I found this video

Here is a link that might be useful: Thousands support teacher.

I've seen a few veggie gardens in the front yard and the hell strip on Google. I'm growing my veggies in the back I just do the crazy flower thing in front (most of my neighbors claim to like it and ask for gardening advice).

Assuming he doesn't live with an HOA,where the traditional,greened up lawn is required, why it should be a big deal? Most of the houses here in blue collar Burleson have a lawn that is dormant most of the time, as much weeds as sod when it's green, and a spindly shade tree. Veggies, even when ratty looking between seasons, would look about the same asthetically.

I am not from Memphis, but my friend is and was just driving through the neighborhood. Definitely no HOA. It is an old area originally built for poor white factory workers and now has a black and hispanic presence. Not HOA territory. The court is called the Environment court. What a laugh. It is considered a bad neighborhood.

I always integrated my food plants in a designed arrangement in the front when I lived in town. I imagine that this yard is lush and better than a straggly grass and abandoned lot. Full of life and attendants. It might be the attendants that are the irritant to the one complaint. Fear of strange young men . Afterall, They might be members of the Green Guerilla gang , a group of cellulose junkies gone wild.

My lawyer friend is about to take a break from her paying job and wander down and see whats going on in Court. LOL

Well, guess I'd better not comment....me be in BAAADDDD trouble with H O A. But with boundless pots with "unidentifiable" growth, I have at least one pepper growing.
Maybe it pays to be gray haired and walk with a limp.

Go Teach GO!! Teach kids stuff that's not in the text book, for goodness sake (that is if it is honorable, truth and good.) When my little sister was in first grade the teacher took the country school first graders to a creek behind the school. There they found bugs, and leaves and all kinds of "stuff". Sister came home and told mother, "We learned a LOT today that wasn't in the book!", My mother smiled and silently said, "yes, dear, you're going to learn a LOT that's not in the book" When she was three, she got a shetland pony for Christmas and named her Donut.
A few years later on the way to town, she saw a donkey in
a field and said to mother, "I bet if that donkey and Donut had a baby, It'd sure be a honery cuss" Sex education starts early on the farm. With NO textbook!

It is amazing what folks will find to get upset about when there is soooo much that gets ignored. There is nothing like a front yard garden to get to meet your neighbors. Honestly! Lock the complainers behind a gate with their pink begonias and let the kids learn something from such a generous teacher. Sigh
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Non gardening folks pick up some strange ideas about compost piles, in this case that they attract rats. I guess that would be possible if table scrapes were thrown willy nilly on it, but not with the greens and browns that an educated gardener puts in it, and no need to do away with the garden IF the compost pile was attracting vermin. Incidentally I keep a gallon plastic container in the kitchen for scraps and bury the contents around the garden for in place composting.

Once when I was collecting bags of leaves by the curb a guy told me I'd better be careful because my compost pile could explode and burn down the neighborhood.

This paragraph was under the video link:

"Guerrero's garden came under fire after his neighbor complained to code enforcement that bins in his back yard, used to turn vegetable compost into fertilizer, are attracting rats."

Roselee wrote," Once when I was collecting bags of leaves by the curb a guy told me I'd better be careful because my compost pile could explode and burn down the neighborhood"

ROFL!!! That's so freaking awesome! That man must read a great deal of tabloids.

Unbelievable and sad since if it's like most poor neighborhoods, there is probably a shortage of grocery stores with vegetables. Sounds like a neighbor and judge are really behind the times.

I'll have to watch out too for exploding compost piles. I rarely get the combination right to really get it hot but it did steam last winter. Might explode this winter...

Be sure and take pictures Annnorth! LOL.

Ok, I guess someone has to be the dissenting voice here...

I have absolutely NO problem with folks vegetable gardening on their property-in the back yard. Someone on my street decided to grow some tomoatoes in their front yard last year and then left the dead weed entangled vines out there last winter. Pretty attractive...

I'm not saying this person wouldn't keep it weeded and properly cared for, but let's face it, it happens. To me front yards are for the pretty landscaping to keep up the appearance of the neighborhood, regardless the income and things like veggies go in back.

