government nannies want to destroy this mans garden because it's messy!!!!!!!! Original Article Homegrown controversy Gilbert man's neighbors not enthusiastic about garden Cary Aspinwall The Arizona Republic Oct. 4, 2005 12:00 AM Among the xeriscape, golf greens, patios and swimming pools of Gilbert, Daniel Lee Thompson has created his own little ecosystem. Thompson's front yard is shaded by massive leaves of romaine lettuce, cornstalks, Swiss chard and towering turnip greens. He will chomp on a turnip blossom as he shows the marigolds and sweet William blossoms he plants among the veggies to attract the right kinds of insects, the ones to eat the bad bugs. No pesticides are used in this garden. "This is my breakfast," he said, winking as he pulls more greens from the ground. Thompson and the owners of the house at 602 W. Rawhide Ave. in Gilbert, his mother and stepfather, Ann and Richard Carlisle, say they are proud and enthusiastic about their homegrown organic produce. They say it's the key to their health and longevity, the reason they don't need any prescription or over-the-counter drugs. Some of their neighbors are less-than-thrilled, however, and have complained to Gilbert officials. One Town Council member, Dave Crozier, asked the town attorney to rule whether Thompson's garden is a code violation. If that fails, Crozier has talked about changing the ordinance that allows it. "The question always comes down to where do you draw the line?" Crozier said. "This is over the line. I don't blame (the neighbor) for complaining - I would have, too." The home is in Madera Parc, one of Gilbert's rare neighborhoods without a homeowners association governing what the family can plant in its own yard. As long as the weeds are trimmed, the town can't tell Thompson to yank the Crenshaw melons from his front yard because the neighbors think it looks untidy, code compliance officers say. "We get complaints from time to time," said Steve Wallace, Gilbert's senior code compliance officer. "It's a residential zoned area, and in those areas folks are allowed to grow crops for themselves." Some who drive by have complained that the front yard looks like a jungle. They should see the back yard. It's a maze of kumquats, grapevines, carrots, salad greens, herbs and peach trees. It's all part of a theory to which Thompson, 57, subscribes: Man is responsible for the current drought, fire, flood cycle that has hit the United States. Strange as it sounds to current desert dwellers, Arizona was all lush vegetation and forests at one time, he says. He is an advocate of permaculture and sustainable farming methods, trying to restore the environment that has been destroyed by man. Almost every inch of the yard is used to grow food. "For me, it's the whole idea of knowing the food is safe, healthy and here for my family to eat," he said. His 80-year-old mother doesn't have the shelf full of daily prescription medications that many of her peers have to take. "It all boils down to nutrition," Carlisle said. "What you're buying in the grocery store has so little nutrition, and it's all contaminated with pesticides." She said she loves the figs that her son grows in the back yard, and she can remember when Gilbert was all farmland. "I cry every time I hear a farmer has sold to another developer," she said.