Posted on 06/16/2012 11:07:10 AM PDT by Altariel
TULSA, Oklahoma -
A Tulsa woman is suing the city's code enforcement officers after she said they cut down her garden with no cause.
Denise Morrison said she has more than 100 plant varieties in her front and back yards and all of them are edible and have a purpose.
She knows which ones will treat arthritis, which will make your food spicy, which ones keep mosquitoes away and treat bug bites, but she said none of that matter to city inspectors.
Last August, Morrison's front and back yards were filled with flowers in bloom, lemon, stevia, garlic chives, grapes, strawberries, apple mint, spearmint, peppermint, an apple tree, walnut tree, pecan trees and much more.
She got a letter from the city saying there had been a complaint about her yard.
She said she took pictures to meet with city inspectors, but they wouldn't listen, so she invited them to her home so they could point out the problem areas.
"Everything, everything needs to go," Morrison said they told her.
When she heard they wanted to cut it all down, she called police. The officer issued her a citation so it could be worked out in court.
She said she went to court on August 15, and the judge told them to come back in October. But the very next day, men were cutting down most of her plants.
They even cut down some of her trees -– ones that bore fruit and nuts -– and went up next to her house and basically removed everything in her front flower bed.
"I came back three days later, sat in my driveway, cried and left," Morrison said.
Morrison said she had a problem at her last property with code enforcement, so this time, she read the ordinance, which says plants can't be over 12-inches tall unless they're used for human consumption. She made sure everything she grew could be eaten, which she told the inspectors.
"Every word out of their mouth was, 'we don't care,'" Morrison said.
Morrison said she used many of the plants that were destroyed to treat her diabetes, high-blood pressure and arthritis.
"Not only are the plants my livelihood, they're my food and I was unemployed at the time and had no food left, no medicine left, and I didn't have insurance," Morrison said. "They took away my life and livelihood."
Morrison finally went to court last week for the citation she got last August at another property. The garden portion of the citation was dismissed and she pleaded no contest to having an inoperable truck in her driveway.
She filed a civil rights lawsuit this week, accusing the inspectors of overstepping their authority.
The City of Tulsa said it hasn't received the lawsuit yet, so it couldn't comment.
States needs laws where civil servants who authorize and carry out actions that prove to be illegal/unlawful must be on the hook for 10% of the civil damages that end up being awarded to the victims of their actions (this presumes this woman sues, which she should).
You’d hear a lot less of the civil servants mantra “I don’t care” if they had some skin in the game.
Very good. So so good. Perfect.
In winter, most vegetation is unattractive. That photo is clearly taken during colder weather.
Morrison said she used many of the plants that were destroyed to treat her diabetes, high-blood pressure and arthritis.
“Not only are the plants my livelihood, they’re my food and I was unemployed at the time and had no food left, no medicine left, and I didn’t have insurance,” Morrison said. “They took away my life and livelihood.”
-— This is a little nutty.
I think dandelions and lettuce are loosely related - in fact there are a large number of plants, like dandelions, that are edible.
A plant that has a latex base (milky colored sap) and has yellow flowers that form clocks has a good chance to be dandelion-lettuce related.
Here in the Seattle area, I could easily point out four or five variations of wild lettuce. Most (just like store bought lettuce) will get more bitter and tough as they reach the flowering seed-bearing stage.
But all are cool-weather crops, that bear alot of seed, and are easily germinated.
Good SHTF knowledge.
The late great Bob Wills.
Tar and feathers for the overclass.
To the uninformed, perhaps.
My mother planted mint when I was a child. The house is gone now, but the mint patch is still there.
Oh, I understand that some herbal remedies are legit... but having those problems and using only herbs for all of them is a little nutty, IMO.
Sue them!!! Public trough feeders, these idiots just destroyed years of her hard work after giving her reprieve
Mint is another one that is edible but very, very difficult to eradicate.
We bought our old house 15 years ago; it was long-neglected but well preserved for its architectural features.
There were other properties on the street, which is only two blocks long, who suffered from the same malady.
We spent 15 years reviving the fine old Victorian lady from her long slumber, but never once did we think that we held any sway over how the neighbors treated their property. That's the nature of freedom, it's messy. We took a shot; if we win it's all good, if we don't we lose.
Aspirin is willow bark, that’s all. Grows just about everywhere.
I think it’s ranked as *eternal stuff*. LOL.
After having been on bucketloads of medication prescribed for much the same problems, I am using nutrition and herbs with a far greater success. Don't knock it till you've been there. And furthermore, this lady seems to be without gvt help, and is doing what she can to self medicate, in spite of a declared low income. I think that should be lauded.
And I would submit that all herbal remedies are worthy of consideration - most of the pills are derived from them, or at least were derived from them initially... And the herbal method often has more efficacy because it isn't exactly the same thing all the time - The differences supplied by sun and soil are often beneficial toward controlling things that can overcome modern medicine -- Like the body becoming accustom, or bacteria that develop resistance. It is an entirely different philosophy, and one which I think bears credence.
I call it self-sufficiency. That’s a good thing.
So what if you think it’s “a little nutty”. That’s the POINT of this nation. “Conceived in Liberty”: you have a RIGHT to be nutty on your own land, provided you harm no one else.
Her neighbors also seem to have forgotten this point. . .
I think what they did to her is wrong ... but I’m in favor of actual doctors and medicine for serious ailments.
You sound just like the type of neighbor that caused this.The code says edible plants can be over 12” and she followed code.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.