality at the start and I didn't have the patience to wait years to build up enough compost and plant manureing.) anyhow, I did a calculation based on expected yields and cost of watering, and the food I'll grow will yield $3000-5000 worth of organic produce (based on Whole Foods prices) annually. Mess with my garden - you bet I'm comi g full bore after you.

Not only do I hope she sues and wins, I hope it results in changing of their local code and an increased awareness / interest in home gardening. Our nation's health, sustainability, and economy would benefit greatly if every homeowner had a garden. I have friends in apartments and townhomes who grow a few hundred $$ worth of organic produce on their patios alone.

And once your garden is set up, the expense comes down to only time and water. No chemicals, carry-over seeds, compost and tilling for fertilizer. And the time spent - well, if you're doing it right, its not work, its exercise and enjoyment. We're even setting up a "toddler garden" next year for our boy. He's 16 days old today.

I recommend a great book: The Complete Guide To Self-Sufficiency. It a fantastic guide for anyone from the apartment-patio gardener to the homeowner on 1/8th acre, to the full-on homestead farmer.

reply to post by thegagefather


No. Read the comment that initiated the two subsequent posts. The claim was made that this was an intentional, top-down, coordinated event to make sure people dont grow their own food.

It was then pointed out that one can find FAR more examples of people growing their own food with no trouble from the government than they can find of an example like this that is an issue dealing with local zoning laws and not any over-arching anti-gardening plot.

I will be visiting the property this week. I will post photos. I will also post any video interviews I can muster up. I have made some phone calls and talked to some people in the neighborhood. It truly does appear we are being played by the media. It makes me wonder about other threads that get so hyped up here. I am on of the biggest anti-big government, pro-liberty people out there. I have broke many of the "rules" of the POA I live in. However, I am respectful of my neighbors and try to help out. Therefore I am respected to an extent. I know that many do not want to hear it, and I hate saying it, but at this point I have to say this appears to be a lady who had an unkempt yard and the city took care of it. Poorly at that. Please compare in the video, the plants where the house is visible and the plants where it is not visible. Clearly a different garden. I truly do feel for this lady, and wish her the best. However, I also think this is a case of a frivolous lawsuit gone viral. Just my thoughts.

*SNIP*

This is the address of the property being discussed. Please note it is within view of a city park, you can see the park in some of the background shots in the video. Also note that it is within 4 miles of downtown Tulsa.

Just more info to chew on.

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If it isn't GMO and saturated in pesticides and other various chemicals, they don't want us eating it. Maybe this will finally make people realize that our governments don't want us to be healthy, because then our brains would be getting proper nutrients, and then we would actually start thinking, and waking up. That's the last thing they want.

I agree with stanguilles7. It's very much a local issue. I live in Austin. Homeowners who live in the city are encouraged to plant native, drought-resistant plants. I live in an old-money neighborhood (with lots of old wealthy hippies and musicians). People in my neighborhood have edible gardens in their front yard. Someone in my neighborhood has chickens. I've heard the rooster crow for years. No worries.

But if you go to the suburbs, especially around the west side of Lake Travis, where all the people from the San Fernando Valley settled, no way would they put up with that. Everyone's garage doors has to be the same color. And there are definitely areas of urban or suburban Texas where you wouldn't be allowed to grow food in your front yard.

How can you say it's a national policy when FLOTUS has planted a vegetable garden in the White House lawn?

There's something else going on with this story. Has Tulsa so left its roots that it can't remember the day when they had to grow their own food? It wasn't that long ago. Has Tyson Chicken taken over? Well, she's not growing chickens.

It sounds like an HOA gone mad to me. And they are a HUGE problem.

reply to post by Blacksheep1


It will be interesting to see what you discover.

Originally posted by Domo1
You have got to bee expletiving kidding me. No plants over a foot? On your own property? Getting cited for having an inoperable vehicle IN THE DRIVEWAY? I would have lost my expletive. I should be able to erect (heh) a 15 foot tall concrete penis ON MY OWN PROPERTY.

