But technically he is violating Kansas City ordinances as he prepares to sell the produce.

Brooke Salvaggio never dreamed that she and her husband, Dan Heryer, were running afoul of city codes when they used a few apprentices in their backyard garden business in south Kansas City.

These foot soldiers in the urban farming revolution have found that, along with locally grown food, they are cultivating a controversy.

While they try to capitalize on blossoming awareness about the benefits of turning lawns into fresh fruits and vegetables, they are colliding with city rules designed to protect Kansas City’s cherished neighborhoods.

Those are rules that the city will be rethinking. But for now, Mann is not allowed to sell produce from a residential property he does not own.

And Salvaggio and Heryer are not allowed to use apprentices in their garden business, dubbed BadSeed Farm, because city codes prohibit outside employees at home occupations.