California man turned his front yard into a food garden so he could grow more of what his family eats. Then the fines started. Michael Sherman, a landscape contractor in Chino, grows things like squash, radishes and fruit around his home. He says he does it because he wants more control over his food. “I don’t trust the food system,” he told reporters. But city officials said parts of the property violated local landscaping and overgrown vegetation rules. Sherman was fined $750. Then another $500. And he was warned that more fines could follow if he did not make additional changes. He says he has already trimmed trees, removed bushes and tried to comply, but still does not fully understand what the city wants gone. The city insists the issue is not simply that he is growing food. It says the problem is how the yard is being maintained. Sherman sees it differently. To him, it is a family food garden. To the city, it is a code violation. And that disagreement has already cost him more than $1,000. Full story Michael Sherman, a landscape contractor on Monte Vista Avenue in Chino, California, replaced his front lawn starting around 2019 with what he calls a “food forest.” He grows squash, radishes, bananas, passionfruit, Swiss chard, sunflowers, calendula, aloe, papaya, sweet potatoes, ginger, turmeric and other edible and medicinal plants for his family. He has said he does not trust the commercial food system and wants more control over what they eat. City code enforcement issued a $750 fine in April 2026, then another $500 in early September. Officials warned of still more penalties if remaining overgrowth was not cut back by mid-September. Sherman says he has already trimmed trees for pedestrian visibility, removed some bushes, and tried to follow the city’s instructions, but still finds the remaining demands unclear. The running total has already exceeded $1,000.