What wont be stolen.

[Alan]

Glad to see people planting in places for others to gather from and people thinking of dedicating areas like this to val. That is awesome. There is so much room in public parks, I will never understand why there are not public gardens and orchards there, even 10% of the space would make a magnificent difference. Imagine if all the rest stops along the interstates alone were planted with orchards and gardens. How amazing would that be.

That said, you gotta watch people now days still too, we have friends who have had chickens and turkeys stolen from them this winter, they have seen the people catching them and throwing them in their car

I always say that if someone needs food they can come here and ask for it and I will always give them something and have, because I don't want anyone to be hungry (thus why I donate to the local food bank and weomens shelter) however if I catch your ass on this property stealing you better be able to run a zig-zag pattern faster than I can fix a target, mostly in protection of my livestock, livliehood, and ginseng which people will steal.

[canadamike]

Hey, alan, I am over 50 now...could you recommend me another pattern than the zig zag, it is hard on the knees

[paquebot]

Most of my gardening happens to be in a park, 1½ acre community garden complex with no fences to keep the public out. Other than a few sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and watermelons, haven't lost anything of importance. One guy was so paranoid about possibly losing a few canteloupes so I told him about the flour trick. He didn't understand at first until I asked him if he would eat anything which had white powder from any other plot. Then he saw the light!

Martin

[bluelacedredhead]

You're a hard act to follow Martin! What an ingenious idea.

[sandbar]

What's the street address where this fre- ... er ... fantastic foo- ... I mean ... your garden will be?

Taters are a great idea. And, who would steal zucchini?

You could do what I do for the "rats on hooves" (deer) around here. I plant enough for the both of us ...

[boggybranch]

There was a farmer who was having watermelons stolen out of his field. So, one day he put up a sign, saying, "One watermelon in this field has been poisoned". Being quite proud of his ingenious idea to deter theft, he slept well that night. The next morning he went to his watermelon field to have a look. On the sign someone had written, during the night........"NOW THERE ARE 2".

[rockguy]

Maybe you could plant something that is inedible in the raw state, Garden Huckleberries come to mind, there must be others.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

Around here people commonly plant vegetable gardens in the street all the way to the pavement. It must produce enough for the families to feel good about it even if some does walk away...

I used to plant in the street and figured that if anything walked off it was my dues for using the commons. The loss of produce was certainly less than what I am paying in rent today.

In addition to vegetable gardens I often see fruit trees planted in the city's right of way, and I don't feel at all shy about picking an apple from a tree growing on the street.

Many of my neighbors grow alfalfa in the street then cut and bail it for their livestock.

One fellow I know plants bee forage in the street and then sells honey.

[flowerpower]

Welcome to HG, Joseph. I live in farm country, but I don't leave anything of value close to the road. I have some really big houseplants that I do "hide" on the back deck. I have had some of them a long time. I don't want someone walking off with them.

Alot of stuff disappears in this area once it's warm. Last year was a mini bike, a glass patio table, 2 atvs, & a goat. Only the goat was found-wandering the streets of Albany.

[paquebot]

Feb 21, 2010 21:09:24 GMT -5 Joseph Lofthouse said:

Around here people commonly plant vegetable gardens in the street all the way to the pavement. It must produce enough for the families to feel good about it even if some does walk away...

I also used to plant just short of the curb. Tomatoes were always a big hit with everyone as the varieties were always something that most people hadn't seen before. When city decided that we needed sidewalks in 2002, the city engineer agreed that they were taking away my best tomato ground. Now I plant right to the sidewalk but only tomatoes. Had cabbages beside the tomatoes one year and a dog was using them for fire plugs. (Eventually caught the culprits and threatened to urinate on their kitchen table if I ever caught their dog doing it again.) After I have all that I need off the plants, I hang a "Take One" sign on a cage so others can enjoy them with a clear conscience.

Martin

[dirtsunrain]

I love the idea of dedicating to Val. She has a very generous heart and gives freely from her gardens.

I can only eat so many green beans so I take the excess to the 5 group homes that are part of the Community Living were I work. Our food budgets are tight, and the folks dont get enough really fresh food. In turn, the staff let me know if they want to buy some veggies from me and I end up selling a bit.
No good deed goes unpunished.

[hiven]

Back to planting, would you consider planting cardoon ? It is very attractive/ornamental plus edible and if your winter is not severe, it will grow as perennial.
Stachys affinis/ chinese artichoke is also an attractive plant, it will also provide you some small edible tubers. Perennial herbs is also great such as sage, rosemary, bay leaves...
You can also interplant some not known edible berries/fruit such as goumi, haskap, japanese quince, etc.
We also have some land out of our fence, but I can only think of some wild flowers (if I ever sow or plant anything there) as we are planning to keep bees in the coming future...

[grunt]

"No good deed goes unpunished. " Another poorly disguised Trekkie!