Front-Yard Farming in Wayzata? Heaven Forbid!

"It's not our goal to discourage locally grown food" said City Planner, Bryan Gadow. Yet Wyazata is considering an ordinance that will limit veg, fruit, and herbs in the front yard to 10 square feet.

Oh my goodness! I don't where to start on this one, it's kind of got me trembling while I type. First, how are they to define what is a solely a vegetable, fruit or herb; or what merely happens to be a fantastic plant that's just great at multi-tasking?

Does this mean I have to rip up that little mint patch I use for my mojitos? Do I have to tell the scarlet runner beans not to make beans after tempting the hummingbirds with their beautiful red blossoms? Should I consult my herbal books to see about historical consumption practices concerning my native but perhaps edible plants? Oh my, does this open up a can of earthworms!

I thought the hoo-ha over the "vineyard" in Wayzata was way over the other day, when I stopped by to photograph the tidy rows of dormant vines. The owner Billy smith had told the Star Tribune a while back that he thought of them as sculpture, and that is never more evident than right now, the snow-covered cordons stand like soldiers among the pine trees and lilac bushes that otherwise populate the street.

I guess the vineyard has contributed to extra road wear and car exhaust; from the first signs of something so botanically ambitious, I've been guilty of multiple drive-bys.

Members of the Wayzata City Council say they want to preserve its small town character while protecting it against commercial growing. Yet whose to say what era they want to preserve? Historically, small towns often saw horticulture practiced where practical. Didn't neighbors share or sell fresh eggs, strawberries, tomatoes and sweet corn? But did they always hide it in the backyard, like it was something dirty?

Maybe they are afraid Wayzata will fall quickly to the resurgence of "food growing" that has already laid claim to Minneapolis. Heck, Minnetonka has already given in and gone with a real Farmer's Market, so this silly business is at our borders. Surely ordinances against bee-keeping and raising chickens will soon follow. Gotta nip all this new-age nonsense in the bud!

I can't help but be afraid of the plant police. You never know where they might strike next. I find the thought of regulating gardening a personal threat. To be told what and where to grow brings out the 'don't tread on me' in me.

I used to grow a kitchen garden for all the world to see; a Wiliamsburg-meets-Provence affair inspired by the lush gardens and delicious produce I ate while living in England for a few years. I did all this in a conservative little enclave in the even more conservative state of Kansas. Surrounded by a cream-color picket fence and entered through an arbor of roses; I planted and picked tomatoes and basil, lettuce and eggplants, garlic and peas, and flowers by the score.

Pretty scary stuff, this front-yard farming!

I didn't start out to be controversial, it was just the sunniest spot in my yard.

When the garden first went up, the neighborhood opinion was split 50/50. The little boy across the street told me that his mom said they could get their food from the grocery store. Others had hoped for a formal rose garden. As time went by though, I became the subject of curious drive-bys and compliments shouted from commuters on their way to work, "Love your garden.......".