Is it illegal to grow a garden
Are Front Yard Vegetable Gardens Really Illegal?
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by Michael O'Connor
Gardening Gardening Tools Lawn Care
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Growing a garden has a lot of benefits that are not only aesthetic or stylistic, they are also mental. Many people find that growing and tending to a garden is a relaxing and psychologically beneficial undertaking. It is especially true if you get to grow food in your garden and can sustain yourself and others with the literal fruits of your labor.
However, some people worry about whether or not it is illegal to grow their own food. The truth is, there are some regulations that you should think about when you are working on your own garden. Knowing what they are will help your garden be a success and let you grow the kind of food you want for you, your family, and your neighbors.
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Is it Illegal to Grow Your Own Food?Image credits: National Garden Clubs via Creative CommonsIn general, it is not illegal to plant a garden for food production. As long as you grow food allowed in your particular state or country, there shouldn’t be any issues with an edible garden. In fact, there are edible community gardens in many different areas of the country, and they have become very popular in recent years.
The only time it might be illegal to grow your own food is if you are trying to grow something that isn’t native to the area. Sometimes, invasive species of plants can have a detrimental effect on the surrounding organisms like animals and other plants, especially if they are not in season.
It is why you are usually not allowed to bring fruits or vegetables into another state when crossing borders.
While it is usually not illegal to have a vegetable garden in your front yard, there may be some zoning laws that you need to follow. Depending on the city ordinance in your municipality, there could be a limit on how tall your plants can be and how lush they can be. It is aesthetic and could also be a safety and zoning code concern.
These safety concerns will usually come from the city you live. Before you plant a garden with tall plants like corn or sunflowers, make sure you check with your local government. Your HOA, if you have one, also may take issue with the aesthetics of the garden, so it is a good idea to clear it with them.
What Are the Rules for Front Yard Vegetable Gardens? Image credits: J. Tewell via Creative CommonsFront yards are visible from the street, which means they usually have to follow the same rules as city properties.
Plants taller than 12 inches can potentially block visual access to roads and cause traffic hazards. It is especially true if you live in a corner and could create a blind turn.
Food gardens are usually regulated by how they look. As long as you keep your front yard garden pruned and looking nice, your HOA shouldn’t have any issue with it. It is only when it starts to get overgrown or untended that your homeowner’s association might have to take issue with it. However, this doesn’t have anything to do with whether or not you are growing food for personal consumption.
What About Backyards? Image Credits: Jonathan Hanna on UnsplashFor the most part, you can grow any food you want in your backyard. As it stands with most HOAs, as long as your garden isn’t blocking any visual access, there shouldn’t be a problem. As long as you try to keep your garden height below your fence line, there is no reason for them to take any issue with it.
The only people you might have to worry about are your neighbors.
If your neighbors have a problem with how your backyard garden looks, they might complain. However, some fresh fruit or vegetables that you have grown yourself might be able to convince them to let bygones be bygones.
While there have been stories about gardens for human consumption being disallowed in certain parts of the country, these are usually highly individual cases. They are also more about the height of the plants being against the city code than the fact that someone was growing food. For the most part, you shouldn’t have any problems planting a vegetable garden in your front yard.
Cultivation of food plants is not only legal, but it is also incredibly rewarding and good for the environment. Sustainable food is the way of the future, and gaining the necessary skills is always a good idea.
Do you have a front yard vegetable garden that you love? Let us know about it in the comment section below!
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Categories Gardening, Gardening Tools, Lawn Care Leave a commentOnly Two States Have Passed ‘Right to Garden’ Laws.
Will Others Follow?A version of this article originally appeared in The Deep Dish, our members-only email newsletter. Become a member today to get the next issue in your inbox.
Carrots, baby kale, and spinach never tasted so sweet. After emerging from a multi-year legal battle over gardening, Nicole Virgil is looking forward to cultivating those vegetables and more this winter in her backyard. Growing one’s own food, central to human existence for millennia, has suddenly become a hot-button topic in some communities.