As for the compost pile, the neighbor could have a valid point. I've never priced them, but I can't imagine a plastic bin with a lid is that costly to address the problem.

Ok, I'll put on my kevlar and ya'll can fire away at me! ;^)

Anyone who left dead tomato vines would probably also leave dead flowers or flower vines all winter too.

I do have a problem with the city investigating a complaint about the compost pile and going after the garden because the owner "might" not keep it neat or because "someone" doesn't like it. Growing veggies instead of flowers in the front yard should not be a crime punishable by jail time. It's not even clear that he violated the city ordinance. The offense seems to be based on the judgment of one neighbor who influenced the inspector.

There's at least one neighbor who doesn't like our yard, but the city would just laugh at them if they called to complain.

The law should be based in facts, not opinions IMHO. You have someone in a fancy-pants neighborhood with perfectly sculpted lawns and a strict HOA. Someone who lives in that area decides to put up a veggie garden in the front yard. Will that affect the asthetic of the homes around it? Will that affect a possible sale or property value of a home near that home? I believe the answer is yes. People buy into HOA areas to have the traditional look of a green,trimmed up lawn.

Second case scenerio: A crappy area where very few folks do anything with thier landscaping. Is a guy growing veggies going to affect the asthetic? Is it going to hurt the property values of the other homes? No it won't. Dead and dormant lawns, overgrown shrubs and some weedy beds do not look better than veggies dead for the year or alive. Rats live in ghettos. It's got nuthin to do with composting. The answer should be based on facts. Will what that person directly affect the property or asthetic of surrounding houses? If the answer is yes, changes need to be enforced. If the answer is no, then there is no reason to waste the court's time and money over what is essentially a non-issue.

So if one wants an urban vegetable garden , one better buy a house in a bad neighborhood. Is that it? One normally buys a house because it is close to work, has a good school system. close to a bike trail or park, close to family. It is unfair though that if one wants to live in a subburban area , most new burbs have HOAs everywhere and most do not allow vegetable gardens. Often life makes it tough to choose an area that has no HOA.

Me, I am adverse to neighborhood nazi's. I have always lived in areas that alternative sorts were attracted too. Unfortunately we made such a nice diverse beautiful neighborhood out of a run down area, that the realtors would start selling houses to doctors , lawyers and judges and all of a sudden our odd ways were no longer appreciated. Our taxes shoot sky high because our modest homes are surrounded by Mc-mansions. To me they are the odd ball intruders with inappropriate lifestyles that don't fit in the neighborhood. I went back to my old hood and I think only one neighbor is left and it is SO different.

I'm sorry that happened to you Wanton. Gentrification is tough on folks from what I've understood.

I live in a blue collar area. I'm like the goldilocks. My parent's area was too fancy, the ghetto was too grim,so I moved to a nice,easy going blue collar neighborhood where as long as you don't have trash and a car up on blocks it's ok. This area has a few people who grow gardens like mine, a few that have a traditional green lawn with annuals, but mostly folks who keep thier grass cut when it's growing and dormant when it's hot or cold.

Unlike most of CA Texas stil has blue collar areas. I hope that doesn't change anytime soon.

My neighborhood in Carrollton is blue collar, too, and old, and I love it! We have an HOA fairly close, it was started shortly after we moved here 40 years ago and I do notice the upkeep is definitely better than in our area (but rather boring);their streets get worked on when needed, so I guess they do carry some clout.

We all do pretty much as we please and really no problem with the city :)

I know he was required to report back to the court today, anybody seen an update on it?

Here's the update. It looks like Adam won't go to jail. The article is pretty specific about the issues and the judge did not require the garden be removed. He does have to clean up his act by covering rain barrels etc. Sounds like a reasonable conclusion.

Here is a link that might be useful: Update on Memphis garden

I love happy endings. Dontchya love the power if the internet. I do believe the judge might have gotten 6000 emails. LOL

I can't believe a judge took on a school teacher. Three quarters of the teachers I knew (in CA at least) were on a crusade.

An article with more detail.

Here is a link that might be useful: Memphis Flyer coverage