I live in Miami, OK, we get cited here if there's an inoperable vehicle visible from the street. If they think it might be they make you start it up and move it to prove it's not. Supposedly all the "junk" vehicles make the town look bad. What makes the town look bad is all the crappy streets. We passed a tax hike to pay for roadwork, (I voted against it, our tax rate was over 9% as it was), they worked on it for about 6 months and quit because there was something fishy going on with the money. Now they want to raise it again for "economic development", meanwhile, there's whole streets and bridges not safe to drive on.

Please plug that address into google street view and do a 360 view... Then you be the judge...

Originally posted by Blacksheep1
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This is the address of the property being discussed. Please note it is within view of a city park, you can see the park in some of the background shots in the video. Also note that it is within 4 miles of downtown Tulsa.

Just more info to chew on.

Not sure what point you're trying to make....so what it's within view of a city park?

If she wants to grow food on her property, that should be her right. I hope she wins her case.

reply to post by TexasT


There is no HOA in this neighborhood. In my previous line of business I have inspected a large portion of these houses for California investors. It is predominately Section 8 housing. It is a neighborhood where I carried an extra screwdriver in my pocket for non-lethal self-defensive purposes.

reply to post by TexasT


The mentality of HOA's is very strange to me. Just thinking of what such neighborhoods must be like...creepy to me. You get a whole subdivision of homes where people have chosen to live within a strict set of rules regarding what they can do with their property. It seems like the whole area would be filled with very bland, conformist people. On top of that...you pay extra for it. I have friends who live in a townhome, about 1500 square feet, with no land at all (other than the shared little patch of grass between the building and the parking lot) in the same town as my 2500 sq foot home with 6000+ sq feet of yard around it. My mortgage, property tax, and insurance is $1850. Theirs, with the $300/month HOA, is about $2100.

Their purchase price was similar, but a bit lower than mine. In my mind, they're paying $250/mo so that they don't have any land and can't do what they want with their home.

reply to post by Blacksheep1

Why would they care if someone grew their own food?

reply to post by staver


No point, just trying to give a broader picture of the story. If she wants to grow food, there are a couple options.
1. Back-yard, as I do.
2. Countryside, as has been suggested by others.

The fact is the yard does not fit with the surroundings. I suffer the same curse. I deal with it temporarily, till I can better my situation.

reply to post by dogstar23


It's very odd to me, too. I have always been a renter so I've never had to deal with the issues. Also, I was half-way raised in Houston, which is infamous for its lack of zoning laws. My other half was raised in rural Southeast Texas.

reply to post by TexasT


I don't think they care so much that she grows her own food. Its more about the fashion she chooses to do it in. There are other front yard gardens in the area, but they are well kept. From my initial investigation, it appears hers was more of an overgrown patch of edible vegetation. When I lived in the area I had a neighbor that grew corn in his front yard that adjoined a major street. He never had any problems and gave me corn every year. There were several other neighbors that grew well kept gardens also, no problems except theft of produce.

reply to post by Blacksheep1


There is no HOA in this neighborhood. In my previous line of business I have inspected a large portion of these houses for California investors. It is predominately Section 8 housing. It is a neighborhood where I carried an extra screwdriver in my pocket for non-lethal self-defensive purposes

You have an interesting story that needs to be told. I lived in Orange County for a few years.

California investors investing in section 8 housing. Hmmm. Tax breaks, right?

To keep it on topic, I had the best breakfast I ever had in my life in Torrance, CA. Mimosas, home-made tamales, migas. A lot of it was from local sources and gardens.

Tulsa will wake up.

reply to post by Blacksheep1


Well that would make more since. I have a hard time thinking that the people of Tulsa would not allow people to grow their own food.

Originally posted by Blacksheep1
reply to post by TexasT

 

I don't think they care so much that she grows her own food. Its more about the fashion she chooses to do it in. There are other front yard gardens in the area, but they are well kept. From my initial investigation, it appears hers was more of an overgrown patch of edible vegetation. When I lived in the area I had a neighbor that grew corn in his front yard that adjoined a major street. He never had any problems and gave me corn every year. There were several other neighbors that grew well kept gardens also, no problems except theft of produce.

I'm also thinking that the fact she uses some of these plants as alternative medicine might be an underlying reason.

Maybe?

Peace