From Michigan to Massachusetts, people have been thwarted—or even outright banned—from growing food on their own property. But thanks to the concerted efforts of people like Virgil and their legal allies, “right to garden” laws are slowly gaining traction. Such legislation remains scarce at the state level, however—only Illinois and Florida have laws on the books, although Maine recently updated its constitution with a “right to food” amendment.
Charged with Gardening
In the spring of 2011, Julie Bass installed several raised beds in the front yard of her suburban property in Oak Park, Michigan. Bass quickly learned that her gardening efforts, intended to teach her kids about growing their own food, had provoked the ire of her city. Bass was cited with a civil misdemeanor for not planting “grass, shrubs, or other suitable live plant material.”
“I was left thinking that they took a pretty broad and unwarranted interpretation of that code,” Bass wrote on a blog she started to document her experience. When Oak Park officials threatened to prosecute Bass with a more serious criminal misdemeanor, which would potentially come with a 93-day jail sentence, she took her story public. (The charges were ultimately dismissed.)
Bass’s experience is unfortunately not unique. City regulations, homeowners’ association guidelines, and other ordinances have often been invoked to force gardeners to remove their plants.
The arguments put forth against gardening have been myriad and occasionally baffling: greenhouses reduce property values, raised beds do not conform to the aesthetics of a well-tended yard, and vegetables growing in the ground are unsightly, among others. Such criticisms tend to be rooted in discrimination, said Ari Bargil, an attorney with the Institute for Justice who has represented several gardeners. “These are classist restrictions that are designed to make neighborhoods look a certain way.”
But progress is being made—in both Florida and Illinois so far. That’s hard-won legislation, said Bargil, who was involved in both cases. “Getting reforms like this passed is very, very difficult.”
Jumping Through Hoops
Nicole Virgil is well aware that shepherding a bill through at the state level is a time-consuming and challenging process. She and her husband spent years fighting for their right to garden.
After growing summer crops such as corn and tomatoes for a few years in their backyard in the Chicago suburb of Elmhurst, Illinois, Nicole and Dan Virgil accepted that their gardening efforts had morphed into a year-round obsession.
But faced with notoriously windy and frigid winter conditions, the Virgils decided to erect a temporary greenhouse—a hoop house.
The 9-foot-tall structure buffered young plants from the wind and prevented them from getting buried in snow. Without a hoop house, it’d be futile to grow much in winter, said Virgil.
However, a neighbor soon complained. The hoop house was unsightly and its plastic membrane rattled in the wind, they reported in 2015. The Virgils removed the structure at the request of the city, but the idea of giving up on homegrown winter vegetables rubbed them the wrong way. For years, the dispute festered in the community, and city officials held firm despite testimonies from Virgil’s supporters. The city of Elmhurst started to bring lawyers to meetings, said Virgil. “They had lawyers standing behind lawyers over the threat of us growing cold-hardy crops through the winter.”
Elmhurst officials also began circulating photos of the Virgil children selling homegrown vegetables.
They were suggesting that we were running an illegal farm business, said Virgil. “It’s the closest thing I’ve seen in real life to that movie ‘Erin Brockovich.’”
In 2018, a friend who owned a nearby garden store connected Virgil with a state senator. That introduction planted a seed of an idea: what about a bill at the state level to protect home gardeners in Illinois? To begin exploring that concept, Virgil started working with organizations including the Illinois Environmental Council, the Citizen Advocacy Center, and Advocates for Urban Agriculture.
But the real breakthrough came, said Virgil, when she joined forces with the Institute for Justice. The public interest law firm, which has a history of working with citizens-turned-gardening activists, provided an enormous outpouring of expertise, knowledge, and support, said Virgil. “It’s a team that I never had before.”
The Institute for Justice helped craft what came to be known as the Illinois Vegetable Garden Protection Act.
After passing by an overwhelming margin in both the Illinois House and Senate, it was signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker in July 2021. The Act stipulates that: “[A]ny person may cultivate vegetable gardens on their own property, or on the private property of another with the permission of the owner, in any county, municipality, or other political subdivision of this state.”
