Gardener Sues City of Tulsa For Cutting Down Her Edible Garden (UPDATE)

Mr. Wonderful and I recently purchased our first home. We I have dreams of filling our yard, front and back, with edible plants. Being so sensitive to many of the processed foods out there makes it often times difficult to eat out because of the unknown ingredients in the foods. Even foods that are considered 'healthy', like fruits and vegetables are now tainted with pesticides, and who knows what type of soil they are grown in. It only makes sense to grow your own food, especially if you have a yard to do it in. Now new homeowners, Mr. Wonderful and I understand how expensive it is to own a home. Why not use the property your paying for (overpaying, if you live in california) to grow your own food to save money and in the long run eat healthy, fresh, produce?!  It only makes sense.

So my resolution to this issue is to grow our own organic good on our property and try to be more self sustainable. I do however want to have it appealing to the eye as well, so I'm trying to incorporate flowers and decorative plants in combination with the edible plants in my design plan, especially in the front yard.
One gardener recently didn't have much luck with her city officials. This story comes close to heart. I truly hope this would never happen to us or anyone else.  Gardener Sues City of Tulsa For Cutting Down Her Edible Garden (UPDATE) : TreeHugger. A lady who at the time was unemployed, without health insurance, and has diabetes is suing the city officials who came to her property and mowed down her front yard, full of edible plants. Watch the full report from the local news station.

I understand and respect the decisions that officials have as well as HOAs, in order to keep peace and rules in effect. I'm sure there is probably more to the story than what was reported. Maybe, her front yard wasn't as pretty as a lot of the manicured neighbors of hers, maybe it looked like no one had mowed the lawn in months, who knows?, but looking at the big picture, it just seems so asinine if you think about it. City officials coming over to chop down your front yard because you didn't do it yourself. I think they crossed the line doing that. Hopefully, Denice will win her civil lawsuit and the city with have to pay to get her front yard redone, then both sides win. She'll have her edible garden back and it will be pretty to look at if done properly!

If you would like to donate seeds to help Denise regrow her medicinal garden, or would like to donate to her legal fund to help her with the civil rights lawsuit she filed, you can send it to Lori Fulbright who will get it to Denise.

Lori Fulbright
C/O News On 6
302 S. Frankfort
Tulsa, OK 74120

What would you do if this happened to you?