I dunno, orangeBF. There have been posts about strangers stealing veggies off plants from time to time, and if you already have problems with kids rampaging in the night and trampling through your lawn space, I wouldn't put anything where it could be "got at". It could end up in a lot of frustration. Well, unless you want to put a briary, thorny rosebush in that spot!

Maybe you could surround it with a nice little fence to keep the kids out?

Here is a link that might be useful: Not my garden, but how cute!

Unless it's fenced in so that only you can get to it, I think you're just inviting others to harvest your produce by putting them directly in their path.

I see now that you have a fenced yard already. How the heck are they running thru your fenced yard? Are they climbing over the fence? WHY? I'd be crazed!!! I'm thinking that you should grow some climbing roses or maybe blackberries on your fence...the ones with BIG thorns!

Alys, yes they come in while playing man hunt. These kids are 8-11, and this is past 10pm at night. I have a 14 yr old I dont even let be out that late. ive asked them not to, but we dont have a large yard so I can definatly hear(and see) them running through

orange DF

If your yard is already completely fenced in, it'll be worse during the summer months when they don't have to get up for school. Perhaps a neighborhood congregation ought to get in touch with their parents to advise them of what their children are doing. And all those neighbors talk to those children. Can you get a watchdog to announce their presence? Take pictures.

When my kids were young, we lived in a neighborhood full of kids, and they were all pretty well behaved except those from one family. The father traveled a great deal, and the mother just couldn't handle their twin boys. They slit swimming pool covers, chopped down small trees in peoples' yards, stole lawn chairs and anything else they could carry, and finally were caught by the police chopping apart somebody's picnic table. (Some idiot gave them axes for their birthday that year.) I'm not saying your neighbors' kids will be this awful, but they need to learn about property rights RIGHT NOW, before they get any older. Some kids will always be mischievous (remember Tom Sawyer) but won't be too destructive.

I've planted things between the sidewalk and street as well as in my front yard. This year is the first year for vegetables.

Perhaps you could plant some things that are prickly and uninviting, like artichoke, or at least something that requires prep before eating and isn't an instant gratification kind of food.

I have blueberries, apples, plums, huckleberries and other delectable things in my front yard. The jury is still out on whether it will work.

I've tried planting some decoys like quince, aronia berries, and some rootstock apples that aren't palatable. Unfortunately, even if you don't eat them I bet they make pretty good projectiles :(

When I lived in the burbs I figured that anything grown on the fence or in the front yard was going to be shared. People just figure if they can reach it, it's not treaspassing and if it is a growing edible, it really isn't stealing. Just something about it, makes people forget about boundries.

What about a raised garden bed? That's what I've done for my veggies next to the sidewalk. Something about the higher sides (hopefully) says don't walk here, and even, "hey, I did this on purpose, so don't pick things here." Plus you could make a raised bed and then put another shorter fence, maybe shin height, within it. Once you have tomato cages and the like up, it won't be convenient for them to hike through (especially without tripping over your little fence!).

Rusty barbed wire works pretty well as a deterrent.

Nobody so far has queried the wisdom of growing edibles next to a road from a cleanliness point of view. I would be as concerned about pollution on my food as people stealing the produce. Or is it a traffic free zone? Also is it within pee range for passing dogs? Do they salt the road in winter?

With gathering wild herbs and such, its GREATLY advised not to take anything within something like 20-30 feet or more of a road, so I'd think that would also apply to putting edibles next to the the sidewalk. Plus, any dog walking by will pee on it, and there aren't enough dog owners that would be considerate about stopping a dog pre- or mid-pee. Maybe it won't really hurt the plant or be poisonous, but damn, that's just ICKY.

Me, I'd put something prickly that will grow up the fence and be unpleasant to climb over, like a climbing rose or something, and put any edibles to the inside of that.