It was thrilling to see this legislation finally on the books, Virgil said. Unfortunately, her battles weren’t over: According to the new Act, state and local organizations still retained jurisdiction over setbacks, water use, structures, and so on. And the city of Elmhurst wasted no time exploiting that fact, she said. Last summer, Elmhurst attempted to limit so-called “seasonal membrane structures”—including shade cloths, tents, and hoop houses—to no more than 120 square feet. “You could only do a doll house-sized hoop house,” said Virgil.
But Virgil was ready with her cadre of supporters. Literally overnight, she mobilized more than a hundred people to send emails to the Elmhurst city council requesting that seasonal membrane structures be allowed up to 400 square feet.
That motion passed just a few months ago, and the Virgils are currently sourcing the materials for their long-awaited hoop house. “We’ll have a hoop house-raising party this October,” said Virgil.
Strategies for Success
Virgil is quick to point out several strategies that likely contributed to her success. First off, rely on connections, she said: The idea of even pursuing a ruling at the state level was set in motion by a friend. That person brokered a connection with a state senator in a neighboring district, who was happy to go to bat against a city’s rules that he viewed as unnecessarily restrictive. “I would never have thought to go to the state if they hadn’t offered an introduction,” said Virgil. “I needed that link in the chain.” And that’s just one example, she said. “There were dozens of people like that.”
Second, look for allies: Based on the countless hours she spent advocating with government officials, Virgil said she soon learned who was on her side.
“I knew all the local players,” she said. That included Representative Sonya Harper, who would go on to introduce the Illinois Vegetable Garden Protection Act. For more than 10 years, Harper has run a community garden in Chicago. Gardening strengthens communities and encourages people to talk to their neighbors, said Harper. “It’s much more than just growing food.”
Third, stick with the issue at hand, said Virgil. As the dispute in Elmhurst dragged on over years, several supporters approached Virgil with the question of whether the conflict might be racially motivated. But Virgil, who is Black, never made that claim. “Legally, I couldn’t prove that,” she said. “It’s not productive for me to bring that up.” (As of 2019, only 1.2 percent of Elmhurst residents are African American.)
And last, mobilize supporters but use them sparingly: “I learned not to tap people too often,” Virgil said. My supporters were therefore ready and willing to help me when I really needed it, she said.
She credits that mindset with her ability to marshal volunteers to quickly urge the Elmhurst city council to reconsider their hoop-house rules. “When I mobilize them, I mobilize them hard and fast and for a very specific purpose,” said Virgil.
Illinois, Florida, and Beyond?
The Illinois ruling isn’t without precedent. In 2019, Florida passed the Vegetable Gardens bill, which prohibits local governments from banning vegetable gardens on any part of residential properties. That legislation came about after another gardening couple—Hermine Ricketts and Tom Carroll—decided to fight back about being forced to remove the vegetable garden that had graced their front yard for more than 17 years.
Legislation protecting citizens’ right to garden has been proposed in other states as well. Earlier this year, Rick West of the Oklahoma House of Representatives introduced the Oklahoma Right to Garden Act of 2022. West, who lives on a ranch in eastern Oklahoma and tends a garden, believes that everyone should have the right to grow their own food.
It’s a simple way to thwart the government from overreaching, West said. “If they can control food, then they can control the people.” The legislation that West proposed recently passed in the Oklahoma House but failed in the Senate. West is determined to keep trying. “I’m going to run it again,” he said.
And officials in Maine recently added a “right to food” amendment to their state’s constitution. That legislation, which was overwhelmingly approved by the state’s House and Senate and then by voters last November, safeguards people’s right to grow and consume their own food. Interestingly, it was proposed by an unlikely alliance: Representative Billy Bob Faulkingham, a Republican, joined forces with Senator Craig Hickman, a Democrat who runs an organic farm. “Food is life, and if you have a right to life, we have a right to food,” Hickman recently told the Global Solidarity Alliance for Food, Health and Social Justice. “I can’t imagine a more non-partisan issue than that.”
