Stealth Allotments

[grenfell]

Herbs may not be a full diet, but they can jazz up bland food, and can be used in herbal remedies, if that’s your bag.

Very true of course. I think i've said before that my front garden is largely herbs ( well the bit that isn't taken up by parking , bins and so on) . I used to have a clump of white horehound that seemed to spread but suddenly just disappeared a couple of years ago. Pity really as i found it to be good for sore throats although the taste was awful...

[jansman]

Herbs may not be a full diet, but they can jazz up bland food, and can be used in herbal remedies, if that’s your bag.

Very true of course. I think i've said before that my front garden is largely herbs ( well the bit that isn't taken up by parking , bins and so on) . I used to have a clump of white horehound that seemed to spread but suddenly just disappeared a couple of years ago. Pity really as i found it to be good for sore throats although the taste was awful...

Perennials can be like that. You have them for years, and then they disappear. 30 years ago, my best mates dad , a Welshman, gave me a clump of Welsh Onions. They were prolific for years. Then they gave up.

[grenfell]

The white horehound came i think from the shrewsbury area or it could be worcestershire either way it was a good while ago when i lived with my parents and it moved to my first house and then to where we are now but finally gave up even though it seemed to be quite prolific. When we moved the house had a small pear tree and a larger plum tree. The new owners intended to remove them and said i could take them with us if we wanted. The plum really was too big to move but i pruned the pear and dug it up , moved it and replanted in it's new home. That took and grew for about six years before that too just died. Still it would have died if i'd left it. Funny old things plants...
Apologies as we seem to be veering off the topic of whether anyone has actually done any of this stealth business.

[jansman]

The white horehound came i think from the shrewsbury area or it could be worcestershire either way it was a good while ago when i lived with my parents and it moved to my first house and then to where we are now but finally gave up even though it seemed to be quite prolific. When we moved the house had a small pear tree and a larger plum tree. The new owners intended to remove them and said i could take them with us if we wanted. The plum really was too big to move but i pruned the pear and dug it up , moved it and replanted in it's new home. That took and grew for about six years before that too just died. Still it would have died if i'd left it. Funny old things plants...
Apologies as we seem to be veering off the topic of whether anyone has actually done any of this stealth business.

I don’t think we are off topic,so don’t worry.Some of my ‘weird’ plants in my permaculture garden wouldn’t be recognised by many.It’s possible to have a ‘stealth’ back garden too.

[Arzosah]

Stealth-type gardening probably won't provide you with full meals, as somebody mentioned upthread - but it might well supply you with vitamins and micronutrients that would maintain a certain level of health.

[grenfell]

Yes i think you're right. Given that it's likely going to be impossible to create a veg plot like one could have in one's own garden , nice neat straight rows is going to be very unstealthy , the question should perhaps shift to which plants to grow with a view to having as high a nutritional value as possible.

[jansman]

Neat,straight rows are not my thing these days. For the last 20 years or so ,I have tended towards permaculture plant ‘guilding ’ and companionships .You could say that it looks ‘untidy’ ,in conventional gardening terms. However,my yields are good,and fertility is supplied by home brewed compost.Pest damage is minimal too. I use marigolds and nasturtiums in between all the crop plants.Both are edible. The marigolds are a superb scent blocker,especially ,and the nasturtiums attract the butterflies,and act as sacrificial plants to particularly protect my Daubenton Kale.This particular bed is ‘going over’ now,but it gives you an idea.

Can you see the edibles in there?

[grenfell]

Don't worry there'd be someone who would spot the edibles. Perhaps you need a few brambles and nettles in there to make it look a bit "wilder".

[jansman]

Don't worry there'd be someone who would spot the edibles. Perhaps you need a few brambles and nettles in there to make it look a bit "wilder".

Believe me,that is more than possible.

[grenfell]

With the added advantage very few want to walk through brambles and nettles and there'll be fruit and nettles to eat too