Stealth Allotments

[grenfell]

I agree with what you say although there is a caveat. What we are talking about here is at best a grey area of the law and at worst illegal , theft , trespass , damage and so on. We wouldn't try to condone shoplifting to obtain food or syphoning someone's tank to get petrol so we shouldn't condone the taking of someones crops or animals. Not trying to be funny just trying to stay on the side of the law.
Waste land and disused land even land open to the public is still owned by someone but should be a far better bet. Looking on the net the Wildlife and countryside act of 1981 does state that it's illegal to plant in the wild any species that will have a detrimental effect upon the natural flora and fauna. In all likelihood we shouldn't fall foul of the law unless start clearing a site of scientfic interest to plant tatters but it's one for the back of the mind.
Another thing that should perhaps be considered is how local the stealth allotment is to ones home. It needs really to be within walking distance in my opinion or it defeats the object. I know of a number of places that would be good but are probably too far away. If we say most cars will do between 10 and 15 miles to a litre of fuel and that litre of fuel now costs towards £1.50 we could ask how much food is going to be produced verses the cost of getting there and back.

[jennyjj01]

...Talking to a like minded friend we've decided next year to give it a try as an experiment. Im guessing it'll be a numbers game to get a decent return and wondered has anyone else tried it. If so did it work, where did you try and any tips? Thanks

To restate the question: Has anybody here actually done this?
We have speculation about how well this would stack up in practice, and I'm leaning heavily towards the 'No' And that's from someone who lives in a rural area.
OK. might be able to stealth a few herb gardens, but staple crops like spuds and chard, can't visualise much value add, not doing it solo.

[pseudonym]

...Talking to a like minded friend we've decided next year to give it a try as an experiment. Im guessing it'll be a numbers game to get a decent return and wondered has anyone else tried it. If so did it work, where did you try and any tips? Thanks

To restate the question: Has anybody here actually done this?
We have speculation about how well this would stack up in practice, and I'm leaning heavily towards the 'No' And that's from someone who lives in a rural area.
OK. might be able to stealth a few herb gardens, but staple crops like spuds and chard, can't visualise much value add, not doing it solo.

I used to attend a bushcraft group that had singular access to woodland. We planted some spuds and carrots in an area, points to note are:

these vegetables are not native to the area, you have to really clear the land of previous species.

adding fertiliser benefits the local flora as well.

local plants have had centuries in the area to establish themselves, survive on the amount of water required.

unattended crops will be eaten by wildlife

prepare for disappointment

[rik_uk3]

Spuds will work well but you can't plant and forget, spuds need earthing up as they grow or you'll end up with not a lot for the pot.

[jansman]

...Talking to a like minded friend we've decided next year to give it a try as an experiment. Im guessing it'll be a numbers game to get a decent return and wondered has anyone else tried it. If so did it work, where did you try and any tips? Thanks

To restate the question: Has anybody here actually done this?
We have speculation about how well this would stack up in practice, and I'm leaning heavily towards the 'No' And that's from someone who lives in a rural area.
OK. might be able to stealth a few herb gardens, but staple crops like spuds and chard, can't visualise much value add, not doing it solo.

When we were kids,we had a field at the back of our house. There was a little piece of scrubby woodland. When my dad put his spuds in the garden,he always had a few left over,so he would hop over the fence and bang them in the ground within the little wood. They always grew,even with neglect.Like he said, “ better that than waste them “.

Also,a chap I knew was a bricklayer.He lived in a flat,so no garden. Working on a site long term,he started a little garden on top of an earth embankment,and did rather well over a season and a half. He had some runner bean plants from me ,and they did ok.

[jansman]

http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

[jennyjj01]

http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

Sorry Jansman,
Maybe it's me... With that white on brown small font and very stunted English, I really couldn't read that. I tried and tried, but got nothing from it. Looks like they are mostly planting flowers, rather than Veg.
Thanks anyway.

[jansman]

http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

Sorry Jansman,
Maybe it's me... With that white on brown small font and very stunted English, I really couldn't read that. I tried and tried, but got nothing from it. Looks like they are mostly planting flowers, rather than Veg.
Thanks anyway.

Guerilla Gardening is a ‘Thing’. Flowers or vegetables,your choice.I suspect that city gardening is done with flowers to make the world smile.
One reason I have a 50% perennial,permaculture- style garden ( moving to 75% soon), is lack of work and ,in the event of SHTF, joe public won’t realise it’s food.

[grenfell]

There seems to be two different things here or rather two diffent ideas. The original question was about stealth allotments , planting and growing ( in all likelihood a food crop) secretly and without being noticed whereas the guerrilla gardening seems to be more about a visible reclamation and prettying up places like verges and road islands. The latter is probably easier to do assuming the authorities don't get annoyed . To a degree i've done this on at least one large property i work at and it has been reasonably successful. Biggest problem has been rabbits either eating or digging up plants but once they are established i can tend to them a bit better. In that case they have pretty much been ornamental plants. The stealth idea i've tried on a couple of occasions. As i said hit and miss. On at least one try there was nothing, on another there was some growth but not brilliant as it had to compete with everything else. I've not tried potatoes but might do next year. Herbs seem to go well but they hardly constitute a full diet.

[jansman]

There seems to be two different things here or rather two diffent ideas. The original question was about stealth allotments , planting and growing ( in all likelihood a food crop) secretly and without being noticed whereas the guerrilla gardening seems to be more about a visible reclamation and prettying up places like verges and road islands. The latter is probably easier to do assuming the authorities don't get annoyed . To a degree i've done this on at least one large property i work at and it has been reasonably successful. Biggest problem has been rabbits either eating or digging up plants but once they are established i can tend to them a bit better. In that case they have pretty much been ornamental plants. The stealth idea i've tried on a couple of occasions. As i said hit and miss. On at least one try there was nothing, on another there was some growth but not brilliant as it had to compete with everything else. I've not tried potatoes but might do next year. Herbs seem to go well but they hardly constitute a full diet.

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.