Katherine Kornei is a science journalist whose work has appeared in Science, Scientific American, and The New York Times.
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Orchard without haste: Saratov farmer will grow eco-apples for Europe in the old fashioned way
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Intensive apple orchards, which give a marketable harvest already in the third year, are no longer in trend. In the Saratov region, gardens are being laid again using traditional technologies - with an eye on export deliveries of products.
A producer of direct-pressed juices from Khvalynsky district decided to lay a garden for eco-products Konstantin Chikobava . Last autumn, 25 hectares of an extensive apple orchard were planted on his farm, with the prospect of fruiting in 7-8 years.
In total, there are about 70 hectares of apple trees on his farm. Taking into account the trend that has emerged abroad for environmentally friendly products grown without additional growth stimulants, the farmer considers extensive gardens to be a very promising business.
- There are enough intensive orchards in Europe, but you can't grow eco-apples there. And we have free areas for their cultivation, and with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, we will be able to establish such gardens, - he explained at a press conference following a trip to the Green Week international agricultural exhibition. nine0005
So far there is no talk of deliveries of Khvalyn apples or apple juice to Germany.
- To supply juice abroad, you must first master our markets. Next year we want to triple production. Increase the share of processed raw materials and take out for sale not apples, but juice, - the agrarian explained. - We already have experience in deliveries to Kazakhstan, where our juices are beyond competition - in terms of price and quality they surpass imported ones.
Business development is hindered, according to Chikobava, by the difficulties of working with retail chains. Chain stores put prices in the first place, and it is impossible to produce juice in such a way that it is of high quality and cheap, moreover, in large volumes, by farming. nine0005
Now the Khvalynsk manufacturer is working with the retail chain Vkusvill , which is represented in Moscow and plans to gain a foothold in St. Petersburg. Work is also developing successfully with small retail chains and health food stores. Recently Khvalynsky apple juice was delivered to the Far East.
In 2019, the construction of a fruit storage facility will begin at the farm of Konstantin Chikobava. This will help ensure the production of raw materials for juices throughout the year. In 2018, the farm went for processing 900 tons of apples, 100 tons less than a year earlier due to a low yield. In the new year, volumes should increase again.
Establishing extensive orchards for eco-juice is only part of the journey.
To export products as organic, you need to obtain an environmental certificate, and this is a long and expensive process.
- To put the eco label on your products in the European market, you need to invite an expert to inspect the fields and orchards. Costs can be reduced through farm cooperation. But still. growing eco-products is a long-term hard work, - Konstantin emphasized. nine0005
Khvalyn gardeners have already come to cooperation. The supply and marketing cooperative "Khvalynsky Sad" includes more than 300 private farms. The grown apples are used, among other things, for the juice that Chikobava produces. Farmers have appreciated the benefits of working in a cooperative and are going to increase the area of their gardens.
In total, more than 600 hectares of orchards were planted in the Saratov region in 2018. About 300 hectares are occupied by the company "Gardens of Pridonya" .
Intensive orchards, although they produce enough crops for processing and sale in the first 3-4 years, are very costly to maintain. They require mandatory drip irrigation and liquid fertilizer application. At the same time, their service life is shorter than that of extensive orchards, it is, depending on the cultivation methods, 10-20 years, while ordinary orchards bring sufficient yields for 35 years.
From berry plantations to walnut orchards • APK-news.ru
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Russia has seen a steady increase in berry production in recent years. Significantly, the increase in volumes is achieved not only due to the usual strawberries and raspberries, but also quite unusual crops for the Russian consumer market, which were once considered wild: blueberries, blackberries, bilberries and others. In the Republic of Adygea, an interesting project for growing berries and nuts is being implemented by Gardens of Adygea LLC in the Teuchezhsky district of the republic.
