Orlando Area Garden Under Fire From City

Nekochan wrote:

riceme wrote:

Nekochan wrote:

Riceme, you are like my husband. He takes care of our yard. We do not own a lawn mower. Our yard has rocks and trees and shrubs, but not grass. The previous owner put a sprinkler system throughout the yard, but hubby doesn't use it. If it rains, the yard is watered. If it doesn't rain, it isn't. He doesn't use pesticides. When he planted and took care of our little patio veggie garden this past summer, he didn't use pesticides on the plants. When some kind of bug was eating the leaves on one of the vegetable plants, he sprayed the plant with water mixed with a little dish detergent. It must have worked because the bugs stopped eating the leaves. He did water the veggies on a regular basis, but not the rest of the yard. The veggies were beautiful and delicious.

I agree... that does sound like me. I also use a spray bottle of water with a little dish detergent to keep bugs from eating my food. We have a terrible invasive species here called Star Thistle that's toxic to horses, and I have sprayed for that (you pretty much have to), but not anywhere near my food. I remember seeing pictures of your yard a year ago maybe (??), and thinking we had similar tastes in landscaping... I like it to look natural.

Man, the more I think about the article you posted the more ticked off I get. People are jerks.

I know. It makes me mad every time I think about it. An organic vegetable garden is an eyesore? Meanwhile, we are told "green" this and "green" that is the way to do things. Good grief!

I have to give the previous owners credit for the landscaping. Hubby hasn't done that much in the yard since we bought the house. When we first saw the inside of the house, we both really liked it. And then we got to the back of the house and saw the sun room. It's large-- something like 30x14--and at that point, I loved the house. Meanwhile, hubby was looking out the windows at the back yard and liking what he saw. Actually, our trip and mission in Huntsville at the time was to look at a 5 acre lot to buy and build on. But I had also told the real estate agent that we wanted to look at some existing homes. For several reasons, this house changed our minds about building a house. We could never build a new house for the price we bought this one.

View of one end of the sunroom. Out the sliding glass door is the side yard. On the other end of the sunroom, there is another sliding glass door to the patio. In the picture, you can see the front of the wood stove. When I first saw it, I thought it was ugly and we'd never use it and that it was a big eyesore in the middle of the room. I was thinking that if we bought the house, I'd get rid of it. But I have changed my mind...this time of year, I love it.



The back yard, right outside the sun room, in the summer. It's a jungle, lol.

Sal wrote:What's the ground-cover in that pic?

Nekochan wrote:Well, those are pictures from the summer time. I would post pictures of the back yard now, but it's kind of depressing to me. Not so green and lush looking this time of year. It's pretty in North AL in the summer. But I'm not keen on winters here. Too cold and not nearly enough greenery.

Really, I am a Florida girl at heart. Huntsville is nice. I cannot complain much. Within a 4 hour drive, there is a lot to see and do--Memphis, Atlanta, Gatlinburg and my favorite--Nashville. I really like Tenn a lot. But I like Florida winter weather and the coast. I tell hubby that we live between my 2 favorite states--Tennessee and Florida.

Chrissy wrote:it pisses me off to no end for someone to tell me I cant have a garden.

I live in a very strict neighborhood, theres a zone for everything. But really, there is a difference of having a garden than a bunch of garbage. This area is not very home owner associationish. So really they are just being an ass. perhaps this person has a neighbor who is a asshole who is after them.

And, No I could not have a garden like that in my front yard. But I did plant some veggies along the side of my house last year, no one said anything. perhaps they didnt because they didnt grow good.

Chrissy wrote:

Nekochan wrote:Well, those are pictures from the summer time. I would post pictures of the back yard now, but it's kind of depressing to me. Not so green and lush looking this time of year. It's pretty in North AL in the summer. But I'm not keen on winters here. Too cold and not nearly enough greenery.

Really, I am a Florida girl at heart. Huntsville is nice. I cannot complain much. Within a 4 hour drive, there is a lot to see and do--Memphis, Atlanta, Gatlinburg and my favorite--Nashville. I really like Tenn a lot. But I like Florida winter weather and the coast. I tell hubby that we live between my 2 favorite states--Tennessee and Florida.

Yeah, I think its the warm weather that keeps me in fla. I just dont do well in very cold weather.

I love those areas though. My sister lived up in boaz ala for a while. what a neat area. she lived in the middle of no where, seriously.

your place is very nice, in case you didnt get that from my comment earlier. I have seen where you cook sweet potatos on your stove and I always think how awesome is that.

Yomama wrote:Neko, love the back yard...

Like Riceme says "I likey".

Nekochan wrote:

Yomama wrote:Neko, love the back yard...

Like Riceme says "I likey".

Eric, you know the best thing about our back yard? We have chipmunks! I never get tired of watching those cute little critters. And lightning bugs. We sit out in the summer and watch them. Someday I will really, really miss that.

2seaoat wrote:Some Florida State parks have primitive camping areas. If the State of Florida can operate one, why can't you? It makes no sense and it's just wrong!

They wanted paved camping parking.....they wanted improvements to each site.....they had restrictions they wanted to impose on how they accessed the road.....they wanted me to create water detention and a drainage plan.....I had these beautiful oaks and trees, and they want me to change what God created, so some engineers and planners could justify their existence......I have seen this nonsense for 30 years now....and it keeps getting worse.....SRIA wanting to recommend what color you paint your home.....it just has gone too far.......small business cannot survive in the mesh of regulation at the local level. I simply wanted to let folks camp at designated fire rings and set up their RV or tent however they wanted to do it........nope they wanted a paved parking area of a certain size, they wanted a paved parking lot for so many cars for so many campsites......I just looked around the room....and honestly I would never hire one of the folks who were telling me how I "should" use the property. This country's cities and towns were built prior to 1918 without these damn folks sitting around tables telling us how we need to use our property.

It has gotten so bad in Pensacola, that they want to tell you what you can or cannot do with your trees. I understand the preservation of Oaks....but if the City wants my Oak preserved, simply purchase the development rights on my property. Nope......they just make regulations, and when you want to put an addition on a building and you have a heritage tree.....you go through a nightmare of more red tape.....it simply has gone too far.

Look at the logic of Milton and Pensacola.....the central districts were planned and built 100 years before zoning.....and I think they did a damn good job without the government planning our communities. Now we have these cookie cutter subdivisions and strip malls.....all thank you to the planning folks who pull a pay check from government and think they know how to use your property.

Nekochan wrote:The squirrels up here are huge! But I've never seen a flying one.
My brother in Pensacola has an albino squirrel in his yard. Pure white. I've never seen anything like that.

boards of FL wrote:

Nekochan wrote:Boards, if you're not living in the house, can you keep it rented? If you can afford to keep it and keep it rented, you might be better off waiting 5 or 10+ years to sell. You are young and have time to wait.

It's not a house. That's the problem. A house would be fairly easy to sell. This is 13+ acres of land. When I listed, I had to base the price on other comparable listings because there were no recent sales. In fact, my realtor told me that no land had sold in the area in over a year prior to my listing.