Exclusive | California man slams city after being fined for growing food at home: I dont trust the system

Unbe-leaf-able!A Southern California city is waging war against a green-thumbed taxpayer — slapping him with fines for planting a sumptuous, front-yard garden full of fruits and vegetables.Michael Sherman of Chino was shocked when a $750 fine for “overgrown vegetation” showed up in his mailbox in April — followed by a $500 fine in August.

Now, the landscape contractor says he faces still another $500 fine this month — if he does not quickly comply with the city’s seemingly-draconian order to remove the alleged eyesore.“People should be able to grow what they want on their lawn as long as it doesn’t affect directly any other neighbor or create a real health and safety problem,” Sherman, 49, told the California Post.Sherman started growing produce in his front lawn in 2019, he said — after finding himself concerned over chatter he’d been hearing about potential food shortages.Today, his impressive yard yields crops of sweet potatoes, squash, ginger, turmeric, ginger, horseradish, bananas, sugar cane, plums peaches blueberries, passion fruit, comfrey, mullen — and even dandelions “on purpose,” he said, touting their medicinal qualities.Despite the city clampdown, Sherman insists his neighbors support him — all but one, whom he suspects was behind the initial complaint that led to the citations.

“I’ve never met a neighbor in person that doesn’t like my yard besides my neighbor right next to me,” said Sherman.“Even my other neighbor on the opposite side, on the south side, he likes it.

He thinks it’s great.But another neighbor told CBS LA that they have concerns about the garden.“I’m worried about rodents,” Monica Siepert told CBS LA.“They’re not always trimmed.

… It’s not always kept up.”Sherman says he’s had issues with rats on his lot in past — but not for years.“It doesn’t matter what your landscape looks like.You don’t even have to have a landscape.

There’s still an issue, just by havin...