The head of the enterprise, Lyudmila Tsulaeva, plans not only to expand the areas of berry plantations and walnut orchards, but also to launch a processing plant. nine0058
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Director of LLC "Gardens of Adygea" Lyudmila TsulaevaWith serious intentions
Gardens of Adygea LLC is a young enterprise, founded last fall. A year earlier, a peasant farm was created. It all started with a wasteland, on which the experimental plot of the farm is now located. Now here you can see the full potential of varieties laid down by breeders and nature, in their natural form - without the use of fertilizers and plant protection products. nine0005
“I was very far from land and berry production,” says Lyudmila Tsulaeva. - I lived in Novy Urengoy for 15 years, and on February 23, 2019, I first came to the village of Pshikuikhabl with my business idea for growing hazelnuts. But since this crop enters commercial fruiting only in the sixth year, it was necessary to find an alternative that would allow the enterprise to be maintained during the transition period.
Initially, we considered different options, but in the end we settled on blackberries. nine0005
Ruslan Evtykh, head of the K(F)X, successfully passed the competitive selection and received a grant under the state program to support beginning farmers - 1.5 million rubles. In comparison with the total investments, this amount can be called insignificant, but the farm, having noted itself at the republican level, thereby declared its serious intentions to work in the agricultural sector.
It must be said that no one has grown blackberries in industrial volumes in Adygea before. Therefore, the farm project immediately attracted a lot of attention. Including the local population, who perceived the blackberry exclusively as a sour berry, which is found in great abundance in these places. The habitat of the wild blackberry is the western foothills of the Caucasus. Therefore, local residents, who did not treat this crop differently than a malicious and indestructible weed, at first reacted with great doubt to the undertakings of farmers.
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- We initially understood that the opinion about the cultivation of blackberries would change over time, - says Lyudmila Vladimirovna. “Even then, I said that after three years we would sell seedlings to local farmers, and when we set up our plant, we would be able to accept berries and fruits from the local population for processing.
Lyudmila Tsulaeva knowingly was sure that she was right. The example of the pioneers turned out to be instructive in many respects. More and more people in Adygea are inclined to grow this crop. Local authorities even offer the farm to organize a nursery for the production of blackberry seedlings, they are ready to allocate land for this purpose and provide financial support. But before the laying of perennial plantings is completed, according to the leader, it is premature to talk about this. Therefore, at present, the enterprise grows seedlings only for its own needs, selecting the necessary varieties for industrial planting. In the mother liquor, you can always see which bush is ready for reproduction and which berry it gives.
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Homecoming
The company's lands are located on the territory of three settlements: in the villages of Pshikuykhabl and Assokolai, as well as in the village of Krasnoye. Perennial plantings occupy 120 hectares. Of these, ten are allocated for blueberries and blackberries, cherries are planted on four, and the rest is occupied by hazelnuts. There is also an experimental planting of almonds on 1200 trees in the Krasnodar Territory and Adygea. Almonds are represented by the selection of the Nikitsky Botanical Garden - varieties Foros and Delon. nine0005
“While we are watching the plants,” the leader explains. – Let’s see how almond trees survive the winter. If the experiment turns out to be successful, then we will take up the cultivation of this promising crop.
The problem is that growing almonds has its own challenges. Trees can take root well. However, it is not a fact that the fruits will be edible.
Much less capricious hazelnut in this regard.
With proper care, such a garden can bear fruit up to 150 years. In Assokolai, 35 hectares have been allocated for the cultivation of the Trebizond variety. The variety is famous for its very large size and is in demand in the confectionery industry. nine0005
The enterprise brought seedlings to the republic from the Crimea. There is a beautiful legend that Trebizond was once taken out by the Circassians from Adygea to Turkey. Then the seedlings were presented to Khan Girey, and the variety took root on the Crimean peninsula. If the folk tales are true, it turns out that the "Gardens of Adygea" brought him back to his homeland.
— It is clear that we chose a variety based on its taste and fruit size, — Lyudmila Vladimirovna laughs. – But this legend sounds very beautiful and close to us in spirit. nine0005
The enterprise is preparing another 60 hectares for planting hazelnuts in the village of Krasnoye. There will be mainly Italian varieties that are planned to be imported from Italy and Serbia.
