Illegal Front Yard Garden: Canadian Couple's Kitchen Garden Targeted By Authorities

don't understand why it's illegal, and wtf diference is 30% or 100%
I personally would use the back yard before the front, and be very concerned that it would be vandalized and raided for its produce without a fence and cctv

of course theres also dogs coming by and peeing on your food, and it will attract rodents.

I've seen some bad lawns, weeds, stupid flower concotions and outrageous ornamental displays of stupidity way more unattractive than a vegetable garden.

if its some visual problem they gotta be mind fucked retards from hell to some how value almost useless grass to food.

oh i just rememberd that here the city controls the first 15 feet in from the road of your front yard. But you are still responsible for mantaining it.

It's illgeal because if everyone did this, as they should, we could start to break the bonds of oppression. Why grow grass? It's a stupid waste of space and water.

People should be banned from growing grass unless they are gonna eat it...

people should be allowed to grow whatever the fuck they want on their own properties

yeh, even gas guzzling grass!

Does anyone remember when the same thing happened to that family in Michigan, and GLPers participated in an email/telephone campaign with city hall? Eventually, the city gave in and let them have their front yard garden, probably because of the embarrassment.

I've seen people let their front porches fall down rather than repair them, and there is nothing the crap these codes enforcers or anyone can do about it. Occasionally they will take people to court and lose.

Tell them the lawn mower is broken and you can afford to fix it BECAUSE THE TAXES they decided arbitrarily & capriciously on your property ARE TOO DAMN HIGH.

if they don't like the laws they should try to get them changed

or just grow the garden in the back yard????

sticky situation here...i am partly on the side of the homeowners. After all, we all know how important growing our own food can and should be for everyone. That said, I can also feel the neighbours ire when they have to drive by the row of perfectly manicured lawns everyday and have to see this garden jutting out. This is no rinky dinky subdivision. Look at those houses! These people pay a lot for their property taxes, they live in an upscale place, and they dont want someone ruining their property values. Everyone keeps saying how pretty the garden is, but in reality, it is functional, and ugly.
I love the thought of gardening, think kudos are inorder for these people, but the question is, why not use their back yard? Probably because they did not want an ugly vegetable garden ruining their evenings by the pool.
Fact is, when you live in some places you have to abide by their bylaws. Not sure how it works in the neighbourhood in question, but i know of people that lived in a suburb where they could not plant their own flowers in the spring. They were given flowers. So that every front yard upheld certain standards meant to benefit them all in property values.

Not to mention the fact that these people have vegetables growing right up to the edge of the street, and that cant be legal or wise. Think of pissing dogs, car exhaust, street sweepers. Much of their front yard they do not actually own at all, and I dont think their desire to go green should supercede laws we all know about.

So i will get flak from everyone about my views. Or not - i tend to be a thread killer anyway. Just wanted to add my two cents.

As far as I know, the Canadian laws regarding front yards are determined by local municipal government and may vary widely according to location. The exception to this would be if a particular choice of landscaping poses a fire hazard, obstructs pedestrians or traffic, prevents ready access to fire hydrants or utilities (ie. city sewer & electrical ). I suspect this had more to do with the couples choice of composting methods (odour, attracting predatory animals) than the fact that they had a garden.

When TSHTF the garden police will be the first to raid and confiscate.

true, which is why anyone planning a garden needs to check bylaws first.

Far out that sucks, you should be able to grow what you want where you want! I mean it's food! good healthy food, not drugs, it's not harming anyone

Wish they would come do my garden!


Wouldn't want it near the road though, fumes.

Wait until we all have to grow our own food.

It looks beautiful during the summer but during fall,winter and Spring when nothings growing it might look like and eye sore.I feel they should be able to keep it though.

Time to fight!

Forget the US-Canadian border. The government deadheads are everywhere.

My question is, why do we all pay these little assholes to tell us what we can and cannot do? Perhaps the people of all cities just need to tell the little assholes to STFU and go get a real job. We have story after story of these little pricks fucking with people. Fire them all. What a dream. Unfortunately, there are too many sheeples that think they have to have authorities telling them when they can fart.

Their fucking property value isn't going to go down because somebody is growing a vegetable garden you ignornat, pompous asshole.

Property values will plummet because nobody will want their overbuilt junk houses with a bunch of bubble-headed idiots running around like stupid grass-cutting monkeys clipping their useless hedges and living the life of an moron.

a moron

You don't "own" your land, that is why you pay taxes on it.
Stop paying it and see what happens to your house ;)

They own YOU, and they will TELL you what to DO.

Yep. They'll sell it to a bank and the bank will evict you.

That's why it makes me want to vomit when I see these pussies whining about something like that.

There is a similar 30% law in a nearby town. Its a fire law, the fire-department must have access to the house in case of fire.

If you look at the image, there are raised beds and trellises, these would hamper firefighters if there was a fire.

Personally I would never put a vegetable garden in the front yard (street side of the house). Especially in a place where it snows and they plow and salt roads. That salt and soot and sand gets into the lawn soil and that hampers the health of plants, plus all of the road crap that is also scraped up each time its plowed, oil, asphalt, rubber, whatever.

It's a beautiful garden!!! It looks like they planned the plants perfectly to actually be a beautiful arrangement!
Someone mentioned the fall and winter, but when you plow it under you can replace them with yard ornaments or seasonal decor. I think it is absolutely beautiful!

~ Juju

People have a childlike regression to wanting to be tucked in bed and told they will be safe from the boogie man, and the government plays a subconscious role as a parent. Also government provides people a convenient excuse not to take responsibility for their lives and the lives of those around them; if that old lady across the street is starving and eating dog food to survive, people rationalize "the government" will fix it somehow. Or course we all know this train of thought is merely lying to oneself, the government-parent will come with a heavy price, and supplant whatever security it brings - which is mostly perceived security not actual - with tons of INSECURITY, such as taxing the hell out of you and taking your property away if you cannot pay.

So what?? Don't grow vegetables in town. Move to the country. I grow whatever I want when I want and pump water out of the creek below the house to water it. I pumped 600 gal. this weekend and nobody said shit! MOVE AWAY AND DO WHATEVER YOU WANT AND QUIT WHINING!!! Geez....