Negotiations are underway with the nursery for the supply of seedlings.
Work is underway to plant blueberries. European and North American seedlings were imported from Belarus. There were intentions to lay raspberries, but then this idea was abandoned, since the climatic conditions are not very suitable for this crop. nine0005
Selection conveyor
Being the first is never easy. The choice of varieties and the acquisition of mother material were associated with considerable difficulties for the enterprise. Even Western producers interested in cooperation, due to sanctions and export bans, cannot sell new promising varieties to Russia, they offer only “obsolete” ones.
It would seem that nowadays all the necessary information can be found on the Internet. However, one cannot count on its reliability, according to Lyudmila Tsulaeva. Many promoted varieties in reality turn out to be far from being as profitable as advertised, and bring one disappointment.
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For example, the Doyle blackberry variety, which is included in the Guinness Book of Records for its yield indicators - 50 kilograms per bush and 90 kg / ha, Lyudmila Tsulaeva will not advise anyone. According to the entrepreneur, the productivity of the variety is really very high. However, the berries ripen sour and with large seeds, which excludes the possibility of its further sale. Therefore, the farm decided to get rid of this variety and now they are destroying the remaining plantings.
For farmers who are establishing plantations and do not have a good financial cushion to organize irrigation and trellis systems, the head of the enterprise recommends the Osage variety. It is sun tolerant and drought tolerant. In the same Adygea, there are examples of successful cultivation of this variety without irrigation. nine0005
Gardens of Adygea prefer varieties that are zoned and adapted to local conditions, which have excellent taste and presentation. The grading conveyor is organized in such a way that harvesting proceeds gradually, from the earliest to the latest varieties.
Blackberry is a prolific berry, especially when cared for. Harvest in open ground begins to be harvested in early June, and is completed when frosts occur. And with the installation of greenhouses, the enterprise will be able to regulate fruiting and reach almost year-round production - from March to the New Year. nine0005
With a long-term perspective
Last year, producers of berries and other fruit and vegetable crops in many regions of the country, including Adygea, learned an edifying and even cruel lesson for themselves. It turned out that even a good quality crop may not be in demand. During the pandemic, in the conditions of protective measures, many farmers simply could not take the harvested berries outside the republic. How to protect yourself in the future from possible negative consequences? The only reasonable way out in this situation is to create a processing industry. nine0005
— The construction of large plants requires large investments, and their operation may turn out to be unprofitable, explains Lyudmila Vladimirovna.
- While a mini-format, which, with the support of the state, is quite capable of being pulled by an average farmer, can be placed in every region of the republic. In this case, both private farms and private farms will have the opportunity to sell their products and thus solve the problem of sales.
The company plans to build a plant where it will be possible to process not only berries, but also stone fruits. nine0005
“We are not going to enter the retail market,” the manager continues. – Our task is to stay on the B2B trading platform. Products for the needs of bakery and dairy processing enterprises will be produced in packages of five, ten and twenty-five kilograms. And in the long term, it will be possible to consider the issue of the production of baby food.
This year, the company will implement a pilot project - the installation of a workshop for the production of thermostable jams, berry puree and marmalade. We are currently working on the technical details.
It is necessary to choose the optimal equipment, find engineering and technical specialists. nine0005
The implementation of the project is of great socio-economic importance for the region, both in terms of increasing tax revenues and reducing social tension. The plant will require the involvement of additional workers. Therefore, the company plans to build a small settlement with brick residential buildings for employees. Moreover, in Russia there are relevant federal programs that are focused specifically on this area.
The investment project for the construction of a processing plant is tentatively estimated at more than 30 million rubles. The head of the "Gardens of Adygea" presented it in the Republican Agrarian Department and enlisted the support of the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic. Together with the Ministry of Economic Development of the Republic of Armenia, a package of documents will be prepared to promote the project at the federal level. If it is approved, Gardens of Adygea will be able to count on partial reimbursement of the costs of building a plant from the federal budget.
